Purpose: Optic nerve drusen needs to be included in the differential diagnosis of pseudopapilledema. As the identification of this entity by funduscopy may be difficult, ultrasonography has thus become the gold standard for its diagnosis. Severe optic nerve drusen has been correlated with a reduction of the nerve fiber layer measured by optic coherence tomography and with the presence of serious visual field defects. To demonstrate the relationship between extensive optic nerve drusen and visual field defects.
Method: A prospective observational study of the visual fields of a series of 5 patients with severe optic nerve drusen diagnosed by ultrasonography.
Results: Visual field defects of widely differing severity, from inferior nasal quadrant to severe hemivisual field defects, were described in each patient studied.
Conclusions: Visual field defects of diverse severity are common in patients with deep optic nerve drusen. For that reason ultrasonography and/or optical coherence tomography is highly recommended where such visual field defects exist.