On the Association of Sclerosis of the Cerebral Basal Vessels with Optic Atrophy and Cupping: Report of 10 Cases.

Abstract

Optic atrophy with excavation of the disk and especially with marginal cupping, as seen in glaucoma, is a puzzling condition when the intra-ocular tension is persistently low. In these cases a diagnosis of glaucoma is generally made notwithstanding the subnormal tension. This curious and contradictory condition has been explained in the following ways : Some authors believe that during a preceding stage the tension has been sufficiently raised to cause cupping, but that now the tension is permanently low. E. Fuchs 1 suggested that the lamina cribrosa in these cases is particularly weak, for some unknown reason, and cannot resist even the usual normal pressure. He did not believe that a simple optic atrophy appears from the beginning with a deep excavation and nasally displaced blood vessels, and thought it more likely that a combination of optic atrophy and glaucoma simplex is present. Elschnig 2 denied the weakness of