What are drusen?

Drusen are yellow lipid deposits that form in Bruch’s membrane in the retina. Bruchs is the layer of tissue (a multilayered basement membrane) that rests between the overlying retina/RPE and the choroidal blood vessels underneath. Drusen can form in this layer and decrease the exchange of nutrition/waste causing atrophic macular degeneration changes.

Now, the term “drusen” is also used to describe calcium rocks that can form in the optic nerve head. This is an entirely different kind of drusen, and can give the illusion of papilledema. You can rule this out with an ultrasound of the eye.