Optic disc drusen in tilted disc

To investigate if a congenital anomaly of the head of the optic nerve like such as tilted disc can be a risk factor for the development of optic disc drusen.

The study was performed retrospectively on the files of 47 patients with optic disc drusen. The diagnosis was confirmed by fluorescein angiography and B-scan ultrasonography. The authors examined the fundus photographs and the fluorescein angiographies of these patients looking for the presence of tilted discs.

Two of the 47 patients with optic nerve drusen had tilted discs as well, about twice the expected rate. Both cases presented a parapapillary hemorrhage.

The concomitant presence of tilted disc and optic disc drusen can have a cause-effect relationship. The axonal crowding in a scleral canal of reduced size, as seen in tilted disc, can compress the nerve fibers against the stiff lamina cribrosa, producing a chronic optic neuropathy leading to drusen.