Archive for ophthalmology
Finding a treatment option for tear duct obstruction that works for children
Congenital tear duct obstruction (a blocked tear duct) is the most common cause of excessive tearing in infants and young children. Fortunately, most children require minimal treatment, but those with persistent symptoms can have a procedure to clear the blockage either in a clinician’s office without anesthesia or in a surgical setting with anesthesia. Few ... Read More
Here’s how genetic vision testing can help your family
At least 600 of the roughly 20,000 genes in the human body are needed for normal eyesight. Changes in those genes can lead to many eye conditions, including glaucoma, cataracts, and inherited retinal disorders. If your child has an inherited retinal disorder, they might benefit from genetic testing. It can help determine a diagnosis and how their ... Read More
Pioneering trial offers hope for late treatment of ‘lazy eye’
In children with amblyopia or “lazy eye,” one eye is weaker than the other for any of a number of reasons. It may not focus as well, it may be misaligned due to strabismus, or its vision may be obstructed by a cataract or a droopy eyelid. As a result, the brain starts to favor ... Read More
Help your child prevent myopia with two simple steps
Myopia — also known as nearsightedness, or the inability to see things far away — is becoming more prevalent in children. Although myopia can be triggered by genetics, it can also develop because of environmental factors such as limited time spent outdoors and increased time indoors doing activities such as activities on electronics. Dr. Kimberley Chan, an optometrist ... Read More
Get a jump on potential eye conditions by having your child regularly tested
It can be surprising to learn your child has an eye condition. Children don’t always outwardly show symptoms of nearsightedness, a lazy eye, or another vision problem. That’s because children are adaptive. If one of their eyes doesn’t function well, they learn to adjust with the other one, according to Dr. Ryan Gise, an ophthalmologist in ... Read More
Facial weakness: A dark matter detective story
Elizabeth Engle, MD, has devoted her career to finding genetic and developmental causes for disorders of eye, eyelid, and facial movement. From common conditions like strabismus to very rare disorders, these conditions can impact a person’s appearance and impair social communication, making it hard to shift one’s eyes up, down, or sideways or adjust facial expressions. Each ... Read More
Two neuroscience rock stars elected to the National Academy of Medicine
Beth Stevens, PhD, and Elizabeth Engle, MD, are the latest Boston Children’s Hospital researchers to be elected to the prestigious National Academy of Medicine. Their election, together with Daphne Haas-Kogan, MD, brings Boston Children’s total number of current NAM members to 22. Both scientists hail from the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children’s and are ... Read More
An advance for drug-eluting contact lenses: Delivery to the back of the eye
Drug-eluting contact lenses, which gradually release drugs into the eye, offer a promising alternative to daily eye drops, which can be unpleasant and hard for patients to properly administer. In a 2016 pre-clinical study of glaucoma, the engineered lenses lowered eye pressure at least as well as daily eye drops. New work from Massachusetts Eye ... Read More
Optimized CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing averts hearing loss in ‘Beethoven’ mice
Using a novel gene-editing approach, scientists at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School have salvaged hearing in a mouse model of hereditary deafness, with no apparent off-target effects. The system successfully identified a single misspelled “letter” in the defective copy of a gene required for hearing, disabled this aberrant copy, and spared the healthy ... Read More
Jillian’s story: Finding care, support, then a diagnosis
Eighteen-year-old Jillian Allair is funny, independent, sarcastic, and the charmer of the family. She loves music, especially top 40, and little kids, with a soft spot for those with medical challenges. Jillian knows a thing or two about medical challenges herself — she’s been a patient at Boston Children’s Hospital since she was 8 weeks ... Read More