dislocated lens

[tarjall]

My brother is 24, he is a wonderful person, very helpful, passionate in what he does, but has been very limited in his opportunities because of his situation, which has had a negative effect on him since he was a kid. Everyone who knows him, loves him, he has an amazing personality, he has a lot of dreams he wants to achieve but always has something holding him back, although he is trying every day. I want to help him find a way to improve his vision so he may start living a normal life with a chance of reaching his goals and dreams.

Since he was born, he has had vision problems where he can only see %4 from his right eye and %86 from his left eye when wearing his very thick glasses. When he was a couple of years old, he has had corrective surgery on his skull which according to doctors had nothing to do with his vision problems, saying he was most likely born with this problem, at around that time, eye doctors told us not to do anything with his eyes until he reaches 18, saying he would be lucky if he doesn't go blind by then.

We recently saw an Ophthalmologist, specialized in cataracts and lens implants(IOL), who said he has a completely dislocated lens in his right eye, and the ligaments are broken. The doctor said his brain is choosing not to see with his right eye and there is nothing at all he can do for him. His situation has caused him depression although he is an optimistic person, does anyone know of anything in research, or any doctors specialized in this area that can do something for him?

I have the papers that the doctor gave me that includes measurements and other information.

Please, please, please help us find a solution for him, I love my brother so much, and I want to see him achieve his dreams, and to be given the opportunity to see the world like we do.

[melanie858]

A related discussion, my 2 years daughter was started.

[Michael J Kutryb, MD]

Sounds like you really love your brother, that is great. You said that he only has seen a very small percentage from his right eye even since birth so this newly disclocated lens probably didn't cause his overall sight to worsen much. I would assume that he uses his good left eye for practically everything anyway.  So one of the real issues here is that he may have amblyopia in the right eye and repairing the dislocated lens will not improve the vision much.  Put another way, they could try a contact lens to see if that would improve the vision in that eye.  It would simulate what a newly implanted lens implant could possibly provide in terms of vision.  If the contact lens won't help, it might not be a good idea to put in an implant since the eye is so lacking in vision potential.  That's about the best way I can put it.
MJK MD