OCT

Question 1

What is OCT?

Answer 1

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a non-invasive imaging test. OCT uses light waves to take cross-section pictures of your retina.

Question 2

With OCT, your ophthalmologist can see

Answer 2

each of the retina’s distinctive layers

Question 3

OCT showing each distinctive layer of the retina, allows your ophthalmologist to

Answer 3

map and measure their thickness. These measurements help with diagnosis. They also provide treatment guidance for glaucoma and diseases of the retina.

Question 4

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a problem with your retina. It happens when

Answer 4

a part of the retina called the macula is damaged.

Question 5

With AMD you lose your

Answer 5

central vision

Question 6

with AMD, you cannot see

Answer 6

fine details, whether you are looking at something close or far. But your peripheral (side) vision will still be normal.

Question 7

AMD is very common. It is a leading cause of vision loss in

Answer 7

people 50 years or older

Question 8

About 80% (8 out of 10) of people who have AMD have the ____ form.

Answer 8

dry

Question 9

Dry AMD is

Answer 9

when parts of the macula get thinner with age and tiny clumps of protein called drusen grow. You slowly lose central vision. There is no way to treat dry AMD yet.

Question 10

Wet AMD is when

Answer 10

new, abnormal blood vessels grow under the retina. These vessels may leak blood or other fluids, causing scarring of the macula

Question 11

You lose vision faster with ____ AMD than with ___ AMD.

Answer 11

You lose vision faster with wet AMD than with dry AMD.

Question 12

Many people don’t realize they have AMD until

Answer 12

their vision is very blurry.

Question 13

You are more likely to develop AMD if you:

Answer 13

eat a diet high in saturated fat (found in foods like meat, butter, and cheese)
are overweight
smoke cigarettes
are over 50 years old
have hypertension (high blood pressure)
have a family history of AMD

Question 14

Right now, there is no way to treat the dry form of AMD. However people with lots of drusen or serious vision loss might benefit from taking

Answer 14

a certain combination of nutritional supplements. people may slow their dry AMD by taking these vitamins and minerals daily:
Vitamin C (500 mg)
Vitamin E (400 IU)
Lutein (10 mg)
Zeaxanthin (2 mg)
Zinc (80 mg)
Copper (2 mg)

Question 15

To help treat wet AMD, there are medications

Answer 15

called anti-VEGF drugs. Anti-VEGF treatment helps reduce the number of abnormal blood vessels in your retina. It also slows any leaking from blood vessels. This medicine is delivered to your eye through a very slender needle. Laser surgery may also be used to treat some types of wet AMD. Your eye surgeon shines a laser light beam on the abnormal blood vessels. This reduces the number of vessels and slows their leaking.

Question 16

People with diabetes can have an eye disease called diabetic retinopathy. This is when

Answer 16

high blood sugar levels cause damage to blood vessels in the retina. These blood vessels can swell and leak. Or they can close, stopping blood from passing through. Sometimes abnormal new blood vessels grow on the retina. All of these changes can steal your vision.

Question 17

NPDR (non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy)

Answer 17

This is the early stage of diabetic eye disease. Many people with diabetes have it.

Question 18

With NPDR, tiny blood vessels

Answer 18

leak, making the retina swell. When the macula swells, it is called macular edema. This is the most common reason why people with diabetes lose their vision.

Question 19

Also with NPDR, blood vessels in the retina can close off. This is called

Answer 19

macular ischemia. When that happens, blood cannot reach the macula. Sometimes tiny particles called exudates can form in the retina. These can affect your vision too.

Question 20

PDR (proliferative diabetic retinopathy)

Answer 20

PDR is the more advanced stage of diabetic eye disease

Question 21

Papilledema is

Answer 21

the swelling of the optic nerve as it enters the back of the eye due to raised intracranial pressure

Question 22

When you have a headache or unexplained nausea and vomiting, your doctor will look into your eye with an ophthalmoscope. Changes in the appearance of the optic nerve and the blood vessels that pass through it can be seen through the ophthalmoscope and might be related

Answer 22

to the source of your symptoms. The anatomy of the optic nerve makes it a sensitive marker for problems inside the brain.

Question 23

optic nerve’s whole surface is bathed in cerebral spinal fluid. This fluid protects

Answer 23

the nerve from sudden movement.

Question 24

even slight increases in the pressure of this fluid, from swelling of the brain, can compress the optic nerve around its whole circumference in a

Answer 24

“choking” manner

Question 25

When the optic nerve is exposed to high pressure, or when it develops inflammation on its own, it can .

Answer 25

bulge into the back wall of the eyeball, causing papilledema

Question 26

The term papilledema ideally should be reserved for

Answer 26

swelling of the nerve head when the swelling is caused by elevated intracranial pressure. Other conditions can have a similar appearance to papilledema caused by high intracranial pressure.

Question 27

Some important causes of increased pressure from cerebral spinal fluid and papilledema are

Answer 27

brain tumors and brain infections, such as a brain abscess, meningitis or encephalitis.

Question 28

A significant proportion of people who are diagnosed with brain tumors have some evidence of

Answer 28

papilledema.

Question 29

One condition can cause increased pressure in the cerebral spinal fluid without associated swelling of the brain or ventricles. This condition, called idiopathic intracranial hypertension or pseudotumor cerebri, is caused when

Answer 29

the body makes too much spinal fluid. It is more common in women who are obese and of childbearing age. The condition seems to be triggered at times that the body is adjusting to hormone changes, such as pregnancy, the start of birth control pills, the first menstrual period, or menopause.

Question 30

Symptoms related to papilledema caused by increased pressure include

Answer 30

headache and nausea with vomiting and a machinery-like sound.

Question 31

Twenty-five percent of people with advanced severe papilledema also will develop some visual symptoms. Typically, the visual changes are

Answer 31

recurring brief episodes lasting less than 30 seconds in which the vision turns gray or blacks, sometimes described as if a veil has fallen over the eyes. The symptoms usually affect both eyes at once. Visual blackouts often are triggered by a change in position, such as by standing up very suddenly, or they may be triggered by coughing or straining in the chest or abdomen. Occasionally, people with papilledema can have an experience of flashing lights, often seen in an arc shape. Other visual changes occur over time, including a smaller field of vision with a larger blind spot and, ultimately, blindness, if successful treatment is not given.

Question 32

If the optic disc appears elevated and has a blurred outside edge, your doctor can diagnose

Answer 32

papilledema

Question 33

The pressure within the nerve can cause the draining veins in your eye to become

Answer 33

congested

Question 34

When papilledema is severe,

Answer 34

small red spots from local bleeding or spotty color changes on the retina from accumulated debris or from damaged retina cells may be seen

Question 35

Papilledema causes each eye to have

Answer 35

a wider blind spot near the nose, and it narrows the peripheral (edge) vision

Question 36

After the cause of papilledema is identified and treated, and any pressure increase in the spinal fluid has returned to normal, optic disk swelling gradually will go away over

Answer 36

six to eight weeks