Ultrasound assessment of optic disc edema in patients with headache.
Point-of-care ocular ultrasonography is emerging as a powerful tool to evaluate emergency department (ED) patients at risk for ophthalmologic and intracranial pathology.We present cases of 3 patients in whom optic disc swelling was identified using ocular ultrasound. Causes for optic disc swelling in our patients included idiopathic intracranial hypertension, secondary syphilis, and malignant hypertension with associated hypertensive retinopathy. Because direct visualization of the optic disc may be challenging in an ED setting, ultrasound examination of the optic disc may represent an important adjunct to fundoscopy when assessing patients with headache or visual complaints.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Rhode Island Hospital, Providence, RI, USA. siri.daulaire@gmail.com
Siri
S
Daulaire
Lauren
L
Fine
Margaret
M
Salmon
Catherine
C
Cummings
Otto
O
Liebmann
Sachita
S
Shah
Nathan
N
Teismann
D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D006974:Hypertension, Malignant / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D010211:Papilledema / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000209:etiology; D019095:Point-of-Care Systems; D011559:Pseudotumor Cerebri / Q000150:complications; D013587:Syphilis / Q000150:complications; D014463:Ultrasonography; D055815:Young Adult