The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) awarded Dr. Athos Patsalides and Dr. David Dinkin the 2017 J. Lawton Smith Award for the best original contribution. Their paper, Venous Sinus Stenting in Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension: Results of a Prospective Trial, was published in NANOS’s official Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology in 2016 and sought to evaluate the safety and efficacy of stenting in patients with venous sinus stenosis, a narrowing of the veins in the brain.
Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH, also known as pseudotumor cerebri) is characterized by high pressure in the cerebrospinal fluid around the brain and causes symptoms including headache, blurred or double vision, and ringing in the ears (tinnitus). Treatment options for IIH have been medication to lower the intracranial pressure and surgical placement of a shunt to drain cerebrospinal fluid. A majority of patients did not respond to these treatments and some experienced side effects that impaired their quality of life.
During their prospective trial, Drs. Dinkin and Patsalides evaluated 13 patients with IIH whose brain scans showed venous sinus stenosis – a narrowing in one or more of the veins that drain CSF from the brain. After undergoing the stenting procedure to correct that stenosis, 85 percent of patients experienced improvement or even complete resolution of their symptoms. At the end of the trial, Drs. Dinkin and Patsalides concluded that their procedure was safe and effective, and today they routinely perform the procedure to relieve IIH.
The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society is a professional organization comprised of more than 600 fully trained ophthalmologists or neurologists. It serves to promote the field of neuro-ophthalmology by supporting research, education, and by fostering clinical expertise. It publishes the Journal of Neuro-Ophthalmology quarterly and features topical reviews, insightful abstracts, and short series reports.
The award’s namesake, J. Lawton Smith, was one of the founders of NANOS. He was the professor emeritus of ophthalmology at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute at the University of Miami School of Medicine and was one of the most influential ophthalmologists in the world.
