Congenital eye disease in young children: May be blind if not detected early

In 2006, Ho Chi Minh City Hospital (BV) examined and operated for more than 122,000 children with eye diseases. In which there are dangerous diseases that can cause blindness, amblyopia if not detected and treated early.

Tears, tears .

On the afternoon of March 15, after the examination, the doctor (BS) of the pediatric department of Ho Chi Minh City Eye Hospital determined that Pham The Duy (5 months, Ho Nhat Nhat, Dong Nai) had congenital glaucoma. Her parents were surprised when BS reported this disease. Ms. Truong Thi Kim Nhung, Duy's mother, said: 'When I was born, I could see her crying all the time. Thinking of the child is only a normal eye pain, so when the baby is two months old, he / she will come to the clinic for examination. BS H. for small babies drug Tobrex. At a young age, the baby was well supported but then the tearing condition did not decrease but waking up the eyes was also hardened. Re-examination, Dr. H. let her use to Tobra Dex medicine but still did not reduce '.

She bought Tobra Dex back and forth continuously for Duy to five jars without knowing that the medicine had corticosteroids that didn't last long, could make the illness worse, even blindness. After that, she took her child to Dong Nai Children's Hospital for examination, but the doctor also said: ' It's okay, just hurt my eyes often!'.

Meanwhile, his parents signed Huynh Trong Khang (17 months, H. Phu My, Binh Dinh) also did not worry when he said he had retinoblastoma, had to scoop out one eye. Mrs. Huynh Thi Tam - Khang's mother - when she was five months old, she saw a baby's eyes slightly squinted. Thinking that she was born with a congenital disorder, she did not notice. Later, she saw that her eye pupils had a circle like a marble. Every time the light shines on, the eyes flash very strange. She took her to a hospital in Qui Nhon, and the doctor had to go to Saigon immediately.

On March 13, the baby was removed from one eye to prevent cancer from spreading to the other eye.

Little Huynh Huynh (17 months, H. Phu My, Binh Dinh) has a tumor
Retinoblastoma has been surgically removed to remove the left eye (Photo: L.TH.H)

Four diseases can cause blindness

Congenital glaucoma (also called glaucoma) is a disease that can cause irreversible complications such as blurred vision, blindness. 80% of congenital glaucoma occurs in boys, only 20% in girls. Glaucoma can be identified when the baby's eyes are slightly different, the eyes are not transparent, the child is afraid of light, squinting when going out in the sun, living tears. If the disease only occurs in one eye, there may be a marked difference in color and size between the eyes: large eyes and blue eyes are usually diseased eyes. When these signs are detected, the child should have an eye exam right away.

Dr. Tran Thi Phuong Thu, director of TP Eye Hospital, said that the diseases that can cause blindness, strabismus and astigmatism in the most common children are ROP, congenital glaucoma, cataract and retinoblastoma.Although the disease is dangerous, but if children are detected and treated early will prevent blindness, reduce complications.

Premature Infant Retinopathy (ROP)

Retinoblastoma is an eye cancer, which occurs mostly in children under 5 years old. The disease manifests very silently and is difficult to detect at an early stage. However, the family should pay attention to observe the eyes immediately after birth and detect abnormal signs early, even if they are tears, tears, redness, pain. Eye exams for children at least once a year. The common manifestations of retinoblastoma (relatively late stage) are white pupils: the eyes are bright white, especially at night like cat eyes; slight strabismus is also a common sign; red eyes, pain; vision loss; swelling of the eye socket; exophthalmisis; bleeding in the eye due to injury. But there are also some cases where there is no abnormal expression, only accidentally discovered during periodic health examination at school.

Congenital cataract (TTT) will cause light to not reach the retina, blurred vision. Depending on the degree of TTT, the eyesight is reduced or less.

The cause of the disease may be hereditary, or because the mother is infected with the virus during pregnancy . Children may get sick from birth, have children aged 3-4 years. In young children, when opaque TTT is still small, has not affected eyesight, no need for treatment, only need a regular follow-up examination. If TTT turbulence affects a part of eyesight, treatment with glasses or amblyopia should be treated. When many TTT opaque blurred vision, affecting children's learning, need surgery.

Re-examination on time

Dr. Phuong Thu paid special attention to the safety of the baby's eyes, no matter what disease the baby has (one of the above diseases), it is very important to follow and follow-up follow-up of the doctor. For children with glaucoma, after surgery, parents need to monitor for children to drink and small medicine properly, in the right dosage according to the prescription. Give your child regular check-ups to get intraocular pressure, vision test and ophthalmoscopy. If the child has pain, tearing or tearing of the eyes, immediate re-examination is required .

For children with ROP, depending on the condition, the doctor will make a follow-up appointment a few days, a week or two weeks later or even need immediate treatment. Children need to be examined until they are out of danger. It should also be noted that when children have ROP, even if they are mild without treatment, some late complications can still occur such as strabismus, nearsightedness, glaucoma and delayed retinal detachment. Therefore long-term monitoring in a pediatric ophthalmology hospital is necessary to detect and intervene in time. Pay special attention to cases in one eye or eye that are heavier than the other eye.

For children with TTT turbidity, after surgery should also be re-examined, long-term monitoring to help the vision develop best. At the same time, to detect and treat complications that may cause blurred vision such as posterior opaque, hypertension, refractive error, amblyopia. Give your child a follow-up visit as soon as the eye hurts, aches, redness, sudden blurring. For children with eye cancer alone, the most important thing is not to quit treatment and need follow-up appointment.

LE THANH HA

eye disease due to abnormal growth of retinal blood vessels in premature or low birth weight babies. If not detected and treated promptly, children are at risk of permanently blinding both eyes. Children who need eye exams to detect ROP are babies born at birth under 1.5kg, or gestational age at less than 33 weeks; birth weight of 1.5-2kg but suffocated at birth, incubator, prolonged oxygen, there are other diseases attached; birth weight 1.5-2kg and multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets).