HYDERABAD:A child from Pakistan, who was suffering from retinoblastoma, was successfully treated by doctors at the LV Prasad Eye institute here in the city. It is the most common type of childhood eye cancer affecting one in 15,000-18,000 and its causes can be both hereditary and non-hereditary. Almost 90 per cent of children with retinoblastoma are diagnosed before they reach the age of five.
The child, Fatima, who hails from Lahore, had been visiting the eye institute for the last two years for treatment. ‘’She was under observation from the third month of her birth and was treated in Pakistan for one-and-a-half-years after which she was brought to Hyderabad and has undergone a successful operation and is now in a better condition,’’ said Dr Swathi Kaliki, Consultant Ocular Oncologist, who treated Fatima.
She said the survival rate of patient is 95% and if detected early, there is a 100 per cent chance of saving the patient. ‘’I am very happy that my daughter has been treated by an Indian doctor,’’ said Namika, Fatima’s mother, who was all praise for the doctors. Another child from Kolkata named Rownak Prajapati, who also had retinoblastoma, was treated at the institute. ‘’But due to late detection, the child has lost vision in the left eye,’’ Dr Kaliki said.
Accoriding to her, 8,000 new cases of retinoblastoma are detected every year worldwide and of them, over 1000 are detected in India alone. LVPEI treats about 150-200 cases every year, of which 5 to 10 per cent are in late stages.
‘’Early diagnosis can help save the eye through chemotherapy, thus saving the life, eye and the vision of the child,’’ she added.