Can optic disc drusen cause headaches?

Can optic disc drusen cause headaches?

They are thought to occur due to transient ischemia of the swollen optic nerve head and do not indicate impending blindness. Often there are other symptoms of increased intracranial pressure (e.g., headache).

How do you treat optic nerve drusen?

Optic disc drusen does not require treatment, and patients generally have good visual prognosis. There is currently no effective treatment for patients who have gradual loss of visual fields (some studies have suggested IOP lowering medications).

Can Pseudopapilledema cause headaches?

Patients with true papilledema will often present with progressive headaches, nausea, vomiting, and other neurologic symptoms such as positional headaches, transient visual obscurations (TVOs), pulsatile synchronous tinnitus, and binocular diplopia.

How do you get optic disc drusen?

Optic disc drusen may be inherited or may occur without any family history. Familial drusen are inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, which means your mother or father or child is likely to have the condition. Optic disc drusen are usually not visible at birth and are rarely found in infants and children.

Is optic disc drusen serious?

Optic nerve drusen commonly cause mild side vision loss that can be detected by machines in the doctors office called “visual field” analyzers. The side vision loss is usually not appreciated by patients and not a functional concern. Rarely the drusen can cause severe, noticable side vision loss.

How common is optic nerve head drusen?

HOW COMMON ARE OPTIC NERVE DRUSEN? Optic nerve drusen are estimated to occur in about 1-2% of the population. Many cases go undiagnosed because most patients with drusen experience no visual symptoms.

What causes optic eye drusen?

Optic nerve drusen are abnormal collections of proteins and calcium salts which accumulate in the optic nerve. This can be mistaken for swelling of the optic nerve. The cause is unknown, in some cases this is inherited, while in others it occurs without family history.

Can a swollen optic nerve cause headaches?

Papilledema is a serious medical condition where the optic nerve at the back of the eye becomes swollen. Symptoms can include visual disturbances, headaches, and nausea.

Why do ocular migraines occur?

Ocular migraines are caused by reduced blood flow or spasms of blood vessels in the retina or behind the eye. In an ocular migraine, vision in the affected eye generally returns to normal within an hour. Ocular migraines can be painless or they can occur along with (or following) a migraine headache.

Is disc drusen serious?

Rarely the drusen can cause severe, noticable side vision loss. It would be extremely rare for drusen to cause central vision loss, usually as a result of a “choroidal neovascular membrane,” which is a growth of new blood vessels near the optic nerve. These blood vessels can leak or bleed, causing loss of vision.

Can optic nerve drusen go away?

Most cases of subretinal neovascularization associated with optic disc drusen resolve without treatment and with only mild symptoms. Laser photocoagulation should only be considered in cases if central visual acuity is threatened.

How common is optic disc drusen?

Is there any treatment for optic disc drusen?

Management. Optic disc drusen does not require treatment, and patients generally have good visual prognosis. There is currently no effective treatment for patients who have gradual loss of visual fields (some studies have suggested IOP lowering medications).

What do you need to know about optic nerve drusen?

Consideration of the appearance for optic nerve drusen (i.e. “lumpy-bumpy” appearance, elevation of the nerve head, irregular or blurred margins of the disc) must include consideration of any condition which causes blurring and elevation of the optic nerve head. This is essentially a differential diagnosis for disc swelling.

What to do about visual field loss with drusen?

If visual field loss occurs in the presence of drusen, medication to lower intraocular pressure should be considered. It may be difficult to distinguish optic nerve drusen from progressing glaucoma as the cause based solely on visual field testing (Davis 2003, Auw-Haedrich 2002).

Why is it important to diagnose disc drusen?

Conclusions. Diagnosing disc drusen is critical because of the serious pathology they can mimic, including disc edema. Although typically benign, patients with disc drusen should be monitored on a regular basis to rule out ocular complications, which can be potentially sight threatening.