Anatomical factors appear to contribute to the vascular event initiating NAION. Clinically, the number of discs congenitally lacking a physiological cup in eyes with NAION is higher than expected. Presumably, in eyes with NAION, these discs have small scleral openings that crowd the nerve fibers as they pass through the restricted space in the optic disc and lamina cribrosa, thereby predisposing to an ischemic spiral.