[Papilledema and ischemic edema of the optic nerve head]

The authors report an unusual case of two etiologically different forms of the optic nerve head edema consequently occurring in short time interval: ischemic optic nerve edema and papilledema. A 58-year old woman was diagnosed with papilledema in the course of idiopathic intracranial hypertension. After successful treatment both papilledema and subjective symptoms subsided during 5 months. Three months later she was presented with worsening of visual functions in her left eye and anterior ischemic optic neuropathy was diagnosed. On this rare case we would like to emphasize the necessity of proper differential diagnosis of optic nerve head edema in relation with the treatment and prognosis.