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Optic disc edema with a macular star (ODEMS) (1)

This 5-year-old white female failed a school vision screening for her left eye. The patient's ocular and medical history was unremarkable. The visual acuity is 20/20 for the right eye. Testing over a 1-week period showed the best visual acuity for the left eye fluctuating from 20/80 to 20/300. Two weeks later, the best visual acuity for the left eye was 20/50. Over the course of the next few weeks, the vision in the left eye returned to normal. It is important to understand that the acuity reduction is due to the optic nerve edema, not the macular star. This macular exudative pattern is fully formed 360 degrees; however, they often present only partially formed, ie, a partial star. (Contributed by Dr. James Walters.)

Associated Disorders

  • Bassen-Kornzweig disease
  • Cushing syndrome
  • Kearns-Sayre syndrome
  • Lawrence-Moon-Biedl syndrome
  • Mitochondrial encephalopathy with lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS)
  • Ocular paraneoplastic syndromes
  • Refsum disease
  • Usher syndrome
  • gastroesophageal reflux disease
  • posterior vitreous detachment
  • retinal detachment
  • systemic arterial hypertension
  • systemic lupus erythematosus