Blind for life with extremely rare condition
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ANOPHTHALMIA is an extremely rare condition which affects fewer than one child in every 100,000 born worldwide.
In the case of anophthalmia, there is a complete absence of eye tissue within the eye socket.
In severe cases, children have no eyeball and no optic nerve.
Doctors are still baffled by what causes the condition during the development of the foetus.
Anophthalmia is linked to a less severe condition called microphthalmia.
Children who suffer from microphthalmia have eyeballs which stop developing before birth and which are severely undersized.
In some cases, the condition is so mild it can hardly be spotted. In other cases, it is so severe as to require major surgery to prevent the face from effectively collapsing into the eye-socket. Children born with anophthalmia will be blind for life.
- Ralph Riegel
Irish Independent
