Shantha Sruthi Murali Prasad, Radha Annamalai

Purpose: To report a case of unilateral retrobulbar neuritis, a rare complication in a child with resolved mumps infection.

Method: We report a 9 year old female child who presented to the Ophthalmology OPD with severe visual loss in Right eye for 1 week. She gave history of mumps infection 1 month back for which she was treated. On examination, visual acuity was Counting Fingers at 1 meter in Right eye and 6/6 in Left eye. Anterior segment was normal in Both eyes. Pupil was sluggishly reacting to light in Right eye and Relative afferent pupillary defect was noted. Colour vision in Right eye was 0/16 and 16/16 in Left eye. Fundus examination of Right eye showed normal optic disc with retinal oedema in posterior pole. Left eye fundus examination was normal. Visual evoked potential was within normal limits. Complete Blood Count, Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate and Blood sugar was normal.

Results: We started the patient on oral steroids after concurrence with Paediatrician and resolution was noted as early as 1 week in terms of vision improvement and absence of Relative afferent pupillary defect.

Conclusion: We report this case of unilateral retrobulbar neuritis following mumps infection for its rarity and to underline the importance of assessing the medical history, early diagnosis and timely intervention to save the vision to acceptable level.