My name is Humphrey iam a Nigerian,my son has breathing problem at birth, congenital ptosis of the eye due to cranial nerve damage or occulomotor and other developmental delays like speech impairment for instance he is six but still could not yet talk clearly. Doctors treating him in Nigeria are of divided opinions whether to do surgery of the eye or not this is because of the associated heart problem he has. Iam afraid because i read online that if left untreated it could result to astigimatism. Pls advice
Hi, The need for surgery depends on the degree of ptosis. In significant ptosis, it is better to correct, as, apart from cosmetic issue, it may cause abnormal head posture, astigmatism as you said, and amblyopia (here brain starts to ignore signal from that eye) from sensory deprivation. Regarding safety of surgery in heart disease, it will not be a problem unless the child have inadequate oxygen saturation or cardiac failure. Your doctor will consider all these things and get a pediatric / cardiology opinion before the procedure-so need not worry about that. Hope I have answered your question. Let me know if I can assist you further.