Diplocoria
| Diplocoria | |
|---|---|
| Other names | Double pupil; two pupils in one iris; a subset of polycoria (when exactly two) |
| A case of diplocoria | |
| Specialty | Ophthalmology |
| Symptoms | Glare, photophobia, reduced contrast, monocular diplopia |
| Complications | Amblyopia (in childhood), visual discomfort |
| Usual onset | Congenital (rare) or acquired |
| Causes | True accessory pupil with its own sphincter (very rare); more commonly, non-sphincter iris holes (pseudopolycoria) from surgery, trauma, or iris atrophy (e.g., ICE syndrome) |
| Diagnostic method | Slit-lamp examination, pharmacologic testing of pupillary reactivity, anterior-segment imaging |
| Treatment | Tinted/prosthetic contact lens; surgical pupilloplasty in selected cases |
| Frequency | Extremely rare (mostly case reports) |
Diplocoria is an ophthalmic term for the presence of two pupillary openings in a single iris ("double pupil"). In contemporary usage most reported "double pupils" represent pseudopolycoria: additional iris holes that lack their own sphincter muscle, whereas true diplocoria (a form of true polycoria) requires that each opening has a functional sphincter with synchronous constriction and dilation. The term derives from Greek diplo- ("double") and korē ("pupil").