August 2026

OPHTHALMOLOGY

CICATRICIAL OPHTHALMOPLEGIA DUE TO GRANULOMATOSIS WITH POLYANGIITIS

A patient with granulomatosis with polyangiitis presented with severe orbital involvement caused by chronic sinus inflammation. Over time, inflammatory destruction of the bony orbit allowed scar tissue to extend into the eye socket and adhere to the extraocular muscles, resulting in restricted eye movement, globe recession and loss of functional vision.

After a surgery at Northwestern Medicine on the right eye that restored alignment and vision, Nicholas J. Volpe, MD, and Liza M. Cohen, MD, performed a correction of the left eye using a combined conjunctival and endoscopic nasal approach. They released scar tissue involving the medial and inferior rectus muscles, which was necessary due to extensive anatomic distortion and a large fistula between the orbit and nasal cavity.
Nicholas J. Volpe, MD, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, and George W. and Edwina S. Tarry Professor of Ophthalmology at Northwestern Medicine
Liza M. Cohen, MD, Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at Northwestern Medicine 

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