Abstract #3725

DTI Tractography Reveals Changes in the Optic Radiation of Patients with Persistent Visual Failure Following Surgery for Tumours Causing Optic Chiasm Compression

Andrew D. Nichols¹,², Bradford A. Moffat³,⁴, Helen V. Danesh-Meyer⁵, Andrew H. Kaye¹,²

¹Department of Surgery (RMH/WH), University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ²Department of Neurosurgery, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ³Department of Radiology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ⁴Department of Radiology, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia; ⁵Department of Ophthalmology, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Brain tumours can cause optic chiasm compression and lead to visual deficits. This is the first study to use diffusion tensor imaging tractography of the optic radiation to investigate the downstream effects of brain tumours in these patients. In this study, patients with persistent visual deficits lasting over one year post surgery show decreased fractional anisotropy, increased radial diffusivity and decreased optic radiation size compared to patients with normal vision. Additional diffusion tensor imaging tractography studies of the visual pathway in these patients will continue to investigate the relationship between tumours causing optic chiasm compression and visual deficits.