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OCT and myopia
Hello,
I have been getting worked up for possible MS since October 2011. I was having some weird symptoms for a while- had an MRI on a very low powered machine (which I plan to repeat on a better machine in 3 months) negative (but I don't trust it because it was such a low-strength Tesla machine) and an LP, which was negative. I was having very strange eye symptoms for a couple of months where I felt like my eyes couldn't coordinate with each other and watching TV, doing anything really, was difficult because it felt off. I also had pain around one eye 1x but it didn't last more than a day or two. I also had some on and off blurring in my eyes (hasn't happened in a while) and also have an issue with my Right eye in teh darkness- I can't see at all out of my right eye, but only when its dark-- and particularly immediately after I looked at something very bright (like a cell phone).
Anyway, I saw an opthomologist in Nov of last year and she did visual fields, which was normal, and an OCT. She said it was abnormal and it "could be because I'm very nearsighted" and wanted me to see a neuro-optho. Went to see a neuro-optho who seemed confident that I had no MS, and that the optho's OCT wasn't as good, and then he did a repeat OCT on his Spectralis machine, and wasn't quite as optomistic when he told me on teh phoen that I had thinning of my optic nerve. I got the actual report which said "decreased peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness superiorly and nasally in teh right eye, and superiorly and inferiorly in the left. THe foveal and macular contours and somewhat flattened and thinned bilaterally. Therefore the patient has mild bilateral optic neuropathies and maculopathies. Clinical correlatino is required."
He told me coudl be 1 of 3 things-- Glaucoma (which he said was unlikely because I had normal eye pressure), MS (great), or because of my myopia. The optho said this too. My contact lens presctipion (not sure if that correlates to myopia correctly), but is: -6.5 in the left eye and -7.5 in the right eye. I know that would probably be considered high myopia, but I've certainly heard of much higher. I saw one doc post on the eye board that myopia wouldn't affect optic nerve unless it was long term myopia and very high -- like -12, -15, which I guess I'm not.
I guess I just want to understand...could this really be because of myopia or are they just trying not to freak me out so much about MS, which I am very very concerned about.
I have been getting worked up for possible MS since October 2011. I was having some weird symptoms for a while- had an MRI on a very low powered machine (which I plan to repeat on a better machine in 3 months) negative (but I don't trust it because it was such a low-strength Tesla machine) and an LP, which was negative. I was having very strange eye symptoms for a couple of months where I felt like my eyes couldn't coordinate with each other and watching TV, doing anything really, was difficult because it felt off. I also had pain around one eye 1x but it didn't last more than a day or two. I also had some on and off blurring in my eyes (hasn't happened in a while) and also have an issue with my Right eye in teh darkness- I can't see at all out of my right eye, but only when its dark-- and particularly immediately after I looked at something very bright (like a cell phone).
Anyway, I saw an opthomologist in Nov of last year and she did visual fields, which was normal, and an OCT. She said it was abnormal and it "could be because I'm very nearsighted" and wanted me to see a neuro-optho. Went to see a neuro-optho who seemed confident that I had no MS, and that the optho's OCT wasn't as good, and then he did a repeat OCT on his Spectralis machine, and wasn't quite as optomistic when he told me on teh phoen that I had thinning of my optic nerve. I got the actual report which said "decreased peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness superiorly and nasally in teh right eye, and superiorly and inferiorly in the left. THe foveal and macular contours and somewhat flattened and thinned bilaterally. Therefore the patient has mild bilateral optic neuropathies and maculopathies. Clinical correlatino is required."
He told me coudl be 1 of 3 things-- Glaucoma (which he said was unlikely because I had normal eye pressure), MS (great), or because of my myopia. The optho said this too. My contact lens presctipion (not sure if that correlates to myopia correctly), but is: -6.5 in the left eye and -7.5 in the right eye. I know that would probably be considered high myopia, but I've certainly heard of much higher. I saw one doc post on the eye board that myopia wouldn't affect optic nerve unless it was long term myopia and very high -- like -12, -15, which I guess I'm not.
I guess I just want to understand...could this really be because of myopia or are they just trying not to freak me out so much about MS, which I am very very concerned about.
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You have had the facts presented quite plainly. The most common cause is likely your myopia or a variant of normal.
JCH MD