Sankar Foundation’s rare surgery saves 45-day infant’s vision

Retina specialist Dr Krishna Teja performed the procedure under the able guidance of Dr JK Challa, Senior Retina Consultant of Sankar Foundation.

Visakhapatnam: Sankar Foundation Eye Hospital has performed a rare surgery to save the vision of a 45-day infant born prematurely.

Retina specialist Dr Krishna Teja performed the procedure under the able guidance of Dr JK Challa, Senior Retina Consultant of Sankar Foundation. The child was identified with Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP), which occurs in premature babies with birth weight less than 2 kg. and who were supplemented with oxygen therapy. This disease can lead to blindness in babies if not treated at the earliest.

In Visakhapatnam, ROP eye screening programme is being conducted by Sankar Foundation at Government Victoria General Hospital (GOSHA) and Apollo Hospital every Thursday. A baby of 45 days old with gestational age of 31 weeks and birth weight of just 1006 grams with respiratory distress and septicemia was diagnosed with aggressive posterior Retinopathy of Prematurity (AP-ROP) in both eyes which was treated immediately with intra-vitreal Anti VEGF injection thereby preventing blindness of the premature baby, according to a spokesman of SFEH.