what is a drosen?

[lovingmother3]

My 11 year old son was told he has drosens, they think that is what is causing his optic nerves to appear swollin. Is this normal? They did a B-Scan to confirm. His Dr. did not explain what a drosen was, or what causes them.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

There are macular drusen which in turn are either "hard" or "soft". Optic nerve drusen are differnt.they look like rock candy crystals in the optic nerve substance. They are felt to be condensations of fluid from within the optic nerve that leak outside and crystlize. There is no treatment for them. AUsually they do not cause problems. In some people with huge amounts they cause loss of peripheral vision.

Go to Google IMAGES and type in optic nerve drusen to see what they look like

JCH MD