Children can be robbed of vision too

Charu Chhibber

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Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 5

When Sarika Saluja* observed something was not right with her 4-week-old daughter’s eyes, she trusted her instincts and took her to the doctor. The diagnosis rocked her world. Her daughter was said to be suffering from glaucoma.

“I was shaken,” recalled Sarika, who had till now thought of glaucoma as the disease of the elderly, a belief shared by most of us. 

Glaucoma is a group of eye disorders that leads to optic nerve damage and hence vision loss. Glaucoma cannot be prevented, only controlled.  “Glaucoma at birth is a birth defect,” explains Dr Srishti Raj, Assistant Professor, Department of Ophthalmology, Advanced Eye Centre, PGI. 

He adds that in India, one out of every 10,000 babies is born with glaucoma. This condition is known as primary congenital glaucoma and is present at birth.

However, older children can develop glaucoma too, as a result of eye injury, use of steroids, family history of the disease at an early age, or surgery for other eye conditions like cataract, avers Raj.

In case of family history of congenital glaucoma, gene mutations can possibly be responsible but the good news is children can be tested for it. But it occurs as a rare case and the underlying cause is uncertain.

Sarika became concerned when she noticed her newborn daughter’s eyes had a ‘bluish-gray haze’. Even though her pediatrician told her not to worry, but Sarika did not want to take any chances. She took her daughter to the PGI. That is where she was diagnosed with glaucoma. Her daughter is now two-year-old and doing well though she would need vision correcting glasses and regular visits to her ophthalmologist throughout her life. The family is grateful that early detection could save her vision. In infant glaucoma, surgery is the only solution. However, the type of surgery may vary. Also, repeated surgeries are required to treat glaucoma in children, Raj said. Sarika’s daughter was lucky her condition was noticed timely and a prompt surgery was done. “Very often, children with primary glaucoma are not diagnosed until they are much older,” remarks ophthalmologist Dr Sushmita Kaushik,

*Name has been changed to protect identity