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The following is a summary of “Hospitalizations in Children With Optic Nerve Hypoplasia and Septo-Optic-Pituitary Dysplasia,” published in the May 2025 issue of Journal of Pediatrics and Child Health Division by Salman et al. 

Optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) was identified as a congenital cause of visual impairment, and Ophthalmology diagnosed septo-optic-pituitary dysplasia (SOD) when ONH occurred alongside hypopituitarism, absent septum pellucidum, or corpus callosum abnormalities. 

Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare hospitalization rates, length of stay (LOS), and primary causes of admission in children with ONH/SOD vs controls.  

They assessed 124 individuals with ONH/SOD (mean age: 13 years, SD: 7.2 years) matched to 620 unrelated population-based controls (mean age: 12.4 years, SD: 7.2 years) by area of residence, year of birth, and sex. Non-parametric tests assessed differences in the number of hospital admissions, crude admission rates, and LOS. Relative rates [RR] with 95% CIs were calculated, and primary diagnoses were documented for hospitalizations.  

The results showed that ONH/SOD cases had higher hospitalization rates (26.6%–32.3%) than the control group (10.2%–12.6%), with the SOD subgroup with hypopituitarism showing the highest rates (42.9%–54.3%) and increased risk of multiple hospitalizations. The crude hospitalization rate was significantly elevated in ONH/SOD cases compared to controls (RR range: 2.3–2.8, 95%CI range: 1.6–4.2), particularly among infants under 1 year and the SOD subgroup with hypopituitarism. The median LOS was also longer for ONH/SOD cases [median (interquartile range): 7–8 (3–21) days] than for controls [3–4 (2–9) days], with P≤ 0.004. Diseases of the respiratory system were the leading cause of hospitalization in all groups, most frequently in the ONH/SOD group (25.3%) compared to unrelated controls (9.5%).  

Investigators concluded that children with ONH/SOD had higher hospitalization rates and longer LOS compared to controls, particularly in the SOD subgroup with hypopituitarism, with respiratory diseases being the leading cause. 

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpc.70094