Normalization of retinal nerve fiber layer with stratus optical coherence tomography after bilateral diabetic papillopathy.

Background: Diabetic papillopathy is a benign optic neuropathy with a favorable predictable visual outcome, found in Type 1 and Type 2 patients with diabetes mellitus. The condition manifests with optic disc edema and minimal optic nerve dyfunction. Previous reports have described several similarities between diabetic papillopathy and non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; however, there are clinical differences that make them unique conditions;

Case report: A 62 year old Caucasian male with Type 2 diabetes manifested bilateral optic disc edema without visual dysfunction. The patient was diagnosed with diabetic papillopathy after an extensive systemic evaluation which did not reveal any contributory etiologies. The patient was followed with serial retinal nerve fiber layer scans using optical coherence tomography over the course of one year. The optical coherence tomography measurements demonstrate normalization of retinal nerve fiber layer following optic disc edema resolution;

Conclusions: Presented is a case report demonstrated the normalization of retinal nerve fiber layer following bilateral diabetic papillopathy. The use of optical coherence tomography is helpful in both documenting progression and differentiating from similar clinical entities.