What Is Papilledema?
6. Disease Process
As stated elsewhere, papilledema begins with brief moments of blurring of vision, flashes of light, and bursts of vision loss. At first, these symptoms come and go within seconds. However, as the intracranial pressure increases further, the patient may experience longer periods of vision blurring, and even impairment of vision.
This happens because the intracranial pressure remains high, or it increases even further, thus compressing the optic nerve and causing increased swelling of the optic disc. If the condition remains untreated, the patient may start getting headaches, feel nauseated, and may even vomit. Ringing in the ears, called tinnitus, may also occur.
Advertisement
