Short Reports
Congenital optic tract hypoplasia

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We report a case of isolated unilateral optic tract hypoplasia, described only twice previously. Bilateral optic disk hypoplasia was seen ophthalmoscopically and visual field studies showed an incongruous right homonymous hemianopia. Magnetic resonance imaging showed bilateral hypoplasia of both optic nerves and the left optic tract. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography mapping correlated well with the visual field studies.

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Case Report

A 4-year-old boy was referred to the Osaka Medical Center and Research Institute for Maternal and Child Health for evaluation of nystagmus. On examination, he had a right hemianopia by Goldmann perimetry. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed left optic tract hypoplasia. At the age of 19 years, we undertook further investigations. On examination, his corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/50 in the left eye. The pupillary light reflex was normal, with no relative afferent

Discussion

Congenital optic tract hypoplasia is rare. None of the 21 patients of Savino and colleauges1 or the 10 optic tract syndrome cases of Newman and colleagues2 were congenital. The majority of optic tract abnormalities are acquired.3 They are usually ascribed to tumor, hemorrhage, aneurism, and demyelinating disease; some are associated with anophthalmos. To our knowledge, there are only 2 reports of isolated congenital optic tract aplasia or hypoplasia.4, 5 Both cases were unilateral. One case4

Literature Search

PubMed was searched, without language or date restriction, on September 23, 2014, using the following terms: optic tract, hypoplasia, congenital, and eye in multiple combinations.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank Mr. Kenya Ozaki (Nidek Co) for his contributions.

References (6)

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    Optic tract syndrome: a review of 21 patients

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    Optic tract syndrome. Neuro-ophthalmologic considerations

    Arch Ophthalmol

    (1983)
  • D. Taylor

    Abnormalities of the optic nerve and chiasm

    Eye

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