Objective: To evaluate optic disc morphologic features in children with periventricular leukomalacia (PVL).
Patients and methods: Seventeen children with PVL (patient group) were compared with 17 sex- and age-matched, full-term healthy control children (control group). Clinical ophthalmological examination and digital image analysis of fundus photographs were performed in all children. In children with PVL, cerebral imaging was performed.
Results: Children with PVL had larger optic disc cupping (P<.02) than did control children. A large proportion of the children with PVL had strabismus, nystagmus, and restricted visual fields.
Conclusion: Our study indicates that optic nerve hypoplasia in children with PVL is often associated with a normal-sized optic disc with a large cup. This unusual form of optic nerve hypoplasia most likely results from transsynaptic degeneration of optic axons caused by the primary bilateral lesion in the optic radiation.