Magnification. The Brushfield spots are the spots between the inner and outer red circles.
Brushfield spots are small white or grayish/brown spots on the periphery of the iris in the human eye due to aggregation of connective tissue, a normal iris element. The spots are named after the physician, Thomas Brushfield, who first described them in his 1924 M.D. thesis.[1]
These spots are normal in children (Kunkmann-Wolffian bodies) but are also a feature of the chromosomal disorder Down syndrome. They occur in 35–78% of newborn infants with Down syndrome.[2] They are much more likely to occur in Down syndrome children of the Caucasian race than children of Asian heritage.[3]
They are focal areas of stromal hyperplasia, surrounded by relative hypoplasia and are more common in patients with lightly pigmented irises.
[edit] References
- ^ Wallis, Hugh R.E. "The Significance of Brushfield's Spots in the Diagnosis of Mongolism in Infancy", Archives of Disease in Childhood, 1951 December; 26 (130): 495-500. Retrieved on 21 March 2009.
- ^ Sanez, R.B. (January 1999), "Primary care of infants and young children with down syndrome", American Family Physician 59 (2), http://www.aafp.org/afp/990115ap/381.html
- ^ Kim, J.H. et al. (November 2002), "Characteristic ocular findings in Asian children with Down syndrome", Nature 16 (6), http://www.nature.com/eye/journal/v16/n6/abs/6700208a.html
