Morning glory syndrome. A functional analysis including fluorescein angiography, ultrasonography, and computerized tomography.

The Morning Glory syndrome (MGS) is a congenital optic nerve anomaly that has received scant attention since first described by Handmann in 1929. We studied ten eyes and eight patients displaying variations of the syndrome. We found that the syndrome may be bilateral, hereditary, and associated with other congenital anomalies. When bilateral, visual function was only moderately disturbed. The anomaly is usually limited to the eye, and the retrobulbar nerve and brain appear normal, as documented by ultrasound and computed tomography. Surprisingly, increasing fibrovascular tissue produces traction on the disc substance and vasculature, vitreous, macula, and peripapillary retina. These findings may place these patients within a spectrum of congenital optic nerve anomalies ranging from staphylomata to posterior persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous.