Retinoblastoma???

Dear Dr. Hagan,

My mother was viewing my Facebook account when she came across a picture of my nephew that was extremely alarming to her.  She started searching her photos of Brady when she came across two others taken since December with the same "white eye".  He is 13 months old.  I am including one of the pictures for you to look at.  Please give me advice as to what we should do.

[berrywoo]

Go take him to a pediatric ophthalmologist ASAP. Find one near you at www.aao.org. Or go to his pediatrician and get a referral.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

This  is really an emergency and you need to get the child in to see an Eye MD as soon as possible. This really isn't so much a white reflex as a dark reflex. It can come from the eyes not being straight, juvenile cataracts, structural abnormalities of the inner eye or retinoblastoma.

Have your pediatrician set this up ASAP or in the USA to to WWW.aao.org and find one near you.

Let us know how this turns out.

JCH MD

[kaedonahue]

He has an appointment tomorrow (Tuesday) at 11:00.  We are actually in Massachusetts and luckily have wonderful resources in Boston.  Over the weekend my brother and his wife took 3 random pictures of Brady standing in my mother's kitchen and in all three pictures the pupil had the same reflex as the picture above.  They have found several more photos that have been taken since Christmastime that look like the one above.  We are EXTREMELY worried and could just cry every time we see these pictures.  We are hoping for the best and should know more tomorrow.  I will post once I hear something.  Thank you so much for your responses and concerns.  Kelly

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

There are other things much less serious that might cause this. We hope and pray that is the case.

Look forward to your report.

JCH MD

[kaedonahue]

He went for his examination today and the pediatric opthamologist said that the reflex was caused from Brady being "far-sighted".  Could that be possible?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The picture you posted is more of a dark reflex than a white reflex. The dark reflex can occur if the eyes are crossing. A common cause of crossing in children is being farsighted. "Accommodative esotrophia" its called. Treated with glasses, sometimes with patching and sometimes with surgery and glasses.

Much better than a retinoblastoma.

JCH MD

[kaedonahue]

Yes, MUCH better than Retinoblastoma...we are all relieved to say the least.  This was quite a scare and actually made me aware of Retinoblastoma.  God Bless the children and families of the children that suffer from this condition.

I truly appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions and give me your professional advice.  Thank you so much!

Sincerely,
KAD

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

You are welcome. All you parents out there, if you see a eye abnormality don't wait go see an Eye MD.  If all seems normal see a Eye MD ophthalmologist about age 3 for a baseline exam and to rule out amblyopia.

JCH MD