The Disc at Risk – Page 41 of 47

Comments and Conclusions

• Ischemic optic neuropathy is one of the leading causes of impaired vision and blindness.¹ Our patient has the most prevalent form, non-arteritic anterior Ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION), which occurs in 10 out of 100,000 individuals over the age of 50.¹
• Individuals that take medications at night for hypertension, such as our patient, and have had a NA-AION in one eye should consult with their prescribing physician. Medications taken early in the day reduce the chances of developing nocturnal arterial hypotension, a risk factor for NA-AION. ¹
• The optic disc edema (ODE) typically resolves 7.9 weeks after the onset of vision loss without treatment, however, according to some experts steroid therapy can significantly speed up the resolution of the ODE.^1,7
• Multiple sclerosis (MS) is not supported in this case due to age (average age of onset for MS is 25-55 and patient is 60), patient has no pain in eye movement, and the MRI results were normal.