First-time mother, 30, suffers vision loss in one eye during pregnancy because of a tumour on her pituitary gland that squashed her optic nerve
- The unnamed woman started to suffer vision loss after 34 weeks of pregnancy
- Doctors eventually discovered the cause of her sight loss was a small tumour
- An MRI scan of her brain showed a 10x11mm mass compressing her optic nerve
- Surgeons removed the mass through her nose a month after she had given birth
A first-time mother suffered vision loss in one eye during pregnancy because of a tumour on her pituitary gland.
The unnamed 30-year-old first started to suffer vision difficulties in her left eye and severe headaches after 34 weeks of pregnancy.
Doctors in Australia eventually found the cause of her sight loss was a small tumour that was squashing her optic nerve.
She did not seek medical help until she was almost 37 weeks, when she went to the Queensland Diabetes and Endocrine Centre.
The unnamed 30-year-old first started to suffer vision difficulties in her left eye and severe headaches after 34 weeks of pregnancy (stock)
Tests showed her visual acuity in her right eye was 7/7.5. In contrast, it was just 6/24 in her left eye, according to the tale in the BMJ Case Reports.
This meant, in her left eye, she could clearly see something six feet away that a person with normal vision could see from 50 feet.
Doctors suspected a hormone imbalance – until an MRI scan of her brain showed a 10x11mm mass compressing her left optic nerve.
They did not believe it was a prolactinoma (PRL) because she had no other symptoms, such as menstrual abnormalities or producing too much milk.
And, as they often cause symptoms, such as reproductive dysfunction, the tumours are usually diagnosed before pregnancy.
Her levels of prolactin, a hormone secreted by the tumour, were also found to be of a normal level for her gestational age.
The woman gave birth through a caesarean section three days after seeking medical help. She had a son, who weighed 6lbs 6oz.
HOW CAN YOU LOSE VISION DURING PREGNANCY?
Writing in the British Medical Journal, the medics who treated the woman warned pregnancy can cause both temporary or permanent vision changes.
They wrote: ‘The differential diagnoses of visual loss in pregnancy are wide and include enlargement of pituitary adenomas.
‘The pituitary gland enlarges physiologically during pregnancy but this usually does not cause symptoms.’
If it enlarges too much, or a tumour forms off of the gland, such as a prolactinoma, then it can compress the optic nerve and lead to vision loss.
After giving birth, her vision remained poor and the size of the pituitary mass was unchanged.
Surgeons removed the tumour through her nose a month after she had given birth. They confirmed it to be a PRL. Her vision returned.
Dr Caroline Annette Erika Bachmeier and team revealed she is still being regularly followed-up in the endocrinology clinic.
Writing in the journal, the medics said there has only been one other recorded case of a newly diagnosed PRL during pregnancy.
In that case, which wasn’t proven to be a PRL, a 31-year-old woman also suffered vision difficulties in her left eye after 32 weeks of pregnancy.
Writing in the journal, the medics said: ‘Pregnancy may be associated with ocular changes both transient and permanent.
‘The differential diagnoses of visual loss in pregnancy are wide and include enlargement of pituitary adenomas.
‘The pituitary gland enlarges physiologically during pregnancy but this usually does not cause symptoms.’
Prolactinomas – which are benign tumours – are the most commonly encountered pituitary tumours in women of childbearing age.
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