Optic disc photography and retinal nerve fibre layer photography

What is papilla photography for?

Optic disc photography is a colour photograph of the optic nerve head. It can be used to document existing abnormalities in glaucoma. Such abnormalities can be, for example, marginal haemorrhages on the optic disc, the hollowing out of the optic disc or the colour of the optic disc. For us, such colour photography is the ideal basis for further progression assessments.

What is nerve fibre layer photography?

Nerve fibre layer photography is a red-free photograph of the optic disc itself. In addition, a nerve fibre layer of the retina surrounding the optic disc - the so-called retinal nerve fibre layer, or RNFL for short - is photographed. The visualisation of the RNFL reveals any existing bundle-like defects in this layer particularly well. These are often accompanied by typical visual field defects and can therefore give us more information about the clinical picture.

Good to Know

What is the papilla in the eye?
The optic disc is the beginning of the optic nerve visible to us ophthalmologists at the back of the eye and is also known as the optic nerve head. It consists of special nerve cells, the so-called ganglion cells, which come from the retina and leave the eye bundled together as the optic nerve. Every healthy optic nerve head has a hollow in the centre. If this cavity is large, this can be an indication of the presence of glaucoma. The colour of the optic disc also allows further conclusions to be drawn about its state of health: a pale optic disc is an indicator of impaired optic nerve function. This can be caused by various diseases such as circulatory disorders in the vessels supplying the optic nerve or inflammation that occurs in multiple sclerosis.