Pakistani boys to get vision back, courtesy AIIMS Doctors

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) tried to restore vision of two Pakistani children who were born blind in a complex surgery that lasted for over an hour.

Doctors at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) tried to restore vision of two Pakistani children who were born blind in a complex surgery that lasted for over an hour.

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Four-year-old Mohammed Hassan Faisal and Syed Mubashir Mehmood (3) from Pakistan's Sindh province were operated at AIIMS on Monday with doctors "hopeful" that they will soon be able to see.

Faisal and Mehmood were both born prematurely at 30 weeks and 28 weeks and suffered from an acute eye disorder called Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP).

ROP is an eye disease that affects prematurely-born babies. It is caused by disorganised growth of retinal blood vessels which results in scarring and retinal detachment. It can be mild and may resolve spontaneously but it may lead to blindness in serious cases.

"It is one of the most difficult surgeries in eyecare both because of the difficulties involved in general management of neonates and the inherent difficulty of managing the immature, fragile and elastic neonate retina," said Dr Rajvardhan Azad, professor and head vitreo-retinal diseases at AIIMS.

"We came for our children's treatment and we are happy with everything. There are lack of such facilities in Pakistan and India is far better in terms of healthcare," said Faisal's father.

"We were referred to AIIMS after going through a tough time in Pakistan," he said. The kids will be discharged from the hospital next week, doctors said.