The usefulness of multimodal imaging for differentiating pseudopapilloedema and true swelling of the optic nerve head: a review and case series.

Ophthalmic practitioners have to make a critical differential diagnosis in cases of an elevated optic nerve head. They have to discriminate between pseudopapilloedema (benign elevation of the optic nerve head) and true swelling of the optic nerve head. This decision has significant implications for appropriate patient management. Assessment of the optic disc prior to the advanced imaging techniques that are available today (particularly spectral domain optical coherence tomography and fundus autofluorescence), has mainly used diagnostic tools, such as funduscopy and retinal photography. As these traditional methods rely on the subjective assessment by the clinician, evaluation of the elevated optic nerve head to differentiate pseudopapilloedema from true swelling of the optic nerve head can be a challenge in clinical practice with patients typically referred for further neuroimaging investigation when the diagnosis is uncertain. The use of multimodal ocular imaging tools such as spectral domain optical coherence tomography, short wavelength fundus autofluorescence and ultrasonography, can potentially aid in the differentiation of pseudopapilloedema from true swelling of the optic nerve head, in conjunction with other clinical findings. By doing so, unnecessary patient costs and anxiety in the case of pseudopapilloedema can be reduced, and appropriate urgent referral and management in the case of true swelling of the optic nerve head can be initiated.