Morning Glory Disc Anomaly: OCT Confirmation of Prior Histopathologic Studies

Abstract

Abstract: : Purpose: Morning glory disc anomaly (MGDA) is a congenital disc anomaly that is typically unilateral and most often results in a visual acuity between 20/200 and counting fingers. Different theories have been proposed for its etiology such as: a form of optic disc coloboma, a primary mesenchymal disorder, or an enlargement of the distal optic stalk during eye development. One problem with determining the etiology has been the lack of clinical confirmation of prior histopathologic reports of MGDA. The purpose of this study was to use optical coherence tomography (OCT) to define some of the anatomy of MGDA and possibly confirm these prior reports. Methods: Patients with MGDA were seen in the eye clinic for visual acuity testing, fundus photography and OCT. Several cross-sectional tomograms of the MGDA were obtained using a Zeiss Humphrey Systems OCT2 scanner. Results: The most prominent finding among the OCT tomograms of MGDA was a peripapillary central excavation lined with retinal pigment epithelium. Conclusion: The central excavation surrounding the optic disc in MGDA is lined with retinal pigment epithelium. This confirms several prior histological reports that lacked fundus photography to confirm the diagnosis. Ongoing studies at Emory are using OCT to further characterize the changes that occur over time in MGDA and to compare findings of MGDA with those of other optic disc congenital anomalies such as optic disc coloboma. 

Keywords: 564 retinal development • 498 optic disc • 432 imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)