Sarcoidosis of the Optic Nerve

The most frequent ocular complications of sarcoidosis are uveitis, especially anterior uveitis and keratoconjunctivitis. Less frequent is an involvement of the lacrimal gland or of the retina. Sarcoidosis of the optic nerve is rare. In recent extensive reviews on ocular complications of systemic sarcoidosis the optic nerve is not discussed at all or only in a very cursory fashion.1-4Even in surveys concerned with the retinopathy of sarcoidosis an involvement of the optic nerve is not mentioned.5 Sarcoidosis of the optic nerve has, however, been observed in two different circumstances: (1) Several patients with extensive involvement of the central nervous system have also shown involvement of the optic nerve.6In these cases the optic nerve usually shows a nonspecific papilledema. Occasionally a retrobulbar neuritis or papillitis has been observed in such patients.7The reason for this neuritis could not be ascertained. In one patient who came