Abstract
Purpose:
Although optic nerve morphology is routinely assessed in adults, no normative data base has been established for young children. We undertook to characterize the morphology of optic nerves of healthy 5 year-olds.
Methods:
A series of 71 children undergoing pre-school physicals were recruited from local pediatric practices for an ongoing cross-sectional study. None had a history of glaucoma or other optic nerve disorders. All underwent standard ophthalmologic examination and imaging of their optic nerves using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Results were compared to the normative adult database.
Results:
OCT demonstrated mean nerve fiber layer (NFL) thickness of 1.632 (p=0.332), superior NFL thickness of 0.181 (p=0.920), inferior NFL thickness of 3.082 (p= 0.091), and mean thickness of ganglion cell complex of 0.130 (p =0.068). OCT values for the optic nerve head include disc area of -0.186 (p=0.007), Area of Cup to disc (C.D.) ratio of -0.103 (p= 4.96E-05), Horizontal C.D. ratio of -0.181 (p= 3.08E-06), vertical C.D. ratio of -0.139 (p= 5.19E-05), and cup area of -0.272 (p= 2.06E-05).
Conclusions:
This study presents the first quantitative assessment of the optic nerve head, nerve fiber layer, and ganglion cell complex of young children. Our results demonstrate that the optic nerves of 5 year old children are statistically smaller and have a smaller cup when compared with normal adult values. The nerve fiber layer and GCC data in the children was similar to the adult normals.
Keywords: 627 optic disc •
757 visual development: infancy and childhood •
629 optic nerve