Retinal Changes in Pediatric Glaucoma and Nonglaucomatous Optic Atrophy.

PURPOSE: To describe the incidence and significance of retinal changes in pediatric eyes with glaucoma and nonglaucomatous optic atrophy by optical coherence tomography (OCT).

DESIGN: Retrospective observational case series.

METHODS: OCT scans performed on children with either glaucoma or nonglaucomatous optic atrophy were retrospectively reviewed. Excluded were poor-quality scans and diagnoses of ocular hypertension or glaucoma suspects.

RESULTS: Included were 227 eyes (227 children), 151 with glaucoma and 76 with nonglaucomatous optic atrophy. Outer retinal changes were present in 20 of 151 glaucoma eyes (13.2%) (12 prior intraocular surgery, 5 uveitis, 3 primary retinopathy) and 6 of 76 nonglaucomatous optic atrophy eyes (7.9%) (1 retinal vasculitis, 3 papilledema, 2 infiltrative optic neuropathy). Excluding eyes with outer retinal changes, isolated inner nuclear layer (INL) cysts were found in 6 of 131 eyes with glaucoma (4.6%) (3 uveitis, 1 prior hydrocephalus, 1 uveitis and pars plana vitrectomy, and 1 juvenile open-angle glaucoma) and 21 of 70 eyes with nonglaucomatous optic atrophy (30%) (5 optic neuritis, 11 anterior visual pathway tumors, 2 papilledema, 3 other) (P < .0001). Compared to eyes without INL cysts, those with INL cysts had thinner average retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) (78.2 ± 1.8 μm vs 52.0 ± 4.8 μm, P < .0001) and worse vision (logMAR = 0.33 ± 0.04 vs 0.65 ± 0.09, P < .002).

CONCLUSIONS: INL cysts are more frequent in pediatric nonglaucomatous optic atrophy than glaucoma; they are associated with worse vision and thinner RNFL. Outer retinal changes were exclusively seen in pathology that directly affected the retina. In children, INL cysts and/or outer retinal changes without prior history of intraocular surgery or uveitis should prompt further evaluation.