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Children's cataracts

Congenital cataract
Cataract is a disease that leads to an apparent visual acuity reduction and may provide for a full loss of visual acuity without proper treatment. Cataracts in children are often congenital but they can also be acquired. Congenital cataract makes up 1 out of 20 000 cases at newborn babies.

Types of cataract

Cataracts are classified by their maturity rate:
  • initial cataract,
  • immature cataract,
  • mature cataract,
  • hypermature cataract.
Cataracts are classified by time of their occurrence:
  • Congenital cataract,
  • Acquired cataract.
Acquired cataracts are classified by reasons for their development:
  • Toxic cataract (due to the use of medical substances);
  • Traumatic cataract (develops after mechanic damage of the eye);
  • Ray cataract (arising as an effect of exposure to X-rays or ultraviolet rays).
Cataracts are classified by grade of their occurrence:
  • one-sided cataract (cataract of one eye),
  • both-sided cataract (cataract of both eyes).

Myths and facts about treatment of cataract in children

Cataract can be cured by means of various drops.

You can’t possibly cure cataract only by various drops.

Operation on cataract takes a long time and demands for stationery admission.

It is a mistake to think that operation on cataract takes a long time and demands for stationery stay. We dismiss patients on the next day after the operation on cataract. Cataract surgery at Yasny Vzor clinics is a rapid, safe and low-trauma procedure.

 

Diagnostic of congenital cataract

Our pediatric ophthalmologists diagnose congenital cataract in patients of 1-2 years. We apply medical sleep for such patients to specify the diagnosis and define possible combined eye pathology in the child. Examination of patients in medical sleep also allows us to make the examinations necessary for the next individual selection of intraocular lens to replace the deleted blurry eye-lens.

Symptoms of cataract in children

Parents have to be aware of the fact that cataract can be diagnosed only by ophthalmologist. It is almost impossible to detect this disease domiciliary. Therefore it is very important to visit your pediatric ophthalmologist regularly.

We often detect strabismus in newborn babies that occurs along with congenital cataract.

Cataract in older children is accompanied by a significant reduction of vision acuity – amblyopia (the so called lazy eye). This happens because the retina does not receive information about the outer world through the blurry eye lens. Therefore the eye becomes not trained to look. Unfortunately, we have seen the cases when the congenital cataract in child was treated as amblyopia instead of conduction of a timely surgery.

Grounds for congenital cataract

In patients with cataract the eye-lens becomes blurry and fails to pass light through itself. As a rule the ground for congenital diseases are infectious diseases in mother during the first trimester of pregnancy (rubella, toxoplasmosis, herpes).

Acquired cataract can develop along with eyeball trauma, congenital glaucoma, system diseases (Down syndrome, Hallermann-Streiff syndrome, Lowe syndrome, Marfan syndrome, Alport syndrome).

Treatment of congenital cataract

We developed a three-phase treatment system for congenital cataract in children. First phase consists of fine diagnostics, second – surgical deletion of the blurry eye-lens and implantation of an artificial eye-lens, third – conservative treatment with special emphasis on visual acuity improvement.

We especially emphasize the big role of a correct selection of intraocular lens for a child. We simultaneously implant the artificial eye-lens after the deletion of the blurry lens, select special pediatric lenses that rapidly enhance the child’s visual acuity immediately after the operation.

Conservative treatment after the operation plays important role in the improvement of visual acuity and full rehabilitation after the operation. Thanks to our development - BOC-1 - we can achieve remarkable results in the post-operative period even if the vision acuity is very low at the beginning. This development provides for achieving of perfect results after several treatment courses even in case of high-level amblyopia.

Expected response to treatment

If the operation is done in a timely manner and a conservative treatment courses are conducted we can avoid complications and loss of vision acuity in 99% of the cases in children with acquired or congenital cataract.

 


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