Three year old Charlotte Fisherman has worn a contact lens in her left eye since she was five weeks old. A rare disorder caused her eye to develop a cataract like condition before she was born. There was a risk she could have lost sight in that eye so at five weeks, she had surgery to remove her eye’s natural lens.
At Children’s Hospital Los Angeles Charlotte was then fitted for a contact lens to help her sight develop normally. The brains visual pathway doesn't fully mature until about age 8.
The Vision Center at Children’s was one of the first places to pioneer the use of contact lenses in children. They treat babies with cataracts, eye cancer and problems caused by premature birth.
One in five premmies will have some kind of eye condition. So pediatricians need to examine their eyes more frequently. California has passed a law that requires babies have their eyes dilated and their sight examined at two months to catch problems.
Here at the Vision Center they prefer putting contact lenses in babies, as young as three weeks old.
Because babies adjust to the contact lens and by the time they hit the terrible twos wearing a contact lens feeels normal.
Charlotte’s mother is optimistic about her future.
Charlotte may always wear glasses or contacts but it’s a small price to pay for a lifetime of sight.
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