MRI Tests May Be Unnecessary For Ocular Neuropathy Patients

Patients who have been diagnosed with isolated ocular neuropathic conditions, commonly a side effect or complication of diabetes, may no longer need MRI testing.

A new study reports that MRI exams are recommended for patients under 50 with a history of cancer, have more than one cranial nerve affected, or have a pupil-involving palsy of the third cranial nerve.  If patients are older and do not have these conditions, they don’t need such imaging, at least at the outset of treating the condition because such MRI images rarely helps medical professionals find lesions that would have made a difference in the type of treatment they received.

Published: Archives of Opthalmology