A ray of hope for children with cosmetic deformity

One-year-old baby girl undergoes the procedure at LVPEI. The rare condition of absent or undersized eyes from birth is known as Congenital Anophthalmia, which gives rise to under-development of facial bines around the eye.

There is good news for scores of children who are born with absent or undersized eyes and have to face social exclusion all through their lives because of a cosmetic deformity.

Ophthalmic plastic surgeons from city-based L.V. Prasad Eye Hospital (LVPEI) have used an implant that will help underdeveloped soft tissues and bone structure surrounding eye sockets to develop properly and eventually ‘resemble’ a naturally grown eyeball.

According to the hospital, Ocularists, who are experts in making artificial eyes, this implant known as Orbital Tissue Expander (OTE) was used for the first time in India.

“Only 13 other children in the United States have undergone this procedure. Essentially, this implant helps expands the orbital tissue. The implant has a balloon in which we pump saline water. This balloon mimics the effect of an eyeball thus putting pressure on surrounding bones of the eye to grow,” explained Ocularist, Dr. Tarjani Dave, who conducted the surgery on one-year-old baby girl.

Rare condition

The rare condition of absent or undersized eyes from birth is known as Congenital Anophthalmia, which gives rise to under-development of facial bines around the eye.

“Unfortunately, we do not have any Indian study on this deformity. However, in our hospital, we come across at least two such children every week. To allow the facial bones to grow properly, this procedure should be done within five years of birth,” Dr. Tarjani Dave said.

The actual procedure involves inserting the ‘ball’ or ‘balloon’ so that it takes the natural position of the absent eyeball. Later, this balloon is inflated with saline water at regular intervals through injections.

“The ball or balloon mimics the role of a natural eyeball. The mere presence of such an implant is enough to stimulate proper growth of facial muscles. Two or three years down the line, there won’t be any deformity and the child can live a normal life,” the surgeon explained.

The doctors pointed out that this condition of the eye can be detected in the first 10 weeks of the foetus in the womb.

“Ultrasound technicians seldom look for eye development in foetus. They check for organs like heart, kidneys and limbs but never look out for eyes. If parents are told about this condition beforehand, they can take a well informed decision,” doctors said.