[Sudden papilledema of unclear origin]

A 44-year-old patient with a known history of Crohn's disease come to our clinic with unilateral vision impairment, orbital pain, and papillary swelling. The patient was treated with methylprednisolone for 5 days. Differential diagnosis excluded ischemic, inflammatory, and tumor-related causes of the papillary swelling, which was more likely to be due to papillitis associated with the known presence of Crohn's disease. Under steroid treatment visual acuity increased from 0.1 to 0.5, and an evident improvement of the ophthalmological and neurological findings was observed. Papillitis in conjunction with Crohn's disease is a rare cause of papillary swelling and should be taken into consideration during differential diagnosis. The disorder responds to steroid therapy but does not avoid irreversible damage.