Pediatrics Strabismus News

Santen U.K. Ltd. announced the launch of Verkazia eye drops in Europe for the treatment of severe vernal keratoconjunctivitis in adolescents and children at least 4 years old.

CHICAGO — Corneal cross-linking should be considered in pediatric patients at diagnosis of clinically identifiable keratoconus, a speaker here said.

CHICAGO — Low doses of atropine are the most effective in slowing myopia progression, according to a speaker here.

Pediatric cataracts may be unilateral or bilateral, congenital or acquired, and represent about 5% to 20% of global pediatric blindness. Pediatric cataract surgery can be challenging both in the operating room and after surgery with regard to clinical management and close follow-up, which are essential for an optimal visual outcome and avoiding amblyopia. Unlike adult cataract surgery, pediatric cataract surgery requires a multidisciplinary approach that monitors and treats all aspects of vision and vision-related function in these growing children. Advances in surgical techniques and IOLs have continued to improve the healing phase and contribute to improved visual quality in this age group. Improved wound construction and added surgical options with the performance of anterior and posterior capsulotomies, with or without anterior vitrectomy, have elevated the quality of these surgeries. However, various challenges continue to face the pediatric cataract surgeon.

SAN FRANCISCO — In 1993, the CDC recommended routinely screening all pregnant women for Chlamydia trachomatis, or CT, which has significantly reduced the number of neonatal chlamydial conjunctivitis cases in the United States, according to research presented at IDWeek 2018.

A 6-day-old male infant born full term was transferred to the Tufts Medical Center emergency department from an outside hospital with worsening redness, swelling and discharge of the left eye over the past 2 days. He was born to homeless parents, and his mother was incarcerated for the first 6 months of pregnancy. His mother had a history of intravenous drug use and was seropositive for hepatitis C. She reportedly had two negative tests for sexually transmitted infections during her pregnancy, with the most recent testing occurring 3 months before delivery. She did have trichomoniasis and recurrent yeast infections during pregnancy. The infant received erythromycin prophylaxis after delivery. The infant’s urine and serum toxicology screens were negative at birth. The infant was otherwise healthy with no known medical history. The infant was in the care of a foster mother.

Recent findings suggest that approximately one-quarter of infants with suspected or confirmed Zika virus exposure during the 2015-2016 Rio de Janeiro outbreak developed eye abnormalities. Researchers said that regardless of laboratory confirmation, all infants born during Zika outbreaks “should be universally screened for eye abnormalities.”

A newly developed risk score that combines environmental and ocular factors may help identify schoolchildren who are at high risk for myopia.

Smartphone photoscreening for amblyopia in pediatric patients using the GoCheck Kids application had positive predictive value comparable with other commercial objective screeners.

Pediatric retina surgery is not for the faint of heart. The stakes could not be higher for the youngest of our patients, and the margin between success and failure is razor thin. In surgery, as in medicine, small innovations and stepwise refinements to technique can, over time, cumulatively create tremendous progress.