papilledema

[susie__Q]

A Dr. in St. Louis at Washington University told me i have papilledema. The next step was a MRI and a Spinal Tap. Well my MRI came back clear nothing wrong. Also my spianal tap came back clear to. So my question is there something they are missing they can not find a reason for me to have papilledema and its making me very nervous. Is there anything i can do or not do to help?

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

Be certain that you have been seen by a member of the WU department of ophthalmology. Some services such as neurology work up papillema first before consulting an ophthalmologist. I think this is a mistake and the Eye MD should always be consulted to confirm DX

JCH MD

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

Wash U is an extremely good program. You could have false papilledema " pseudopapilledema" due to any number of causes such as  buried drusen or you could have pseudotumor cerebri

They will come up with something. You can always ask to see the neuroophthalmologists at WU

JCH MD