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. 1978 Jan;62(1):7–15. doi: 10.1136/bjo.62.1.7

Spectrum of optic nerve hypoplasia.

L Frisén, L Holmegaard
PMCID: PMC1043129  PMID: 629914

Abstract

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.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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