ptosis in newborn

[joi081208]

I just deliver my 2nd baby trough cesarean section.. we noticed in the nursery that she had not open her eyes completely and then she develop tachypnea...she was then refered to a neonatologist in our place , chest x-ray was
done which revealed normal but they diagnose her to have transient tachypnea in the newborn... her eyes had not yet yet open completely so she was referred to an opthalmologist and dignose to have ptosis.  1) how soon can you diagnose newborn with ptosis 2) how is ptosis treated in newborn  3) is there any relation with having ptosis and the tachypnea? thank you very much

[thomps10]

My son was diagnosed with Ptosis in his right eye at birth, his left eye at about age 2.  I don't know what tachypnea is, so I can't speak to that.  But I can Ptosis.  He is now 10 year old.  He had surgery (Ptosis repair) on his right eye at age 2, 4, 6, and 10 (on July 31 of this year.)  He had surgery on his left eye at age 4, when they did both his right and left eye at the same time.  Make sure you have a doctor that specialized is pediatric opthomology.  With one eye being worse then the other, at about 9 months of age, we started patching the left eye to force him to lift the the other eyelid and not let him loose vision in that eye.  We did that for years, until he came to the age that he understood the questions and comments from other children and did not want to wear the patch.  Then we went to a drop in the eye that made it go near blind for a up to 12 hours.  THe repair surgery will cause the eye to stay open, which is great during the day, but not at night. The eye will not close tightly, so we use lubricating drops and/or ointment 4 times per day.  We have been doing this for years, so it has become just like brushing your teeth.  Because Ptosis causes the eye lid to droop over the pupil,  there is vision loss.  This is why you need to see a doctor who specializes in pediatric optholomogy.  They understand how children grow and when repair is needed.  We live in MN and have been very fortunate to have a great doctor who understands this problem well.  Hope this helps and feel free to ask other questions.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS]

There is no relationship between Tachypnea (rapid breathing) and ptosis. Thomps10 has given you good advise. It is not possible to make congential ptosis eyelids work like normal eyelids but the condition can be improved.

Do see a pediatric ophthalmologist. Find one at www.aao.org

JCH MD