Abderrazzak Ajertil¹*, Soufiane Bencherif² and Meriem Fikri¹

¹Department of Radiology, Cheikh Zaid International University Hospital, Rabat, Morocco
²Department of Ophthalmology, Cheikh Zaid International University Hospital, Rabat, Morocco

*Corresponding Author: Abderrazzak Ajertil, Department of Radiology, Cheikh Zayd International University Hospital, UIASS, Rabat, Morocco

Received: September 18, 2025; Published: February 06, 2026

Abstract

Introduction: Non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) represent a heterogeneous group of hematopoietic malignancies. Their ophthalmologic manifestations are rare. In approximately 50% of cases, orbital fat infiltration may occur, potentially leading to compressive optic neuropathy. Direct involvement of the optic nerves and their sheaths by lymphoma cells remains exceptional.
Case Report: We present the case of a 53-year-old woman followed and treated for NHL. While she was considered in clinical remission after five cycles of chemotherapy, she developed a sudden unilateral decrease in left visual acuity, reduced to ‘counting fingers’. Clinical examination revealed a left relative afferent pupillary defect. Brain MRI demonstrated infiltration of the left optic nerve without additional intraorbital abnormalities. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) analysis revealed lymphomatous meningitis, establishing the diagnosis of retrobulbar optic neuropathy (RBN) due to lymphomatous infiltration. Despite an initial improvement under treatment, with visual acuity recovering to 8/10 and clearance of neoplastic cells from CSF, the patient died of bone marrow aplasia eight weeks later.
Conclusion: In the presence of painful and rapidly progressive visual loss, the diagnosis of lymphomatous RBN should be considered and confirmed by MRI and cytopathological analysis of CSF. RBN may occur at any stage of NHL and represents a poor prognostic indicator.

Keywords: Optic Neuropathy; Lymphoma; Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma; Isolated Optic Nerve Involvement

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Citation

Citation: Abderrazzak Ajertil., et al. “Isolated Retrobulbar Optic Neuropathy Revealing Relapsed Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma: A Rare Clinical Presentation". Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 8.12 (2025): 30-33.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2025 Abderrazzak Ajertil., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.