Update on son's eye appointment - some great news

That's great!

Can I ask you some questions?  Glacoma runs in my family.  What do I need to watch for in my son?  How old is your son?

Quoting JasonsMom2007:

That's great!

Can I ask you some questions?  Glacoma runs in my family.  What do I need to watch for in my son?  How old is your son?

In a sense we were "lucky" because there are symptoms of congenital glaucoma that show up in infants that won't show up in toddlers and older children.  In our son's case, his left eye was noticeably larger than the other and at 3 months old, I noticed that the iris of his left eye looked cloudy (corneal hazing). 

DS will be 4 in May.  When I spoke with his doctor on the phone yesterday and described his symptoms, the doctor didn't think it was the glaucoma because in "older" children they won't have obvious symptoms but had me bring him in anyway since his 6-month checkup was coming up anyway.

I know that's not much help.  If you take your son in to an optometrist for a check-up s/he can check the pressure and let you know if there is reason for concern.  Let him or her know about your family history so they can tell you how often to have your son checked.

Here is some info on pediatric glaucoma from The Glaucoma Foundation

Quote:

Ten percent of primary congenital glaucomas are present at birth, and 80 percent are diagnosed during the first year of life. The pediatrician or family first notice eye signs of glaucoma including clouding and/or enlargement of the cornea. The elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) can cause the eyeball itself to enlarge and injury to the cornea. Important early symptoms of glaucoma in infants and children are poor vision, light sensitivity, tearing, and blinking.

Pediatric glaucoma is treated differently than adult glaucoma. Most patients require surgery and this is typically performed early. The aim of pediatric glaucoma surgery is to reduce IOP either by increasing the outflow of fluid from the eye or decrease the production of fluid within the eye. One operation for pediatric glaucoma is goniotomy. Its rate of success is associated with the age of the child at the time of diagnosis, the type and severity of the glaucoma, and the surgery technique. Other surgical options are trabeculectomy and glaucoma drainage tubes.

Approximately 80-90 percent of babies who receive prompt surgical treatment, long-term care, and monitoring of their visual development will do well, and may have normal or nearly normal vision for their lifetime. Sadly, primary congenital glaucoma results in blindness in 2 to 15 percent of childhood patients. When childhood glaucoma is not recognized and treated promptly more permanent visual loss will result.

Our son had 2 surgeries both at 3 months of age, a goniotomy and then a trabeculotomy 2 weeks later.  He's had no other surgeries or medications (which is fantastic for PCG).

Thank you so much!  My son will be 3 in June and I think that's when kids start getting eye exams right?  He has vision insurance through healthy families.

My mom just had to have surgery to put drainage tubes in her eye after they tried laser twice and it didn't work.  Don't want my poor little guy to go through something like that :(

Quoting FrogSalad:

 

Quoting JasonsMom2007:

That's great!

Can I ask you some questions?  Glacoma runs in my family.  What do I need to watch for in my son?  How old is your son?

In a sense we were "lucky" because there are symptoms of congenital glaucoma that show up in infants that won't show up in toddlers and older children.  In our son's case, his left eye was noticeably larger than the other and at 3 months old, I noticed that the iris of his left eye looked cloudy (corneal hazing). 

DS will be 4 in May.  When I spoke with his doctor on the phone yesterday and described his symptoms, the doctor didn't think it was the glaucoma because in "older" children they won't have obvious symptoms but had me bring him in anyway since his 6-month checkup was coming up anyway.

I know that's not much help.  If you take your son in to an optometrist for a check-up s/he can check the pressure and let you know if there is reason for concern.  Let him or her know about your family history so they can tell you how often to have your son checked.

Here is some info on pediatric glaucoma from The Glaucoma Foundation

 

Quote:

Ten percent of primary congenital glaucomas are present at birth, and 80 percent are diagnosed during the first year of life. The pediatrician or family first notice eye signs of glaucoma including clouding and/or enlargement of the cornea. The elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) can cause the eyeball itself to enlarge and injury to the cornea. Important early symptoms of glaucoma in infants and children are poor vision, light sensitivity, tearing, and blinking.

Pediatric glaucoma is treated differently than adult glaucoma. Most patients require surgery and this is typically performed early. The aim of pediatric glaucoma surgery is to reduce IOP either by increasing the outflow of fluid from the eye or decrease the production of fluid within the eye. One operation for pediatric glaucoma is goniotomy. Its rate of success is associated with the age of the child at the time of diagnosis, the type and severity of the glaucoma, and the surgery technique. Other surgical options are trabeculectomy and glaucoma drainage tubes.

Approximately 80-90 percent of babies who receive prompt surgical treatment, long-term care, and monitoring of their visual development will do well, and may have normal or nearly normal vision for their lifetime. Sadly, primary congenital glaucoma results in blindness in 2 to 15 percent of childhood patients. When childhood glaucoma is not recognized and treated promptly more permanent visual loss will result.

Our son had 2 surgeries both at 3 months of age, a goniotomy and then a trabeculotomy 2 weeks later.  He's had no other surgeries or medications (which is fantastic for PCG).

Wow. I am glad he's is doing ok! I feel your pain and frustration. My son was born with a cataract. I am glad he's doing well for the doctor, I am still waiting for Max to be OK with it! ;)