Leukocoria

Typical leukocoria in a child with retinoblastoma

As leukocoria (from ancient Greek λευκός leukós "white" and ancient Greek κόρη Kore "pupil" - literally "white pupil") (synonym: amaurotic cat's eye ) refers to a whitish illumination of the pupil . This can appear when looking at the eye with an ophthalmoscope or on a photo with a flash. In the case of leukocoria, the incident light is not reflected by the retina with the underlying choroid , as is the case with the healthy eye , but by pathologically altered structures. This leads to a whitish-yellowish reflection of the light.

Leukocoria can occur in infancy, but also at any later point in time. It requires immediate diagnostic clarification because it is associated with retinoblastoma in over 50% of cases . Other possible causes are a cataract , a hyperplastic primary vitreous humor , a retinopathia prematurorum , a Norrie syndrome or Coats disease , colobomas of the vascular or retina and medullary nerve fibers .

A lightening of the pupil color also occurs in a cross- eyed child, due to the reflex from the extrafoveal retinal and choroidal areas. The corresponding examination is called the Brückner test .

literature

• Martin Reim, Bernd Kirchhof, Sebastian Wolf: Diagnoses on the fundus. From findings to diagnosis. Georg Thieme, Stuttgart et al. 2004, ISBN 3-13-125641-9 , p. 169.
• Christian P. Speer, Manfred Gahr: Pediatrics. 3rd, completely revised edition. Springer Medicine, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-540-69479-3 , p. 34.
• Frank W. Tischendorf (Ed.): Blickdiagnostik. Compact atlas of clinical inspection and differential diagnostics. 4th, completely revised and expanded edition. Schattauer, Stuttgart 2010, ISBN 978-3-7945-2654-3 , p. 310.

Individual evidence

1. ^ Aubin Balmer, Francis Munier: Leucocorie chez l'enfant: une urgence et un défi. In: Clinical monthly sheets for ophthalmology. Vol. 214, No. 5, 1999, ISSN  0023-2165 , pp. 332-335, doi: 10.1055 / s-2008-1034807 .
2. ↑ Herbert Kaufmann (Ed.): Strabismus. With the collaboration of Wilfried de Decker et al. Enke, Stuttgart 1986, ISBN 3-432-95391-7 .

This article is about a health issue. It is not used for self-diagnosis and does not replace a diagnosis by a doctor. Please note the information on health issues !