Diagnosing Optic Disc Drusen in the Modern Imaging Era: A Practical Approach

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Optic disc drusen (ODD) present as an elevated optic disc, sometimes requiring advanced imaging for diagnosis.
• Accurate ODD diagnosis is crucial to avoid unnecessary invasive investigations for conditions like raised intracranial pressure.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the role of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in diagnosing and managing optic disc drusen.
• To provide a practical guide for optimizing OCT use in clinical settings for ODD detection.

Main Methods:

• Review of established and emerging optical coherence tomography (OCT) techniques.
• Discussion of OCT's advantages over other imaging modalities for ODD diagnosis.
• Exploration of enhanced depth imaging OCT and swept source OCT for improved resolution.

Main Results:

• OCT offers advantages in correlating neuroaxonal structure with drusen characteristics.
• Modern OCT techniques (enhanced depth imaging, swept source) provide higher resolution of optic nerve head structures.
• OCT angiography shows potential for complementary microvascular information.

Conclusions:

• OCT is a valuable tool for diagnosing and managing optic disc drusen.
• Advances in OCT enhance diagnostic accuracy and understanding of structure-function correlations in ODD.
• OCT facilitates earlier and more accurate ODD diagnosis, reducing unnecessary patient investigations.