Nystagmus, strabismus and Aniridia

  Nystagmus. This disorder is characterized by an irregular, side-to-side involuntary eye movement that may be side-to-side, up and down or rotary.   In individuals with aniridia, nystagmus is thought to be secondary to the foveal hypoplasia.  Nystagmus does not go away or disappear but it usually becomes less noticeable with age.  Conversely, the eye movements usually become more noticeable if an individual is tired, nervous, or stressed.

 Although individuals with nystagmus do not sense that their eyes are moving, this disorder does make it even more difficult to focus on visual details.

To correct the refractive errors (hyperopia, myopia astigmatism) usually doctors used glasses. Till now no one has studied in Russia treatment of nystagmus by special apparatuses. In Europe, America and Canada this method of treatment is not used at all.

Surgical treatment of nystagmus for child with aniridia to reduce the amplitude and frequency of eyes movement is also not investigated. But all the scientists involved in the study of surgery in aniridia, absolutely agree that aniridic eye is very special , and any surgical intervention can cause many problems and pathologies.

Strabismus is a muscle imbalance of the eye which leads to crossing of the eyes or a “lazy eye.” In esotropia, the eye turns inward. In exotropia, the eye turns outward.

 If uncorrected, strabismus can lead to amblyopia, or the loss of some vision function in the weaker eye.  Strabismus is correctable with glasses, eye-patches and surgery.

 The aniridic eye is very delicate and any intraocular surgery is risky because of the impact on the other structures of the eye.  Many times, a treatment to address one issue can result in another issue (for example, corneal surgery that fixes the cornea but results in glaucoma. Or, glaucoma surgery that results in damage to the limbus region or a cataract.)   Also, a condition called aniridia fibrosis where fibrotic tissue begins to invade the interior of the eye.