Keep an ‘eye’ on ROP

‘Time means vision, do not delay’--there is a note of urgency in this message on L V Prasad Eye Institute’s (LVPEI) leaflet about Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), which ushers the reader/onlooker to do the needful. Why not? When the new born premature infant has every chance of succumbing to ROP- it goes without saying that all of us need to have the necessary awareness to save the baby from turning into a permanently blind child. Dr Subhadra, pediatrician at LVPEI and the crusader of the noble cause says she’s been spreading this awareness on a war footing for over two decades now and soon, the institute would celebrate the 10,000th baby’s vision in November. Their unit is planning to host a huge event to declare their triumph and to spread the message of ‘save vision’ more rigorously in the coming years.

In conversation with Hyderabad Hans, Dr Subhadra says that her ‘vision’ is to see babies sans ROP or any serious eye problem. Having a great team to support her in this campaign, she says she has been on the move right from her own children’s birth till date which spans over two decades. Subhadra doesn’t want to take rest till her mission is accomplished. The proud doctor says with her eyes gleaming, “Today we have brought down the count to almost nil – as we have saved the vision of all those premature babies who have contacted us.” Here are some vital facts about ROP which all of us need to know and educate those who are in the ‘dark’

The retina of a premature baby is not fully developed due to early birth. Abnormal blood vessels can develop in such retina and cause bleeding inside the eye which progresses into retinal detachment. This is called Retinopathy of Prematurity, the result of which is irreversible low vision or permanent blindness.

A trained ophthalmologist can detect ROP by dilating pupils of the eye using eye drops. An indirect ophthalmoscope is used to scan the entire retina to detect ROP and gauge the state of retinal maturity.

Babies with birth weight of less than 1700 gms or those born with less than 35 weeks of pregnancy are most likely to have ROP. Any other preterm baby who has problems after birth like lack of oxygen/infection/ blood transfusion breathing trouble etc is also vulnerable.

Most of us take eyes for granted. Ignorance is not bliss but a bane. We need a celebrity like Amitabh Bachchan to drive this into our head or our very own Nagarjuna urging the new-born’s parents to follow the 30-day strategy if it’s a premature baby. In our country people listen to celebrities, that is what we did with polio, isn’t it?

ROP is treated with laser rays or freezing treatment (cryopexy). This treatment stops further growth of abnormal vessels thus preventing vision loss. It needs to be treated as soon as it reaches a critical stage called threshold ROP. Time is crucial; hence we say time is vision

After treatment, a regular eye check-up till the child starts going to school is mandatory. With this vital information Dr Subhadra swiftly swings into action in the pediatric ward of LVPEI where I met few anxious parents, some who were lucky enough to have a doctor save their infant’s vision. However there were some less fortunate ones, whose babies’ ROP was already invaded and had claimed their vision. Khushboo, is one such young mother who lamented that it never even occurred to them that their beautiful baby Adya would turn out to be a blind child.

“If people from a well-educated family can be so ignorant, imagine what would be the fate of people who are illiterate?” laments Dr Subhadra. With this, she swings back to action, suddenly reminding me about ‘Lady with the Lamp’—moving with the Lamp of Vision! Let’s all pledge to help her save our babies’ vision.