Choked disc, optic neuritis, and papilloedema

Abstract

Before the invention of the ophthalmoscope in 1851, doctors were neither able to recognise papilloedema nor to diagnose accurately intracranial hypertension, malignant hypertension and inflammatory and systemic disorders affecting the optic fundus. This paper seeks to uncover early descriptions and experiments that tried to unravel the causes of the swollen optic disc, its mechanism and its clinical significance. Papilloedema is a purely descriptive name that requires the underlying cause to be specified.