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Flecks in the Retinas of Mono Mono Twins
Dear Dr.
I have mono-mono twins that just turned 7 yrs old. They were born the day before 32 weeks. They had an eye exam as infants and there were no concerns at that time. However, since their first eye doctors exam at approximately 4 yrs old they've never received a "clean bill of health" or perfect vision. It was unsure whether they truly had vision problems or if it was an issue of maturity. We would return to the eye doctor every six months or so to be re-examined. Finally, they failed their eye exam with the school nurse in Kindergarten (approximately a year ago). They both have a stigmatism. That was always clear.
At just over six years old they received their first prescription for eye glasses. We returned to the doctor to be told their answers were inconsistant and it was undetermined whether their sight was improving with the glasses. We were sent to Children's Hospital Boston for a second opinion.
The specialist tweeked their eye glass prescription and said she saw flecks in my "twin A's" eyes but couldn't get a good look into my other daughter (we'll call her "twin B"). We were asked to come back in six months.
Our next and most recent visit was yesterday. The doctor saw answers consistant with their previous responses (I believe she said 20/60) and therefore no real improvement. The more concerning issue seems to be the flecks. She was able to confirm both of my girls have flecks in their retinas right by the point where the detailed vision is assessed. This is their problem.. seeing detailed vision.
The doctor went on to explain that some people have flecks in their retinas and never have a problem with their sight, however, it may be the sign of a degenerative condition. She went on to explain that the flecks are in the part of the eye that allows us to see detail which is the concern for them. The doctor explained further that if a singleton had the same symptoms as one of them she would not be as concerned and consider to monitor them. She sees many young patients with their same symptoms and it's "nothing". It seems like because they are in fact identical twins and have the same symptoms (the twin with more flecks has worse visiton) that a more serious condition is more likely? It was not relayed to us that cut and dry but I'm curious if that would be your opinon?
We are now waiting for an appointment with a retina specialist who we're told will perform the same eye exam but with a retinal scan. If she also has concerns we'll be sent to a geneologist for DNA testing and possibly sent for a rental scan that will involve injecting dye into their eyes. Our hope is that the non-invasive DNA testing would be done before a test injecting dye into their eyes. These girls are difficult to give eye drops too.
It's difficult not to be nervous and fear the worse but we are not letting on to our daughters that there could be an issue nor are we feeding into our fears. We're staying level headed.
I'd love to hear anything you have to say. : )
Sincerely,
Mono-Mono Mom
I have mono-mono twins that just turned 7 yrs old. They were born the day before 32 weeks. They had an eye exam as infants and there were no concerns at that time. However, since their first eye doctors exam at approximately 4 yrs old they've never received a "clean bill of health" or perfect vision. It was unsure whether they truly had vision problems or if it was an issue of maturity. We would return to the eye doctor every six months or so to be re-examined. Finally, they failed their eye exam with the school nurse in Kindergarten (approximately a year ago). They both have a stigmatism. That was always clear.
At just over six years old they received their first prescription for eye glasses. We returned to the doctor to be told their answers were inconsistant and it was undetermined whether their sight was improving with the glasses. We were sent to Children's Hospital Boston for a second opinion.
The specialist tweeked their eye glass prescription and said she saw flecks in my "twin A's" eyes but couldn't get a good look into my other daughter (we'll call her "twin B"). We were asked to come back in six months.
Our next and most recent visit was yesterday. The doctor saw answers consistant with their previous responses (I believe she said 20/60) and therefore no real improvement. The more concerning issue seems to be the flecks. She was able to confirm both of my girls have flecks in their retinas right by the point where the detailed vision is assessed. This is their problem.. seeing detailed vision.
The doctor went on to explain that some people have flecks in their retinas and never have a problem with their sight, however, it may be the sign of a degenerative condition. She went on to explain that the flecks are in the part of the eye that allows us to see detail which is the concern for them. The doctor explained further that if a singleton had the same symptoms as one of them she would not be as concerned and consider to monitor them. She sees many young patients with their same symptoms and it's "nothing". It seems like because they are in fact identical twins and have the same symptoms (the twin with more flecks has worse visiton) that a more serious condition is more likely? It was not relayed to us that cut and dry but I'm curious if that would be your opinon?
We are now waiting for an appointment with a retina specialist who we're told will perform the same eye exam but with a retinal scan. If she also has concerns we'll be sent to a geneologist for DNA testing and possibly sent for a rental scan that will involve injecting dye into their eyes. Our hope is that the non-invasive DNA testing would be done before a test injecting dye into their eyes. These girls are difficult to give eye drops too.
It's difficult not to be nervous and fear the worse but we are not letting on to our daughters that there could be an issue nor are we feeding into our fears. We're staying level headed.
I'd love to hear anything you have to say. : )
Sincerely,
Mono-Mono Mom
There is also one on the right, the experts side ., Dr Hagen is on the left of the forums page ..
I have just looked at the eye care forum ..the Doctor is Dr Hagen ..It is there . go back to the forums page look down the list to the E's ..
I would love to post my question appropriately in the eye care forum, however, when given the topics to chose from "Eye Care" is not one of them. Any suggestions? Thank you!
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