Saving the Sight of Children

Did you know that many serious eye disorders in early childhood could be picked up with better screening techniques? Most pediatricians and family physicians are not trained to perform the needed eye exams to detect retinoblastoma, cataracts, strabismus and amblyopia, but that is changing thanks to the efforts of Robert Hered, MD, Chief of Ophthalmology at Nemours Children’s Clinic in Jacksonville, Florida.

Performing a vision screening as part of a well-child exam could save the sight of a young patient, as early detection of certain conditions leads to better outcomes. Many children do not have an eye exam until they are of school age, when it may be too late for early diagnosis of serious eye problems.

The Partnership for Prevention, part of the National Commission on Prevention Priorities, recently ranked vision screening as the most cost-effective clinical preventive service for children. However, most pediatricians and family physicians are unequipped to perform this needed testing. This can have serious implications. The longer a problem such as amblyopia stays undetected, the more difficult it is to reverse. In the case of retinoblastoma, a malignant tumor of the eye, delay in treatment can be life threatening.

Nemours also believes that an early eye exam is critical to the visual health of children and has made a commitment to train pediatricians and family physicians so they can conduct these exams.

Dr. Hered collaborated with the Vision is Priceless Council to develop and distribute thousands of training CDs to physicians in Florida. The training CD provides techniques for performing vision screening for children from birth through five years of age.

For more information click here.