Abnormally large pupils in my 6 year old

[salm103]

My daughter has abnormally large pupils that do not constrict much when exposed to light.  She has been struggling to learn to read and is continually turning words backwards in her writing and in her reading.

Are large pupils something that I should have checked out?  Could her pupils have anything to do with her struggle to read?  I know dyslexia might be a diagnosis, but is there another condition that might be affecting her?

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

The thing that concerned me in the first posting was they did not constrict when exposed to light. If your daughter's pupils have been large and large all her life, constrict with light and she see's well and is healthy then it's likely a variant of normal. Just like there are tall people and short people pupil size varies among people and pupil size changes during our life being smallest in infants and the very elderly.

Both pupils widen in response to feat/anger, certain medications (both legal and illegal), and of course in the dark.

Hopefully somewhere along the way you've had her checked by an ophthalologist Eye MD and discussed this. If not see an eye MD, take in good facial pictures, perhaps 4-5) taken over the past 10 years that clearly show her eyes and pupils size. BE SURE TO TELL THE TECHNICIANS NO DROPS TILL THE EYE MD LOOKS AT THE PUPILS HIM/HERSELF.

I have a cousin with huge pupils. He is a successful lawyer.

JCH MD

[parev]

Hello Dr. my daughter is 13 years old and she has very very large pupils.  She gets a yearly eye check up should i take her to a specialist? what causes the large eye pupils?  please let me know.

thank you

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

Your daugher should be seen by a ophthalmologist. Its very important that you tell the techs not to put drops in the eyes till the Eye MD looks at the pupils.

The pupils are often very large at her age as a normal variant. It should not cause problems with her reading.

Find an Eye MD near you at www.aao.org or ask your family MD to refer you.

JCH MD