What is optic papillar edema?

  Optic papillar edema is also known as bruised papillae. It is a passive congestion and edema of the optic nerve papilla without primary inflammation. It appears as optic papilla congestion, bulging and blurred margins under the examiner’s eye. Optic papillar edema is not a truly independent disease, but a common sign of pressure imbalance on both sides of the sieve plate caused by various factors. It is often caused by intracranial, intraocular, and intraorbital, as well as certain systemic diseases.  When intracranial occupying lesions, inflammation, increased cerebrospinal fluid, too small cranial cavity volume (such as acromegaly) or certain serious systemic diseases, such as acute hypertensive disease, renal hypertension, hematologic disease, etc. cause elevated intracranial pressure, or when orbital tumors, abscesses, orbital cellulitis, etc. cause elevated intraorbital pressure, which increases the pressure in the perineural sheath space and causes the drainage of tissue fluid from the optic nerve sheath space to the brain In addition, the central retinal vein, which passes through the sheath space, is compressed, so that the blood flow back to the optic papilla and the vein behind the sieve plate cannot drain from the central retinal vein, causing optic papillary edema. Under normal conditions, the intraocular pressure is higher than the intracranial pressure, and this condition has an important physiological significance, that is, it ensures the flow of tissue fluid from the optic nerve sheath space to the cerebral subarachnoid space, and also allows the blood from the optic papillary vein, to flow to the central retinal vein that passes through the optic nerve sheath space located within the optic nerve sheath space. However, when there is a sudden drop in intraocular pressure, such as penetrating ocular trauma and internal eye surgery, which makes the intracranial pressure relatively higher than the intraocular pressure, this produces an obstruction to the drainage of tissue fluid within the sheath of the optic nerve, as well as an obstruction to venous reflux and the formation of optic papilloid edema.