Prevalence, time course, and visual impact of peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures (PHOMS) in pediatric patients with optic nerve pathologies.

Background: Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structures (PHOMS) are a recently defined optical coherence tomography (OCT) finding. The purpose of this study was to characterize the presence of PHOMS and their visual significance in pediatric patients with and without optic nerve pathologies.

Methods: This retrospective study evaluated 400 patients (<18 years of age) including normal control subjects and patients with optic neuritis, papillitis, optic nerve head drusen (ONHD), and papilledema. Information on demographics, visual function, and structural parameters were obtained.

Results: PHOMS were found in 7 of 258 normal control eyes (2.7%), 9 of 59 eyes with optic neuritis (15.3%), 58 of 76 eyes with ONHD (76.3%), 3 of 11 eyes with papillitis (27.3%), and 180 of 308 eyes with papilledema (58.4%). PHOMS were more prevalent in the papilledema (P < 0.001), ONHD (P < 0.001), and optic neuritis (P = 0.028) eyes than in control eyes. We identified 5 cases where PHOMS developed de novo. This occurred over an average of 2.3 years (range, 0.2-7.4 years). Sixteen cases of PHOMS resolved over an average of 1.1 years (range, 0.3-4.0 years). Cross-sectionally, PHOMS were not associated with visual acuity (P = 0.551), retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (P = 0.068), ganglion cell volume (P = 0.375), or visual field mean deviation (P = 0.795).

Conclusions: PHOMS are present in a majority of children with papilledema or ONHD. PHOMS are dynamic and may form de novo over time with optic nerve pathology and may resolve either through treatment or atrophy. There was no relationship between the presence of PHOMS and poor visual function in our study cohort.