Drusen & Flight Surgery

[MaximusD]

During the fall of 2010 while rotating at WHMC/BAMC for Anesthesia, I was diagnosed with Drusen in my left eye as an incidental finding during a routine optometry examination for corrective lenses. During the process of preparing to get a Class II Flight Physical, I have been informed that this is a disqualifying condition.

Does anyone know whether MAJCOM will waive this condition and qualify me for flight medicine duty?I have no functional deficits and no confirmed visual field defects. My vision corrects to 20/20.

I am very concerned because the GMO billeting has already taken place, and I will get the leftover scraps should I be dq'd from FS.

Any thoughts or words of wisdom? Will this be waived?

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[Mirror Form]

During the fall of 2010 while rotating at WHMC/BAMC for Anesthesia, I was diagnosed with Drusen in my left eye as an incidental finding during a routine optometry examination for corrective lenses. During the process of preparing to get a Class II Flight Physical, I have been informed that this is a disqualifying condition.

Does anyone know whether MAJCOM will waive this condition and qualify me for flight medicine duty?I have no functional deficits and no confirmed visual field defects. My vision corrects to 20/20.

I am very concerned because the GMO billeting has already taken place, and I will get the leftover scraps should I be dq'd from FS.

Any thoughts or words of wisdom? Will this be waived?

You probably hardly even have any drusen. More likely it was just some newbie optometrist that doesn't understand how stupid it is to over-document.

 

[lama]

They'll want to monitor it every 2-3 years, but you'll get the waiver.

 

[orbitsurgMD]

During the fall of 2010 while rotating at WHMC/BAMC for Anesthesia, I was diagnosed with Drusen in my left eye as an incidental finding during a routine optometry examination for corrective lenses. During the process of preparing to get a Class II Flight Physical, I have been informed that this is a disqualifying condition.

Does anyone know whether MAJCOM will waive this condition and qualify me for flight medicine duty?I have no functional deficits and no confirmed visual field defects. My vision corrects to 20/20.

I am very concerned because the GMO billeting has already taken place, and I will get the leftover scraps should I be dq'd from FS.

Any thoughts or words of wisdom? Will this be waived?

I would get a second opinion from a BC ophthalmologist. I am not sure what kind of drusen you are referring to (guessing ONH, not macular) as the term is used to describe different entities. If ONH, and not visible, it ought to be verified by a B-scan. If plainly visible on exam, then by disc photography. Either way, you should have a baseline perimetry (24-2 is fine). This should not be an issue requiring even a waiver unless you have field defects. Even then, since the finding is typically very stable, bi-annual fields for a couple of cycles should be all that is necessary for surveillance.

Unless as an examiner you have rocks in your noggin, drusen should be a non-issue.

 

[MaximusD]

I thought I would go ahead and attach the Optic Nerve Drusen waiver guide for completion sake.

An interesting statistic:

"A review of AIMWTS through Jan 2011 showed 98 cases of optic nerve head drusen.
There were 17 FC I/IA cases (16 disqualifications), 44 FC II cases (0 disqualifications),
35 FC III cases (10 disqualifications – all initial FC III cases), and 2 ATC/GBC cases (0
disqualifications). All 26 of the DQ cases were disqualified for the diagnosis of optic
nerve drusen."