PSEUDOPAPILLEDEMA AND CONGENITAL DISC ANOMALIES IN GROWTH-HORMONE DEFICIENCY

Optic nerve hypoplasia is a congenital disc anomaly associated with gr owth hormone deficiency (GHD), Pseudotumor cerebri is an adverse event associated with growth hormone treatment (hGH) and manifested by incr eased intracranial pressure and papilledema, Pseudopapilledema is a ge neric ophthalmologic term encompassing several conditions, including c ongenital disc anomalies, It is benign and can be distinguished from p apilledema by physical examination, The objective of this report is to document that congenital disc abnormalities, which can be confused wi th papilledema, occur in children with GHD. Three patients with GHD ha d fundoscopic examinations suggestive of papilledema and possibly pseu dotumor cerebri, The abnormal optic nerves were characteristic of pseu dopapilledema, and appear to be a variant of optic nerve hypoplasia, T he finding of optic disc abnormality during hGH may reflect pseudopapi lledema and not pseudotumor cerebri, Of equal importance, the reported patients indicate that the finding of pseudopapilledema in short chil dren should suggest the possibility of GHD.