Rare surgery helps restore 2-month-old’s eyesight

Thanks to a rare cataract surgery conducted at Seven Hills Hospital in Marol, a two-month-old boy, who was visually impaired since birth, can now see things at a distance of up to 5 feet.

Thanks to a rare cataract surgery conducted at Seven Hills Hospital in Marol, a two-month-old boy, who was visually impaired since birth, can now see things at a distance of up to 5 feet.

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The child was born with a cataract on the cover of lenses, which had to be removed soon failing which the development of vision in the child would have been hampered, said doctors.

“If we had delayed the surgery any more, the child would have missed an important part of his development. He would not have learned to process visual messages in the brain and would have developed a lazy eye. In that condition, the eye squints and just lies in a corner without functioning,” said Dr Sunil Morekar, who conducted the surgery.

The child was lucky because his parents were quick in seeking treatment soon after his birth because the surgery has to be done within six to eight weeks of birth. “The child did not even blink when a torch was shone at him. The other issues can take their time, but the surgery had to be done immediately or else light would not touch the retina hampering the child’s vision,” said Dr Archana Kher, a pediatrician at Seven Hills hospital. “Earlier my son would not react if we switched on light in a dark room. Now his eyes go towards light,” said the boy’s father.

For a year, the boy will have to wear contact lenses or regular spectacles till the time doctors place a lens back into his eyes. Doctors agree that rehabilitation of the child is the most important procedure after the surgery. “We see such children every month to check the power in the eye. The child can then be operated upon after he is about one-and-half years old,” said Dr Ashwin Saini, pediatric opthalmologist, Hinduja Hospital.