Optic disk edema associated with sudden-onset anterior uveitis

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical characteristics and course of optic disk edema (ODE) associated with isolated sudden-onset anterior uveitis.

DESIGN: Interventional, noncomparative retrospective case series.

METHODS: Review of patients with sudden-onset anterior uveitis and concomitant ODE seen in an academic uveitis referral center or a general ophthalmology clinic between August 2001 and November 2002.

RESULTS: A total of eleven eyes of seven patients were included. Optic nerve function was intact in all. Cranial magnetic resonance imaging was normal in four of five and revealed an abnormality not felt to be responsible for the ODE in one. Resolution of anterior uveitis occurred over a mean of 36 days while ODE resolution lagged by a mean of 20 days.

CONCLUSION: Resolution of ODE trailed that of the anterior uveitis by up to 6 weeks. No abnormalities responsible for ODE were found on cranial imaging.