Pediatric Ophthalmology and Adult Strabismus
( Squint)
Children with eye symptoms
and diseases are treated in the Pediatric
ophthalmology clinic. The mission of this
clinic early detection and treatment of
vision threatening disorders to prevent
long-term visual disability.
Amblyopia:
This is a common condition in which the
visual function of one eye is
underdeveloped, while vision for the other
eye is normal. Rarely, it has been found to
affect both eyes. It is a silent disease,
because it is difficult for young children
perceive less vision in one eye, if the
other eye is normal. They prefer the better
eye over the amblyopic one and even parents
are often in the dark, unless there is a
structural abnormality of the poor eye.
However, amblyopia treatment is most likely
to be successfully if initiated during
infancy or early childhood. Proper
understanding of the disorder by the
caretakers and counseling form important
aspects of the management.
What
causes amblyopia?
Factors that prevent clear vision during
infancy or childhood cause amblyopia.
Main encountered causes are:
·
Strabismus (misaligned eyes).
·
Unequal refractive error.
·
Obscuration of vision due to lid
problems or opacities of the normally
clear eye tissues such as corneal
opacities and cataracts.
How do we
treat amblyopia?
Once amblyopia is detected, the brain
must be encouraged to process visual
information from the affected eye. This
is most commonly accomplished by
applying a patch over the child's good
eye. If untreated, visual acuity in an
amblyopic eye may be permanently
reduced, leading to significant visual
disability. The treatment of amblyopia
has been most successful until
pre-adolescent years.
Pediatric strabismus:
In strabismus, the
eyes are misaligned with each other, causing
them to look in different directions and
leading to visual function defects and
absent or defective depth perception. It is
an important cause of amblyopia in children,
leading to significant visual handicap
throughout life, if not properly treated. A
common misconception that children will
outgrow strabismus leads to neglect of this
treatable condition. Treatment usually is in
the form of glasses, eye drops, exercises,
patching or eye muscle surgery.
Pediatric glaucoma:
Children may suffer from developmental
glaucomas or glaucoma secondary to other
ocular disorders. Both forms are vision
threatening and early diagnosis and
treatment is essential. Symptoms such as
cloudy, enlarged corneas; one eye larger
than the other, light hyper-sensitivity and
excessive tearing without discharge should
prompt ophthalmic examination in a child.
These children may be treated medically or
surgically.
