Video丨Children's eyes are like wearing contact lenses?

"Today is Xiaobao's first birthday, and many uncles and aunts have come to see you!"

"Happy birthday to Xiaobao! Xiaobao is so good-looking. Especially those eyes, it's like wearing contact lenses!"

"Xiaobao's pupils are pale, this color should be alert to eye diseases! ”

Doctors from Aier Eye Hospital reminded that Xiaobao's eyes are called "white pupil syndrome", that is, the pupil area loses its normal black color and appears white sickly. Patients are unable to fix their eyes on targets or follow the movement of objects, which seriously affects their vision development. This condition is common in congenital cataracts.

1. What is congenital cataract?

Congenital cataract refers to a congenital genetic or developmental disorder that exists around the time of birth, or develops gradually after birth. It is a common childhood eye disease and is the leading cause of blindness and amblyopia in children.

At present, the global prevalence of congenital cataract is about 4%, and the continental prevalence is about 0.5%. Available data suggest that approximately 1.5 million children worldwide suffer from congenital cataracts that cause low vision or become blind. The number of cases per 10,000 newborns is 2.2~3.

2. What are the clinical manifestations of congenital cataract?

Children with congenital cataract have a cloudy eye lens, often accompanied by leukopupilia, with varying degrees of vision loss, which can occur in one or both eyes, most of which are stationary, and a few continue to develop after birth. Many congenital cataracts are accompanied by other ocular abnormalities or lesions, such as strabismus, nystagmus, congenital microphthalmia, retinal and choroidal lesions, etc.

3. How to treat congenital cataract?

After infants and young children suffer from congenital cataract, it affects the normal development of vision and is prone to form-deprivation amblyopia, so the goal of treatment is to restore vision and reduce the occurrence of amblyopia and blindness. It is mainly divided into: general treatment and surgical treatment.

In general, patients with visual acuity can be followed up and observed regularly, and patients with visual impact can be tested and evaluated for binocular visual function, and appropriate prescriptions can be prescribed to achieve the purpose of correcting refractive error.

In general, surgery can be performed when the patient's visual acuity is less than 0.5, or when blurred vision interferes with normal life and work.

(1) Congenital cataract in both eyes: Generally, surgery is performed within 1~2 months after birth, and no more than 6 months at the latest. The other eye should be operated on within 1 week after the first eye surgery, and the monocular should not be covered for more than 1 week after the operation to prevent the occurrence of shape-deprivation amblyopia due to monocular occlusion after surgery, and an intraocular lens can be implanted at the age of 2 years.

(2) Monocular congenital cataract, if the lens opacity is located in the pupil area, it needs to be treated with surgery as soon as possible, and an intraocular lens can be implanted at the age of 1.

(3) If there is a patient with intrauterine infection of rubella virus, it is not advisable to operate too early, because in the early stage of infection, rubella virus can exist in the lens, and surgery will cause the release of virus and cause iritis. Surgery is generally advocated after half a year of age.

4. How to detect congenital cataract in the early stage?

Children with congenital cataract have an early onset and do not complain, but careful observation by parents can still detect it early. In daily life, if the baby has squint, photophobia, squinting vision, tilting his head to see things, the pupil area becomes white or gray and dull, and when the child shakes in front of the child with a brightly colored toy, the child's eyes do not follow the activity or the eyes are uncoordinated, you should go to a professional ophthalmologist as soon as possible.

In addition, if there is a family history of cataract and the mother has had viral infections in early pregnancy, such as herpes simplex virus infection, rubella virus infection, etc., the child should go to a professional ophthalmologist for examination as soon as possible after birth.

In addition, cataract surgery is not all right.

Surgical treatment of congenital cataract is only the first step in the treatment, and it is necessary to follow up the visual function rehabilitation treatment in time after surgery, such as refractive correction, visual training, etc., to prevent amblyopia, exotropia, nystagmus, high myopia, etc.

Children under the age of 12 with congenital cataract should be re-examined at least every six months after surgery, and patients aged 12 to 18 should be re-examined at least once a year, and myopia prevention and control should be carried out.

Supervising expert: Tang Qiongyan, chief physician of the cataract department of Changsha Aier Eye Hospital

Copywriter: Wang Lu / Late: Wang Sixian / Correspondent: Zhou Qiao