Study wrapper · #1327
GLP-1 receptor agonist exposure and non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy: an illustrative case.
Editor's note
What makes this case notable is the patient profile rather than the event itself: NAION is more typically seen in older patients with vascular risk factors, and this woman had neither diabetes nor hypertension. The workup was thorough and appropriately excluded the main alternatives, but a single report with a short exposure window can only generate hypotheses — the authors say so explicitly. It sits alongside a growing body of pharmacovigilance and cohort signals on GLP-1 agonists and optic neuropathy, and the practical takeaway for readers is that sudden painless vision loss warrants prompt assessment rather than watchful waiting.
Plain-language abstract
A 37-year-old woman with obesity and insulin resistance, but no diabetes or high blood pressure, lost vision painlessly in one eye after three weekly semaglutide doses. Imaging and field testing confirmed non-arteritic anterior ischaemic optic neuropathy, a form of optic nerve injury from reduced blood supply, and the workup ruled out inflammatory, infectious, arteritic, and compressive causes. Three months later the optic disc swelling had settled but the visual field loss remained. A single case cannot establish that the drug caused it.