Doctors at National Institute of Ophthalmology (NIO) diagnosed him with Coats' disease, which has an incidence of one in a lakh.Doctors at National Institute of Ophthalmology (NIO) have treated a rare eye disorder called Coats’ disease, diagnosed in a three-year-old boy from Pune. The boy’s parents observed a squint and a yellow glow that seemed like an abnormal reflection from his eye. The couple consulted several ophthalmologists and found out that their son had diminished vision.
Doctors at National Institute of Ophthalmology (NIO) diagnosed him with Coats’ disease, which has an incidence of one in a lakh. The disease involves abnormal development of blood vessels in the retina, in which retinal capillaries break open and leak fluid causing partial or complete detachment of the retina, leading to decreased vision or blindness in the affected eye.
Dr Aditya Kelkar, director of NIO, said there were different stages of the disease where the patient’s eye could eventually shrink and lead to vision loss.
“The child was brought to us three months ago,” Dr Kelkar said, adding that in early stages, abnormal blood vessels are detected and, at later stages, risk of retinal detachment grows as fluid accumulates along with increased chances of development of cataract or phthisis bulbi.
The exact cause, however, was not known but early intervention might help save vision, Dr Kelkar said.
He also said keeping this in mind, it was decided to operate upon the child, and with an external sclerotomy, the fluid was drained following which the retina settled.
Also, the anomalous blood vessels were treated with cryopexy, he said, adding that during the post-operative period, the retina was well settled with no recurrence of retinal detachment.
“With timely intervention, we could help preserve the visual potential of the affected eye from further deterioration,” he said.