Toxic/Nurtitional Optic Neuropathies: What We Know and What We Think We Know

Physicians have known for centuries that the anterior visual pathways are vulnerable to damage from nutritional deficiency and chemicals. The resulting disorders share many signs and symptoms, and several appear to have a multifactorial etiology in which both under-nutrition and toxicity play a role. Although certain optic neuropathies have an obvious toxic or nutritional etiology (eg, ethambutol, methanol), the toxic or nutritional basis of others is merely presumptive, and the attribution may ultimately prove false.