Arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy
- 2 min read
- 4 chapters
Related on Lably
Through Blood vessel
Symptoms
Sudden visual loss is the most common symptom in AAION, and is most often accompanied by other symptoms of temporal arteritis: such as jaw claudication, scalp tenderness, unintentional weight loss, fatigue, myalgias and loss of appetite. A related disease called polymyalgia rheumatica has a 15 percent incidence of giant cell arteritis.
Sign in to keep reading
3 more chapters are free with a Lably account.
Cause
AAION is almost always caused by temporal arteritis (also known as giant cell arteritis). In rare cases, AAION may be caused by other types of vasculitis, such as polyarteritis nodosa, systemic lupus erythematosus and herpes zoster. In AAION, the posterior ciliary artery becomes inflamed which results in a thrombotic occlusion of the main blood supply to the optic nerve head with a risk of visual loss in the affected eye or eyes.
Diagnosis
Diagnosis is primarily made by examination by an ophthalmologist. The diagnosis may be suspected in people with visual loss or amaurosis fugax. AAION occurs in elderly and late middle-aged people. Certain blood tests are usually elevated which may help identify AAION as part of temporal arteritis: erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) and C-reactive protein (CRP).
Treatment
AAION requires urgent intervention with a very long course of corticosteroids to prevent further damage.