The optic nerve is the means of communicating visual information from the eye to the brain. It helps transport images through electrical impulses and helps the brain use memory amongst many other operations to help identify the subjects or objects present in the environment. This nerve, however, can get damaged over time due to certain conditions that develop disorders that affect vision. These can severely impair your eyesight and hence must be treated at earlier stages to avoid complete loss of eye function.
Optic Nerve Atrophy
ONA is described as a mild to severe damage on the optic nerve that is usually caused by factors such as tumors, trauma, reduced blood supply to the eyes, infections, disorders, or even genetics. This can considerably affect your central, peripheral as well as your color vision. The condition usually develops starting anytime from birth into adulthood and can be diagnosed by an eye specialist using technology.
These methods include magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), visual evoked potential (VEP), optical coherence tomography (OCT), or even electroretinography (ERG) scans. It is necessary to have this condition diagnosed early on, as the damage it entails is irreparable.
Optic Nerve Drusen
This condition is when bumps occur across the surface of the optic nerve that can cause loss of peripheral vision. Optic nerve drusen often goes unnoticed as the symptoms are not as clear as expected and can be found through eye examinations done by your ophthalmologist.
Using optical coherence tomography (OCT), CT scans, ultrasounds, and even angiography, the condition can be diagnosed by your eye doctor. It can lead to a rare complication wherein blood vessels beneath the nerve can grow large, burst, and bleed that can impact your central vision.
Optic Nerve Pit
The nerve pit is a small pocket present beside the optic nerve that protrudes backward when the condition develops in individuals. Although harmless until the effects occur in the late 20s and 30s, the condition can affect one or both eyes.
It is diagnosed using the fundus examination and can cause vision deterioration when liquid accumulates in the macula of the eye. This often cannot reverse the damage as treatments prove to be ineffective for the condition.
Septo-Optic Dysplasia
This refers to the underdevelopment of the optic nerve along with other effects on parts of the brain that can affect your vision considerably. As a result, the optic nerves are so small that vision becomes limited in affected individuals and uncontrolled eye movements also occur. It can either affect one eye alone or even both in some patients.
Papilledema
The most dangerous of the five conditions is the papilledema that is the swelling of the optic nerve due to increased pressure placed by the brain and cerebral spinal fluid that surrounds it. It can cause a multitude of problems that are not limited to vision alone but also extend to the brain and beyond in the form of bleeding, tumors, infections, blockages, inflammations, and even skull abnormalities.
Often identified through severe headaches, double vision, nausea, vomiting and even ringing in the ears, eye hospitals provide treatment depending on the cause of the problem. Surgeries are often used as a form of rectification of the problems, but the damage done can be severe and painful.
At Ebsaar Eye Surgery Center, our doctors have incredible experience and expertise in providing you with the best-sought solution to a large variety of eye problems. To begin your treatment, consult a member of our team and get the condition of your eyes thoroughly checked today.