September 17, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 16, 1429

RAWALPINDI, Sept 16: The early detection of squint particularly among children can prevent many of them from blindness, and its treatment is now available at Al-Shifa Trust Eye Hospital.

Head of Orthoptics Department of Al-Shifa Hospital Samina Nasser said it was a misconception that squint is not curable and added the surgery is the only option for its treatment.

She said best result of treatment depended on the correct time of detection of the disease. “If the disease is detected at the early stage then vision problem and squint can easily be treatable,” Dr Samina explained.

She told Dawn that squint was a condition in which the eyes were not properly aligned with each other. “It typically involves a lack of coordination between the extra ocular muscles that prevents bringing the gaze of each eye to the same point in space and preventing proper binocular vision, which may adversely affect depth perception.”

Strabismus can either be a disorder of the brain coordinating the eyes or a disorder of one or more muscles, as in any process that causes a dysfunction of the usual direction and power of the muscle or muscles, she said. “Orthoptics management consist non-surgical methods like glasses, occlusions, prisms and exercises to restore the vision and to allow both eyes to work together,” Dr Samina said.

She further elaborated that the aim of assessment was to improve and equalize the visual acuity, establish the binocular vision, improve cosmetically and align both the eyes.

She said that the parents needed to examine their children at the early ages in order to avoid any major eye complications. “Squint, which is a very common eye disorder and many other diseases if detected at the tender ages, can prevent the people from major eye complications,” she said.