Diabetic papillopathy: two case reports in individuals with adult onset diabetes mellitus.

BACKGROUND

Diabetic papillopathy is a benign unilateral or bilateral optic neuropathy with transient optic disk edema and minimal reduction in visual function. The optic disk edema typically resolves in a few months with no resulting optic atrophy and minimal or no decrease in acuity. The exact etiology of the disk edema is unknown, but theories include retinal vascular leakage into and surrounding the optic nerve and disruption of axoplasmic flow resulting from microvascular disease of the optic nerve head vasculature.

CASE REPORTS

Two adult patients receiving insulin for type II diabetes mellitus manifested bilateral disk edema and minimal visual dysfunction. Both patients showed funduscopic evidence of mild-to-moderate nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy O.D. and O.S., and one patient had clinically significant macular edema in both eyes. The diagnosis in both cases was diabetic papillopathy. Both patients had significant resolution of their disk edema in 3 to 6 months, with stable acuities and no signs of optic atrophy.

CONCLUSIONS

Although diabetic papillopathy is a well-known clinical entity in patients with type I diabetes, the clinical profile can be expanded to include individuals with type II diabetes.