It is World Glaucoma Week from 18-20 March and the theme for 2023 is ‘The world is bright, save your sight’. Tygerberg Hospital raised awareness about glaucoma. As untreated cases are a major cause of childhood blindness, the hospital encourages children to have regular eye and optic nerve checks.
Primary hereditary glaucoma is around 1 in every
10 000 to 18 000 live births. Glaucoma that causes blindness accounts
for 5% of all the blind children in the world. 75% of children with primary
congenital glaucoma have bilateral disease but 90% of all cases are sporadic.
Dr Helga Abrahamse-Pillay, a pediatric ophthalmologist said
that Children need lifelong follow- ups so that they can receive timeous
intervention to try and maintain useful vision. The treatment of primary
congenital glaucoma is primarily surgical.
What makes this surgery difficult in children
is that the child often will have a large cornea and this is often not clear,
as well as abnormal drainage angles for the surgery to take place.
Done by: Esona Mfazwe
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