World Brain Tumor Day: Brain tumor can take away your eyesight!

Blindness caused by a brain tumor can appear in many ways depending on the type and location of the tumor. Symptoms may include blurred vision, double vision, etc. 

Brain tumors can affect many body functions and one of the most serious problems is blindness. The link between brain tumors and vision loss depends on the location, type, size, and growth rate of the tumor. It is important to understand how brain tumors cause blindness and what damage they can cause so that they can be detected early and treated appropriately.

Dr Kamal Verma, Director of Neurosurgery at Fortis Escorts Hospital, Faridabad, said that the visual pathway of the brain is a network that starts from the eyes and goes up to the occipital lobe located in the back of the brain. Tumors can cause vision loss by compressing or spreading throughout this pathway, the optic nerve, optic chiasm, optic tracts, and visual cortex. For example, optic nerve gliomas are tumors that form specifically on the optic nerve and gradually reduce vision as they grow. Similarly, tumors in the pituitary gland located near the optic chiasm can compress this important junction (where the optic nerves partially cross) causing bitemporal hemianopsia.

Symptoms and signs

Blindness caused by a brain tumor can appear in a variety of ways depending on the type and location of the tumor. Symptoms may include blurred vision, double vision (diplopia), partial vision, or complete blindness in one or both eyes. Patients may also experience visual field cuts, where parts of their field of vision disappear. These symptoms often develop gradually, but can sometimes occur suddenly, especially if the tumor causes sudden pressure changes in the brain.

Treatment

The main goal of treatment is to remove or reduce the size of the tumor to reduce pressure on the visual pathways and prevent further vision loss. The treatment approach depends on the type, size, and location of the tumor, and the patient's overall health. If the tumor is accessible and operable, surgical removal of the tumor is often the first line of treatment. Radiation therapy and chemotherapy may be used to shrink the tumor or treat malignant cases. In addition, targeted therapy and immunotherapy are emerging as promising new approaches to treat certain types of brain tumors.