Case studyMorning glory disc anomaly with an ipsilateral enlargement of the optic nerve pathway

- Report of three cases with MGDA with ipsilateral mild thickening of optic nerve.
- The thickening is limited to the intracranial optic nerve and the optic chiasm.
- The thickening may be a glioma, but this remains hypothetical.
- The thickening might reflect a reaction or response to MGDA.

PurposeTo report three patients with an unilateral morning glory disc anomaly in association with an ipsilateral mild thickening of the optic nerve.MethodsThree children with a morning glory disc anomaly underwent a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. Ophthalmological, genetic and MRI findings at follow-up are reported. A literature search on the association of morning glory anomaly in association with optic nerve glioma is reported.1ResultsThree children with an unilateral morning glory anomaly and ipsilateral poor visual acuity were found to have an ipsilateral mild optic nerve enlargement on brain MRI. At serial MRI scanning, there was no progression of this finding.ConclusionsThe morning glory disc anomaly is a rare congenital malformation of the optic disc. It can be associated with central nervous system abnormalities. The association with an optic nerve glioma has been described once before.1 Our three cases confirm the possible association between a morning glory disc anomaly and an ipsilateral optic nerve enlargement. Serial MRI showed no growth at follow-up. The awareness of this association by the ophthalmologists is important.