Unilateral papilledema

Fundus picture – Papilledema
Image by The eyes have it

• Papilledema is usually bilateral (See Why papilledema occurs bilaterally? )
• Under certain special circumstances, papilledema can be unilateral. They are:
  • Foster Kennedy syndrome
    • Intracranial lesions that exert pressure on one optic nerve often leads to unilateral optic atrophy
    • If these lesions are large enough, they may cause increased intracranial tension and papilledema in the opposite eye
    • Seen in :
      • olfactory groove meningiomas
      • frontal lobe tumours
  • Pseudo Foster Kennedy syndrome
    • Increased intracranial pressure with ppre existingunilateral optic atrophy (due to any cause) again results in unilateral papilledema of opposite eye

Frontal lobe tumour – MRI. (Frontal lobe tumours can cause unilateral papilledema)
Image courtesy of Radiopaedia.org (the whole case can be seen here)