Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy (AION)

CLINICAL CLASSIFICATION OF AION

AION is of two types^23,30,36, depending on what causes it:

HOW AION IS DIAGNOSED

To make a correct diagnosis of AION and its type, the doctor needs to find out all the required information. He/she might ask the following questions, because loss of vision due to AION may be the first symptom of, or a complication of other diseases.

QUESTIONS FOR PATIENTS WITH AION

• Was the loss of vision sudden or gradual?
• If the visual loss came on suddenly, at what time of the day did the patient discover it?
• Was there temporary blurring or loss of vision before the visual loss?
• Has the visual loss been stable since first discovery, or got better or worse?
• Is the patient diabetic?
• Has the patient had any heart trouble, stroke, high blood pressure, low blood pressure or shock, recent cardiovascular surgery or cataract surgery, or excessive bleeding?
• Does the patient or anyone in the patient's family have glaucoma?
• Does the patient smoke?
• Is the patient on low blood pressure medication? If so, which drug(s), how often and what time of the day?
• Women will be asked about use of birth control pills or estrogens used after menopause.

About 80% patients with AION due to giant cell arteritis will have felt generally unwell for some time.^46,49 This is a disease of persons aged 55 years or older.⁴⁶ But some patients may have a feeling of "euphoria," or well-being, so that they are quite unconcerned about their loss of vision and even insist they can see quite well when it is clear that they can't. Patients feeling like this may want to refuse treatment aimed at stopping the progress of giant cell arteritis and blindness, so it is important to have the co-operation and understanding of all family members. To help determine if giant cell arteritis is present, a physician will want to know about the following problems:

• Headaches
• Pain in the temples and/or neck
• Scalp tenderness
• Pain while chewing food
• Loss of appetite
• Loss of weight
• Unusual fatigue or sleepiness
• Muscular aches and pains
• Regarding the loss of vision, the doctor might ask the same questions as those listed above in non-arteritic AION.

Contents | Back | Next