Starting in May of this year, I began to experience vision loss in my right eye. The loss appears as a heavy fog that started in the lower left quadrant of my visual field and proceeded to encompass most of the field over the next three months. I have slight pain that seems to be directly behind my right eye but sometimes also seems to be behind my left eye. After having tests that included MRIs of my brain and eyes, blood work and a full chest x-ray, I was told that I had optic disc edema and the underlying cause was not known. After researching eye conditions on my own I found information on papilledema that said that even though this condition is usually bilateral, there are cases when it occurs only in one eye. Since so far I only have the loss in one eye, papilledema was ruled out.
Within the last several years, a first cousin of mine was successfully treated for bilateral papilledema. Might this be a hereditary condition which in my case happens to be unilateral? My vision seems to be worse when I awake in the morning and seems to be affected by the position I am in during sleep. I also am experiencing what feel like sinus headaches. Although the headaches are not severe and don’t occur frequently, I have rarely had sinus headaches in the past. I also experience tinnitus.
Any suggestions and advice would be appreciated.
Answered by: Maria/MDHealthForum.com Team
Papilledema is a condition characterized by the swelling of the optic nerve due to increased brain pressure. Volume changes in the intracranial contents: blood, brain and cerebrospinal fluid, affect the pressure exerted on the skull. Swelling is a normal response to injury, for example, if a person sprains his foot, symptoms of inflammation will be physically obvious- you can see redness and swelling of the affected foot. However, in brain injuries, the brain tissue is barely allowed to expand because it is enclosed in a rigid cavity: the skull. In this case the pressure in the intracranial cavity is increased. There are quite a number of health conditions that are known to cause an increase in intracranial pressure, these include tumors, Arnold-Chiari malformation, craniosynostosis, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, intracranial abscess, hepatic failure and arachnoid cysts.
Generally, in patients with papilledema, the doctors address the condition that has been causing the increased ICP. I’ve read from Neurology.org website about a study on unilateral papilledema which was done by a group of specialists led by Dr. Huna-Baron. They found 10 out of 15 patients with symptoms of unilateral papilledema had idiopathic intracranial hypertension. The symptoms of IDH are headache, nausea, vomiting, pulsatile tinnitus, double vision and visual symptoms. This will cause vision loss and swelling of the optic disk if left untreated. I also found some case reports on familial idiopathic intracranial hypertension but they were of first degree relatives (parent and child). The diagnostic procedures include, CT scan, MRI and lumbar puncture.
The symptoms that you have been currently experiencing should prompt you to seek medical care. A doctor’s assessment and diagnostic tests are very important in formulating a treatment plan.
Source:
Unilateral swollen disc due to increased intracranial pressure
R. Huna–Baron, MD;, K. Landau, MD;, M. Rosenberg, MD;, F. A. Warren, MD; and M. J. Kupersmith, M
Tags: eyes, Headache, papilledema, tinnitus, vision changes, vision loss
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