Mr & Mrs Toraubally Mahmed Nadir are thrilled as their 2 month old Toraubally’s vision has been restored after a successful eye surgery at Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital. The baby hailing from Mauritius was diagnosed with a rare condition called Congenital Glaucoma.
While Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness, Congenital Glaucoma is a rare condition. Only 1 out of 15,000 new borns are diagnosed with Congenital Glaucoma. The condition is caused by incorrect development of the eye’s drainage system before birth. This leads to increased intraocular pressure, which in turn damages the optic nerve and eventually leads to blindness.
Baby Toraubally had a normal birth at a private hospital in Mauritius, however within few days the parents noticed that their child had excessive tearing, enlarged and bulged eyes. The baby even had cloudiness in the white portion of eye along with sensitivity to light. They immediately admitted the baby at Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital in Mauritius. After initial examination the doctors diagnosed the problem as Congenital Glaucoma which required special attention by an expert. They explained about it to parents and referred the child to Dr. S A Hussain Naqvi, Glaucoma specialist with Dr Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Hyderabad.
In a normal eye, a clear transparent fluid called aqueous humor flows through the inner eye continuously. This fluid flows into the eye and goes out of the eye. In Glaucoma, the fluid enters the eye, but does not exit the eye. Once this happens, the fluid accumulates more and more in the eye and the pressure of the eye increases. In the child’s case, Dr. S A Hussain Naqvi and team, advised performing combined Trabeculotomy with Trabeculectomy. This procedure facilitates the flow of the fluid from inside to the outside of the eye and thereby reduces the pressure inside the eye. As any delay in treatment will reduce the ability of the child to see, the team operated the child on the 3rd day of the visit itself. Today, the child is not only been cured of Congenital Glaucoma, but also is responding and playing with his parents for the first time since birth.
Elaborating about the case,
Dr. S A Hussain Naqvi, Head of Medical Services, Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital, Secunderabad said, “The age of the child was a big challenge. Even exploring the canal is difficult at such a tender age. Thirdly, in Congenital Glaucoma there’s a tendency for the eye ball to be enlarged making it difficult to judge the anatomical features accurately. However, with the help of our trained anesthetist and experienced staff we were able to successfully treat the ailment in the baby.”
“The baby has been responding well and hence we are not foreseeing any complications. However, a regular checkup to monitor refractive error and pressure in the eye is advisable.” added Dr. Maramganty Vamshidhar, Head of Medical Services, Dr. Agarwal's Eye Hospital, Telangana Region.
Timely intervention is the key to avoid Glaucoma led blindness in children. The early presentation of the baby and well-timed treatment by the doctors made this case one of the successful cases seen among Congenital Glaucoma patients. The case has not only given a new lease of life to the baby and parents but has instilled hope in patients suffering from such rare conditions.
About Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital:
Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital a comprehensive eye hospital offering a one-stop solution for eye ailments; was started in the year 1957. Now the hospital is in its 57th year of offering quality services in eye care. It has 15 branches in Chennai and a visible footprint in the states of Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Odisha, Andaman and Rajasthan. A tertiary eye care centre at Mauritius marks its first step towards establishing an international presence extended upto 13 branches covering the Indian Ocean region, African countries and East Asia.
The hospital has received various awards for its inventions and services. In March 2006, Late Dr. J Agarwal, Founder-Chairman was awarded Padma Bhushan by the former President of India, Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam for his dedicated services to the poor and downtrodden. The hospital received visibility in the global arena for its inventions - Micro-Phakonit (Cataract surgery with 0.7 mm size incision) in 1999 and ‘Glued Intraocular Lens Implant’ performed on a 4 year old girl in January 2008 by Prof. Amar Agarwal. In February 2009, the world's first Anterior Segment Eye Transplant Surgery was performed on a 4 month old child to treat corneal disorder. In November 2013, for the first time in the World, Dr. Agarwal’s Eye Hospital, Chennai transplanted a one year old donor cornea giving a new lease of sight to a 60 year old man through the new technique PDEK (Pre Descemet’s Endothelial Keratoplasty).
