Preventing Childhood Blindness and Protecting Children's Eye Health: what should we know?

Abstract

Submit Manuscript | http://medcraveonline.com treatable or preventable. Knowledge of parent’s awareness and perception of eye problems are important and necessary for early detection and early age intervention. Leukocoria or white pupillary reflex is an abnormal white reflection from the retina of the eye. Leukocoria in the newborn is a medical sign for a number of conditions, including congenital cataract, persistence of the tunica vasculosa lentis, retrolental fibroplasia, coats disease and intraocular tumors. Although the prevalence of congenital cataracts is low, in developing countries up to 15/10,000 newborns have bilateral cataract [3] caused by rubella and other diseases such as toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus or herpes. Retinoblastoma is the most frequent eye tumor in children, with an incidence of 1/15,000 to 20,000 live births [4]. Sixty percent are unilateral: the median age at diagnosis is 2 years and most of these forms are not hereditary. Other disorders that require monitoring by an ophthalmologist from birth are prematurity (less than 1500g birth weight or 32 weeks), congenital ptosis (drooping eyelid), and although it is rare, a continuous tearing associated with photophobia, blepharospasm and increased corneal diameter must rule out a congenital glaucoma [5]. But the two leading causes of visual impairment during childhood are refractive errors and strabismus (squint). Both diseases if not detected early and corrected before 7 years of age are the mean cause of unrecoverable low vision, which is known as amblyopia. That’s why child’s eyes should be examined during regular pediatric appointments and vision testing should be conducted around age three. The prevalence of both diseases is much higher in children with special needs such as those with cerebral palsy [6].