Optic Nerve Damage

After having done a few field vision tests, my opthomologist noticed I was having a hard time seeing certain spots during the test. I went to a specialist who ruled out glaucoma (which my mother has) and said it may have been something congenital but to be sure he is sending me for an MRI to rule out other possibilities.

My question is: what other things could be causing the optic nerve damage. I've also have lattice of the retina in the same eye. I'm a 30 year old female.

Thanks.

[nattymcgee]

I should probably also mention that I'm severly near sighted and have no headaches, or other physical problems. I had a physical recently and all was well - no diabetes, cholesterol was good.

[kg17]

If you are extremely nearsighted, you may have a condition called degenerative or pathological myopia.  Because the eyeball is so long, mechanical stress is put on the retina, causing atrophic damage that can result in blind spots.   Additionally, the optic nerve is often tilted with peripapillary atrophy that can make detection of glaucoma difficult.

You can read about this by googling and search the archives on this forum as there have been extensive discussions on the topic.

Unfortunately, I think that in general, far too many ophthalmologists don't know a a lot about degenerative myopia.  

[kg17]

There is a retinal specialist, Dr. Brian Ward, located in California and affiliated with UCLA, who has a special interest in myopic degeneration and sees patients with this disease.

[nattymcgee]

Thanks for the info! I will see what the MRI says but this helps to ease the anxiety for now. I'll mention it to my doctor.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[russell903]

I have high myopia, and identification of my glaucoma was apparently difficult for my glaucoma specialist in the early stages.  Your comments on the angularity of the optic nerve reminded me of my early stages.  glaucoma specialist thought I just had ocular hypertension.  He is recognized as an international leader in the glaucoma field so I felt relieved.  He prescribed eye drops for the lowering of the IOPs'.  But within six months the glaucoma became very apparent to the 'expert'.  I now am in a mid stage glaucoma after three years of eye drops, SLT and filtration surgeries.  
I certainly agree that many ophthalmologists, even those who are considered expert, often do not diagnose the glaucoma condition properly.  Maybe it's due to those 3-4 minute appointments that are common these days.  I have suffered these three years in part due to poor initial diagnosis and slow reaction by the 'expert'.  He also indicated the disease is 'slow acting'.  I am proof that such a statement is a careless comment to make to any glaucoma patient.  Russell 903

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[nattymcgee]

Thanks for posting your story.

Did you also have an MRI to see what was going on? I'm really scared that I have something like MS and I can't stop worrying about it. I'm hoping the problem is just related to my eye. What did your MRI results indicate?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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[nattymcgee]

Dr. Hagan, can you tell me what the MRI is looking for? I didn't know what questions to ask my Dr during my apt now I'm sick with worry. As mentioned previously I'm healthy, extremely nearsighted with a past diagnosis of lattice degeneration in the same eye.

Your wisdom would be much appreciated to settle my nerves until the MRI results are in.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

I'm not sure it will settle your nerves. Some of the things the MRI is being done for is to rule out strokes, tumors, neurologic disease, pressure on the optic nerves.

Best wait and see what shows up rather than dwelling on the worse it could be.

JCH MD

[nattymcgee]

Thanks. I just wanted an idea of what they were looking for. It does actually make me feel better. Not knowing what's going on is worse.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

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