Superior segmental optic hypoplasia found in Tajimi Eye Health Care Project participants.

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence and characteristics of superior segmental optic hypoplasia in Japanese.

METHODS

We studied 14 779 subjects, aged 40 years or older, who underwent IMAGEnet fundus photography as part of a large-scale eye disease screening project conducted in Tajimi, Japan. A single researcher reviewed all of the photographs for the presence of ocular abnormality in the optic nerve head and retina, paying special attention to the presence of superior segmental optic hypoplasia.

RESULTS

Fundus photographs of 14 431 cases (28,396 eyes) were successfully reviewed. We found superior segmental optic hypoplasia in 37 cases (54 eyes; 0.3% of the cases and 0.2% of the eyes). Of the 37 cases, 23 (62%) showed the corresponding visual field defect in at least one eye.

CONCLUSION

The prevalence of superior segmental optic hypoplasia is about 0.3% in the Japanese population.