Frequency of neuro-ophthalmological diseases in a tertiary care center in Mexico

Objective: To describe the most common neuro-ophthalmological diseases in an outpatient clinic at a tertiary reference hospital in Mexico.Materials and methods: A retrospective, cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study was performed on clinical cases evaluated at the neuro-ophthalmological outpatient clinic, Mexico City, Mexico, between January of 2020 and January of 2021.Results: A total of 573 clinical cases were included.The mean age was 47.4 ± 16.3 years old, and 58.3% (n = 334) of the patients were women.The main complaint was a poor vision acuity in 46.8% of the patients (n = 268), diplopia in 14.5% (n = 83), and visual field defects in 10.6% (n = 61).The principal visual field defect was heteronymous hemianopia in 10.8% (n = 62).Compressive optic neuropathy occurred in 18.0% (n = 103), optic neuritis in 11.5% (n = 66), infranuclear eye movements occurred in 9.6% (n = 55), and supranuclear eye movements in 4.9% (n = 28), ocular surface and anterior segment alterations in 4.9% (n = 28) were the most frequent ocular findings.The leading neurological diagnosis was brain tumor at 38.2% (n = 219), demyelinating autoimmune diseases of the central nervous system at 15.4% (n = 88), and cerebrovascular diseases at 5.2% (n = 30).Conclusion: Vision disorders are common manifestations of neurological diseases.Compressive optic neuropathy and optic neuritis were the most frequent neuro-ophthalmological diagnoses.This study allows to acknowledge the demands of attention to specify the needs of neuro-ophthalmological care.