Microphthalmia, or "small eye," is a condition characterized by an unusually small eye globe. In contrast, the term "anophthalmia" refers to the complete absence of the eye globe and surrounding tissue. Microphthalmia can affect one or both eyes and may occur on its own without other abnormalities or as part of a larger syndrome. Examples of such syndromes include congenital rubella syndrome, triploidy syndrome (caused by 69 chromosomes), trisomy 13 syndrome (Patau syndrome, due to an extra chromosome 13), and Wolf-Hirschhorn syndrome (resulting from the deletion of part of chromosome 4's short arm). The term microphthalmia, also known as microphthalmos, is derived from the Greek words "micro" meaning small, and "ophthalmos" meaning eye.
