How is optic disc drusen diagnosed?
Since they often lack symptoms, optic nerve drusen are usually found as an incidental finding by your ophthalmologist. They are usually diagnosed during your eye examination. Your ophthalmologist may observe obvious drusen after looking at your optic nerve following pharmacologic dilation.
What is B-scan in eye?
B-scan ultrasonography (USG) is a simple, noninvasive tool for diagnosing lesions of the posterior segment of the eyeball. Common conditions such as cataract, vitreous degeneration, retinal detachment, ocular trauma, choroidal melanoma, and retinoblastoma can be accurately evaluated with this modality.
Is optic disc drusen serious?
The condition can be serious depending on the underlying cause. Though optic nerve drusen and papilledema may appear similar during an eye exam, they’re unrelated. It’s important that a doctor performs an ocular ultrasound and other tests to help differentiate between these two conditions before making a diagnosis.
What is the most reliable technique to detect optic nerve head drusen?
Conclusions Drusen of the optic nerve head are diagnosed most reliably using B-scan echography compared with both preinjection control photography and CT scans.
Can optic disc drusen cause headaches?
Conclusions: Our study suggests that a majority of patients with optic disc drusen have non-specific symptoms such as visual obscurations, visual field defects and headaches despite maintaining good visual acuity. Most of the optic discs appeared abnormal, but visible drusen were observed in less than half.
Can you have drusen without macular degeneration?
Drusen are typically associated with age-related macular degeneration in people over the age of 60; however they can arise as hereditary degenerations in young people. Drusen are a risk factor for macular degeneration but having drusen does NOT mean you have macular degeneration.
What is difference between a-scan and B-scan?
There are two main types of ultrasound used in ophthalmologic practice currently, A-Scan and B-scan. In A-scan, or time-amplitude scan, sound waves are generated at 8 MHz and converted into spikes that correspond with tissue interface zones. In B-scan, or brightness amplitude scan, sound waves are generated at 10 MHz.
What are indications of B-scan?
Indications:
- Posterior segment pathologies through opaque media eg, dense cataract, bleeding in the eye.
- Lens dislocation.
- Tumours.
- Suspected foreign body in the eye.
- Non-dilating fixed pupil, as in uveitis.
- Pupillary membrane.
- Dense cataract.
Is there a cure for optic disc drusen?
There are no proven preventative measures or treatments for optic nerve drusen. Fortunately symptoms are very rare, even if the drusen are severe. For the rare person who has symptomatic vision loss that is not due to a choroidal neovascular membrane, glaucoma drops to lower eye pressure may be tried.
Are drusen always mean macular degeneration?
How common is optic nerve head drusen?
Optic nerve head drusen (ONHD) are globular, often calcified, hyaline bodies located within the optic nerve head. The incidence of ONHD is 3.4 per 1000 in clinical studies; however, a higher rate of 10 to 20 per 1000 has been reported in autopsy studies.
Can optic nerve drusen cause headaches?
What are optic disc drusen?
Optic disc drusen (ODD) are autofluorescent, calcified deposits found in the optic nerve head, and typically occur in small, crowded optic discs.1Their prevalence ranges from 3.4 to 24 per 1,000 according to clinical studies and 1-2.4% in histological studies.2,3,4The prevalence of ODD is higher in women and involvement is usually bilateral.5,6
How is visual field loss diagnosed in patients with optic disc drusen?
Visual field loss may also be seen gradually, and it has been estimated that a quarter of patient of patients with optic disc drusen have a visual field defect other than an enlarged blind spot If the optic disc drusen are superficial, this can aid in diagnosis during the dilated fundus exam.
What is the prevalence of transient visual obscurations in optic disc drusen?
Rarely, they can have transient visual obscurations (approximately 9% of patients) . Visual field loss may also be seen gradually, and it has been estimated that a quarter of patient of patients with optic disc drusen have a visual field defect other than an enlarged blind spot
How is drusen detected on a CT scan?
CT scan: Superior to MRI for detection of drusen. Calcium produces bright signal at junction of the posterior globe and optic nerve on a CT scan.
