#microphthalmia

Eyes Have It

Study in zebrafish reveals a gene called flrt2 is important for retinal development and function – loss leads to microphthalmia or small eyes

Read the published research paper here

Image adapted from work by Siyu Yang and colleagues

Department of Ophthalmology, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University, Shenzhen, China

Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Published in Biology Open, June 2023

Microphthalmia (Greek: μικρός, mikros, 'small', ὀφθαλμός, ophthalmos, 'eye', also referred as microphthalmos, is a developmental disorder of the eye in which one (unilateral microphthalmia) or both (bilateral microphthalmia) eyes are abnormally small and have anatomic malformations.

It has been postulated that microphthalmia arises as a result of interference with postnatal eye growth, in contrast to anophthalmia which originates much earlier during fetal development. Genetic causes of microphthalmia include chromosomal abnormalities or monogenetic Mendelian disorders. Microphthalmia in newborns is sometimes associated with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder or infections during pregnancy, particularly herpes simplex virus, rubella and cytomegalovirus (CMV), but the evidence is inconclusive.

Microphthalmia cannot be cured. However, there are treatments options to manage the condition and its associated symptoms. When the affected eye(s) display some visual function, a patient's eyesight can be improved (sometimes up to good state) by plus lenses, as a small eye is usually far-sighted. When one of the eyes is unaffected, caution should be taken to guard this 'good' eye and preserve its vision. In these unilateral cases, eye glasses may be worn to offer a measure of physical protection.

Redraw of my girlie!