What is ONH/Optic Nerve Hypoplasia?
In order for people to “see”, the brain must receive the messages sent from the eye. The optic nerves carry this information from the eye to the brain. If this nerve is too small, less information will be sent to the brain, and vision will be impaired. Hypoplasia means “underdeveloped”. This may mean that the nerves of both eyes are completely unformed, with complete blindness, or that one optic nerve is smaller than average, with little impact on vision. Most people with ONH also have nystagmus (involuntary movement of the eyes) and strabismus (crossed eye). Many children with ONH have abnormal brain structures, such as absence of the septum pellucidum and corpus callosum. Some children will also have hormone deficiencies.
