BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE
To describe the characteristics of optic nerve head drusen in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images.
PATIENTS AND METHODS
Cross-sectional images of the optic nerve were obtained in seven patients with optic nerve head drusen with Stratus and spectral-domain OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA). These were compared to optic disc photographs, autofluorescence, and echography images. For comparison, these tests were performed on four patients with papilledema and three patients with small optic discs.
RESULTS
Optic nerve head drusen typically elevated the disc surface and appeared as an optically empty cavity, sometimes with a perceptible reflection from the posterior surface. The disc surface was also elevated in cases of papilledema, but had a strong anterior reflectance behind which there was no visible structure. The surface of the small optic nerves was slightly elevated, but with less anterior reflectance.
CONCLUSION
Optic nerves with drusen showed features in these OCT images that were distinct from cases of papilledema or small optic discs.
[Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging 2010;41:83-90.]
AUTHORS
From the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, Florida.
Accepted for publication February 27, 2009.
Presented in part at the 33rd Annual North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society Meeting, February 10-15, 2007, Snowbird, Utah.
Supported in part by an unrestricted grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc., New York, New York; by an NIH center grant P30 EY014801, awarded by the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; and by an unrestricted donation from Zeiss-Meditec-Humphrey, Dublin, California.
Drs. Wester, Fantes, and Lam have no financial or proprietary interest in any of the materials presented herein. Drs. Anderson and Knighton have received research support from and Dr. Anderson has acted as a consultant for Carl Zeiss Meditec. Mr. McSoley participated in an advisory meeting with Carl Zeiss Meditec.
Address correspondence to Sara Tullis Wester, MD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, 900 NW 17th St., Miami, FL 33136.
doi: 10.3928/15428877-20091230-15
