I did have partial empty sella and bit enlarged optic sheath with CSF. It was my first clue to the long journey to diagnoses. I did even show this to my Neuro-Ophthalmologist who thought I was joking because he could not see papilledema. So you are right, if you are leaking a bit of CSF through nose or ears, then the pressure never reaches high enough to cause papilledema therefore, they conclude you do not have high ICP.
My 2019 MRI: Enlarged Optic Nerve Sheath With CSF: The tale-tale sign of raised ICP which gave me the clue to searching what caused it.
My 2019 MRI: Partial Empty Sella: Another sign of raised ICP.
