“What is enlarged optic nerve in children?”
My son is 7 and he had his first visit to his eye doctor. He was having problems with headaches so I thought this was a sign that he needed glasses. Well he does and his vision is bad, but we also found out that the optic nerves in his eyes were elevated. What does this mean?
8 Answers
He needs to see a pediatric ophthalmologist.
This can be a sign of increased intracranial pressure. An oct of the nerve will determine if the nerve is normal or physiological elevation or there is a problem causing his headaches which needs further evaluation
I wonder if you mean your son has increased intraocular pressure such as is found in glaucoma or enlarged optic nerves - that may be a normal variant, mistaken for drusen or myopia or even associated with neural tumors, etc.? Please have your child be evaluated by an EyeMD ophthalmologist and ask these questions for clarity.
Swollen, elevated optic nerve heads can be indicative of increased intracranial pressure. This is known as papilledema. However, most of these are actually pseudopapilledema, which is a benign condition caused by congenital deposits in the optic nerve. A pediatric ophthalmologist should be able to tell the difference by exam, and work up if necessary.
Could be a variation of normal or could be papilledema, which is a sign of increased intracranial pressure that needs urgent testing. I recommend seeing a pediatric MD ophthalmologist as soon as possible. He or she can arrange further testing if needed.
This could either be serious or it could mean that the swelling is not real, but what’s called pseudo. He needs further investigations, which would include OCTs of his optic nerves and possibly neuro-imaging.
Congenital enlarged optic nerve cups. Check for eye pressure and visual fields to exclude glaucoma.
It may be an anomaly of the optic nerve, i.e., something he was born with. I would definitely seek the opinion of a neuro-ophthalmologist as it could be true optic nerve swelling, which mandates imaging.
