Hemi-central retinal artery occlusion following methanol toxicity

Objective: To describe a patient with hemi-retinal artery occlusion following methanol toxicity.

Methods: Observational case report.

Results: We report a case presented with an acute altitudinal visual field loss in the right eye following consumption of illicit alcoholic drink. In fundus photography, a well demarcated superior hemi-retinal whitening with foveal sparing was noted. Careful inspection of the optic nerve head in the right eye revealed that there was no main trunk of the central retinal artery anterior to the lamina cribrosa. Two separately emerging superior and inferior arterial trunks were noted. In fundus fluorescein angiography, earlier dye filling in the territory of the superior arterial trunk compared to the inferior arterial trunk was evident.

Conclusion: Hemi-central retinal occlusion may happen as an ocular consequence of methanol toxicity in patients with a proximal bifurcation of the central retinal artery.