Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure in arteritic versus nonarteritic anterior ischemic…

Cohort studyFrontiers in ophthalmology· 2026

Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure in arteritic versus nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Marius B Maartensson, Andreas Worm Bendtsen, Michael Stormly Hansen … Steffen Hamann

Neuro-ophthalmologyCohort studyQ2IF 2.1

PHOMS was more common in arteritic than nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy, but not significantly

Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure in arteritic versus nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Marius B Maartensson … Steffen Hamann

Frontiers in ophthalmology · 2026 · Q2 in Ophthalmology

Background

A peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure (PHOMS) is an optical coherence tomography (optical coherence tomography) specific finding associated with axoplasmic stasis in various optic neuropathies.

Methods

In this exploratory retrospective, age-matched study, patients with arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and nonarteritic AION (nonarteritic AION) enrolled in two prior prospective studies between March 2021 and August 2024 were included.

n = 22 eyes

Results

in this small study, PHOMS (a swelling sign on eye scans) was seen in over a third of arteritic AION eyes

OR 2.57 (95% CI 0.36 to 18.33)

CI crosses the null - not significant

More results

PHOMS was observed in both arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy and nonarteritic AION.

The estimated odds ratio for PHOMS presence in arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy compared with nonarteritic AION was 2.57 (95% CI, 0.36-18.33; p = 0.635).

More results

Bruch's membrane opening diameter was similar between groups (arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy: 1546.78 ± 134.14 μm; nonarteritic AION: 1507.27 ± 133.95 μm), while mean peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness was larger in arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy than in nonarteritic AION.

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Conclusion

DISCUSSION: The observation of PHOMS across ischemic optic neuropathy subtypes suggests that PHOMS in AION may reflect axoplasmic disturbance related to the ischemic insult itself rather than the underlying disease etiology, although confirmation in larger, prospective studies is warranted.

Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure in arteritic versus nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Peripapillary hyperreflective ovoid mass-like structure in arteritic versus nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

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