What is central heterochromism?
People with a central heterochromism do not have a specific
eye color, but have a different color near the pupil boundary.
A person with this condition may have a gold shade around
the edge of their pupil in the middle of the iris, while the rest of the iris
has a different color. This other color is the person's true eye color.
Read on to find out how this disease differs from other
types of heterochromia, what can be the cause and how it is treated.
Other types of heterochromy
Central heterochromism is just one type of heterochromism, a
generic term that refers to different eye colors. The other types of
heterochromism are complete and segmental.
Complete heterochromism
People with complete heterochromy have eyes that have
completely different colors. That is, one eye may be green and the other eye
may be brown, blue, or another color.
Segmental heterochromism
This type of heterochromism is similar to central
heterochromism. Rather than affecting the area around the pupil, segmental
heterochromia involves a larger portion of the iris. It can occur in one or
both eyes.
What causes heterochromia?
To understand possible causes of central heterochromism and
heterochromism in general, you need to look at the relationship between melanin
and eye color. Melanin is a pigment that gives color to human skin and hair. A
person with fair skin has less melanin than a person with darker skin.
Melanin also determines the eye color. People with less
pigment in the eyes have a lighter eye color than someone with more pigments.
If you have heterochromia, the amount of melanin in your eyes will vary. This
variation causes different colors in different parts of your eye. The exact
cause of this deviation is unknown.
Central heterochromia is often sporadic at birth. It can
occur in someone without a family history of heterochromia. In most cases, it
is a benign condition that is not caused by eye disease or impaired vision.
Therefore, no treatment or diagnosis is required.
However, some people develop heterochromia later in life.
This is called acquired heterochromism and can occur under the following
conditions:
eye injury
eye inflammation
Bleeding in the eye
Tumors of the iris
Horner syndrome (neurological disease that affects the eye)
diabetes
Pigment dispersion syndrome (pigment released into the eye)
Heterochromia iridis is a condition characterized by
abnormalities of the iris (colored part of the eye). In people who are affected
by complete heterochromia, the iris of one eye has a different color than the
iris of the other eye. For example, one iris may be blue while the other iris
is brown.
Segmental heterochromism occurs when areas of the same iris
differ in color. One or both eyes can be affected.
Most cases of Heterochromia iridis occur sporadically and
are not associated with additional symptoms or health problems. Rarely,
Heterochromia iridis is part of a syndrome such as Waardenburg syndrome,
Sturge-Weber syndrome, Parry-Romberg syndrome or Horner syndrome. People
affected by one of these conditions generally have other signs and symptoms in
addition to Heterochromia iridis.
This table lists symptoms that people with this condition
may have. For most diseases, the symptoms vary from person to person. People
with the same condition may not list all the symptoms. This information comes
from a database called Human Phenotype Ontology (HPO). The HPO collects
information about symptoms described in medical resources. The HPO is updated
regularly. Use the HPO ID to access more information about a symptom.
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