Measurements of eye distortions caused by elevated intracranial pressure

We have measured the optical disc region in the eye of patients with elevated intracranial pressure (ICP). We used a scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO), which gives a digital measure of the topology. We formulated two measures of the swelling caused by high ICP (called papilledema): 1) depth of the optic disc, and 2) average mean diameter of the swelling. We show that these quantitative evaluations vary systematically with a physicians qualitative grading of the severity of the papilledema.