Vision of one-month-old baby restored in Coimbatore

A community outreach camp held at Krishnagiri district by the Sankara Eye Hospital in Coimbatore has helped restore vision to a month-old baby.

Cataract

In a release issued here, the hospital said that the ophthalmologists at the camp had diagnosed the infant with dense cataract in both eyes and immediately referred him to the Sankara Eye Hospital here. The parents were advised to opt for cataract removal from both the eyes.

Following this, the first phase of surgery was performed and the cataract in the right eye had now been removed, said Rajesh Prabu, consultant, Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus at the hospital.

The other eye would be operated upon in a couple of weeks.

The child would have to wear spectacles later in his life. Intra ocular lens placement was deferred for at least two years.

Furthermore, he added that as the condition had been detected and treated so early, the child would have a good vision for the rest of his life.

Congenital cataracts were responsible for 5 per cent to 20 per cent of blindness in children worldwide.

The prevalence of paediatric cataract varied from 1 to 15 per 10,000 children, he added.