Pale Optic Nerve

[esic]

We brought our 5 month old daughter to a pediatric opthomologist because she was making poor eye contact. He told us that her optic nerve is pale and that he saw variable nystagnus. She has been in early intervention since 3 months and is able to grab toys and bring them to her mouth. We know that she can see because she is able to follow objects (not all the time) and sometimes makes eye contact with us and smiles. She rolled over (back to belly) around 5 months. We are working with her on sitting and she is coming along. We have an appointment scheduled with a Neurologist but waiting is very difficult. Is it a good sign that she is is hitting milestones but just a little late? What does it mean to have a pale optic nerve and is it possible that it just hasn't fully developed yet?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

u r welcome
JCH MD

[esic]

Ok, thank you for the quick response. I appreciate it.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The eye optic nerve should be a reddish-orange color at birth and pale white is not normal. So it does need to be evaluated. It is good that there is development and that the child see some. This is a difficult thing to evaluate in a child and it may take some time and several tests to get answers.

JCH MD