Colobomas

Please see the Normal Fundus photo first for comparison. This photo shows a white, sharply circumscribed area in the inferior fundus. The choroid is missing and the retina is extremely thin in this area. The white sclera is visible through the transparent retina. This condition represents a congenital abnormality in which the ocular tissues do not properly migrate and fuse. These typically occur in the inferior part of the eye. They can involve the iris, the choroid, the optic nerve, or several of these together. The patient in this case had bilateral colobomas, although this is not always the case. The inferior fundus abnormality causes a superior visual field defect. Occasionally the retina will tear at the border of the maldeveloped zone leading to a retinal detachment.