Factors Mediating Effects on the Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Normal Children

PURPOSE: The peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL) was measured in normal children using optical coherence tomography (OCT), and the effect of various factors on the RNFL thickness was examined. METHODS: From April 2006 to January 2007, the RNFL thickness of 74 normal children (148 eyes) between the ages of 4 and 17 years old was measured by OCT, and the effect of factors such as age, gender, refractive error, C/D ratios, cooperation, and laterality on the peripapillary RNFL thickness was analyzed. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 10.2 years (4~17 years), and the mean peripapillary RNFL thickness was 106.3+/-12.8 micrometer. As to the thickness of the different peripapillary locations, the superior side was thickest (135.3+/-20.6 micrometer), followed in order by the inferior side (130.9+/-23.0 micrometer), the temporal side (86.3+/-18.9 micrometer), and the nasal side (71.9+/-20.8 micrometer). The refractive error was correlated positively with RNFL thickness (r=0.277, p=0.001), and age correlated negatively with RNFL thickness (r=-0.194, p=0.018). CONCLUSIONS: RNFL thickness in normal children increases as the refractive error becomes hyperopic and decreases with age. The data about RNFL thickness of normal children obtained in this study may provide useful information for an early diagnosis of pediatric neuroophthalmologic disease and for monitoring its progression.

A Case of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome with Esotropia

PURPOSE: Here, we report a case of an infant with fetal alcohol syndrome with esotropia who was born to a mother who consumed a large quantity of alcohol during her pregnancy. METHODS: A 1-year-old female infant visited our hospital for the main symptom of the esodeviation of the eye. The medical history of the mother and the delivery history were reviewed, and a physical examination and ophthalmic examination of the infant were performed. RESULTS: At the first examination, the patient was 15 months old, her mass was 5, 600 grams, her height was 70 cm, her head circumference was 39.5 cm, and her chest circumference was 41 cm; all the measurements were below the 3rd percentile. From the gestation age of 24 weeks, the mother consumed 1-2 bottles of sojoo every day, and the infant patient was delivered at the gestation age of 42 weeks by Cesarean section. The infant's birth weight was 1, 510 grams. Upon physical examination, her philtrum was found to be shallow, and microcephaly was detected. Upon ophthalmic examination, a refractive error +1.25 Dsph. was detected. With regard to the horizontal length of the palpebral fissure, the right and the left were 1.7 cm and 1.6 cm, respectively, which is considered short; telecanthus and esotropia were also present. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first reported case of fetal alcohol syndrome with accompanying esotropia.