Walsh & Hoyt: Pre-AION Optic Disc Edema

Patients may develop disc swelling from NAION before they have any visual symptoms. In such cases, the patient may be thought to have papilledema or a compressive optic neuropathy from an orbital mass. Often, however, the asymptomatic disc swelling is noted in the fellow eye of a patient with a history of a previous attack of NAION, and the diagnosis is less confusing