Retinal angiopathy in a child

One of the signs by which angiopathy can be diagnosed in a child is increased intracranial pressure. Usually, a child receives such a diagnosis as a result of birth trauma or other reasons during complicated childbirth. Retinal angiopathy in a child is not a common disease.

This disease is characterized in children by a modification of capillaries and larger vessels in the eyes according to exactly the same pattern as in adults. In children, the symptoms of the disease are practically not manifested, so it is impossible to make the necessary diagnosis in time and prescribe the appropriate treatment. Only with an injury to one or both eyes, as well as the head, the eyeball is stained with a red mesh of damaged vessels. And only this symptom can serve as a signal to check the condition of the fundus. Although with injuries that entail disturbances in the vessels of the fundus, pain, decreased visual acuity and symptoms of hypoxia may occur.

To start treatment, it is necessary to find out the reason for the appearance of signs of angiopathy. As in adults, the children's version of the disease occurs due to complications from existing diseases in the body or injuries. Therefore, the types of vascular complications are hypertensive, diabetic, hypotensive, traumatic or juvenile. The diabetic form of the disease is very difficult to treat, since these two diseases are related, and diabetes mellitus is usually not treated. The juvenile form of the disease is incurable due to its unclear etiology. Hypertensive and hypotensive forms of the disease can be corrected if the symptoms of the underlying disease are neutralized and the pressure is normalized.

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Retinal angiopathy in a newborn

More and more young parents are currently faced with the diagnosis of retinal angiopathy in a newborn. But do not get nervous ahead of time, because this situation is not quite like that. Let's look into the issue and reassure parents about it.

So, the diagnosis is made by an ophthalmologist based on an examination of the fundus of the newborn. In this case, the specialist observes plethora of veins located in the retina. This condition of the eye vessels is explained by increased intracranial pressure in the infant, which is not so common in infants.

When diagnosing increased intracranial pressure in infants, specialists rely on data from examining the fundus. In this case, only part of the optic nerve can be observed, its section of a round or oval shape. Near the nerve, in the direction of the surface of the retina, there are blood vessels, which are represented by veins and arteries. They help the retina receive nutrition and oxygen.

If the infant has intracranial hypertension, then optic nerve edema may develop, which changes the shape of the nerve disk observed during examination of the fundus. After which the veins and arteries are compressed under the influence of the dilated nerve, and arterial blood begins to enter the retina in a smaller volume. Accordingly, not all venous blood begins to flow out, which dilates the veins and makes them twist.

Accordingly, the following stages can be distinguished, which are observed by the doctor:

• deformation of the optic nerve,
• the process of narrowing of the arteries,
• the process of varicose veins.

But retinal angiopathy in infants should not be identified only with venous congestion. The fact is that this complication is considered to be a lesion of the vascular structure that occurred as a result of a violation of nervous regulation. The plethora observed in the veins can be caused by the child's position - standing or lying down, as well as physical activity undertaken before this. In addition, one cannot speak of the state of the vessels of newborns as a constant phenomenon.

Angiopathy of the retina in infants

Angiopathy of the retina in infants is a controversial and questionable diagnosis. Most often, doctors incorrectly diagnose the condition of the infant's fundus, relying only on data on the filling of the veins with blood, narrowing of the arteries, and the appearance of curvature of the venous vessels. It is important to remember that with angiopathy, changes in the structure of the vessels are observed, which are expressed in tissue damage. All this cannot be ascertained in small children. In addition, most often, during repeated examinations after some time, the diagnosis is removed, which means that it was incorrectly stated at the very beginning.

It can be said that in our territory in the post-Soviet countries this diagnosis is very common among infants, but in European countries it is completely absent. This is due to the fact that ophthalmologists' equipment allows them to see the fundus in great detail and refute a controversial diagnosis.

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Juvenile retinal angiopathy

Juvenile retinal angiopathy, also known as Eales' disease, is an incompletely understood disease because the nature of its occurrence is unknown. This type of vascular problem is considered the most unfavorable due to the lack of understanding of the reasons for its occurrence, as well as the serious consequences that this dysfunction has on vision.

The disease occurs in young men. In this case, peripheral lesions of the retinal vessels are observed, and changes necessarily occur in both eyes.

This type of disease manifests itself as follows:

• inflammatory processes in the vessels of the eyes, most often in the venous ones,
• the appearance of frequent hemorrhages that are directed both to the retina and to the vitreous body of the eye,
• In some cases, connective tissue forms on the retina of the eye.

All of the above changes and processes lead to the formation of rubeosis iridis, cataracts and neovascular glaucoma in the eyes. Retinal detachment may also be observed. These complications inevitably affect the patient's ability to see the world around him, that is, after some time, they lead the patient to blindness.