Spectrum of optic nerve hypoplasia.
Optic nerve hypoplasia is a non-progressive condition characterised by subnormal vision and a subnormal number of optic nerve axons. It may be unilateral or bilateral, isolated or combined with other defects. Analysis of fundus photographs from a series of 7 patients with a stationary abnormality of different degrees showed that the functional defects could be closely correlated with defects in the retinal nerve fibre layer. Our observations show that the condition has a wide range of both functional and anatomical defects and that a subnormal diameter of the optic disc is not a requisite for the diagnosis. Presumably, there is also a wide variety of causes, not only a primary failure of development of retinal ganglion cells. We suggest that optic nerve hypoplasia can be viewed as a non-specific manifestation of damage to the visual system, sustained any time before its full development.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009898:Optic Disk / Q000473:pathology; D009900:Optic Nerve / Q000002:abnormalities* / Q000473:pathology; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000209:etiology