Congenital Abnormality
microphthalmos
Subclass of:
Eye Abnormalities
Definitions related to microphthalmos:
-
A congenital abnormality characterized by the presence of an abnormally small eye globe.NCI ThesaurusU.S. National Cancer Institute, 2021
-
(microphthalmia) A developmental anomaly characterized by abnormal smallness of one or both eyes.Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO)The Human Phenotype Ontology Project, 2021
-
Congenital or developmental anomaly in which the eyeballs are abnormally small.CRISP ThesaurusNational Institutes of Health, 2006
-
Microphthalmia is an eye abnormality that arises before birth. In this condition, one or both eyeballs are abnormally small. In some affected individuals, the eyeball may appear to be completely missing; however, even in these cases some remaining eye tissue is generally present. Such severe microphthalmia should be distinguished from another condition called anophthalmia, in which no eyeball forms at all. However, the terms anophthalmia and severe microphthalmia are often used interchangeably. Microphthalmia may or may not result in significant vision loss. People with microphthalmia may also have a condition called coloboma. Colobomas are missing pieces of tissue in structures that form the eye. They may appear as notches or gaps in the colored part of the eye called the iris; the retina, which is the specialized light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye; the blood vessel layer under the retina called the choroid; or in the optic nerves, which carry information from the eyes to the brain. Colobomas may be present in one or both eyes and, depending on their size and location, can affect a person's vision. People with microphthalmia may also have other eye abnormalities, including clouding of the lens of the eye (cataract) and a narrowed opening of the eye (narrowed palpebral fissure). Additionally, affected individuals may have an abnormality called microcornea, in which the clear front covering of the eye (cornea) is small and abnormally curved...MedlinePlus GeneticsU.S. National Library of Medicine, 2021
-
A non-syndromic group of structural developmental eye defects characterized by the variable combination of microphthalmia, ocular coloboma, and anophthalmia, either unilaterally or bilaterally, with no other associated ocular conditions in the affected/contralateral eye, and no systemic anomalies.National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
Return to OpenMD Medical Dictionary
> M
This content should not be used in place of medically-reviewed decision support reference material or professional medical advice. Some terms may have alternate or updated definitions not reflected in this set. The definitions on this page should not be considered complete or up to date.