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Retina Service

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 Ophthalmology
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The Retina Service at Children's Hospital Boston provides comprehensive assessment and management of retinal and visual disorders in infants and children. The program combines clinical evaluation with advanced electrophysiological and psychophysical testing for the purpose of securing diagnoses and defining visual capabilities.

The service was established nearly 30 years ago under the leadership of Anne B. Fulton, MD, a worldwide authority in pediatric retinal and visual development, normal and abnormal. Over the years, the team has developed special expertise in diagnosis and care of retinal disorders that affect infants and children. Although these conditions are uncommon, they are seen here in large volume because young visually impaired patients come to our center from around the New England region and beyond. Many of these children are followed, sometimes for more than a decade, contributing to our understanding of visual development and the course of visual disorders of early onset.

Who is referred here?
Patients who come to us have usually been seen by an ophthalmologist or another specialist before they are referred to our service. We collaborate with other specialists within the Children's community, including neurologists, geneticists, and others to secure a diagnosis.

Patients referred here may be experiencing unexplained loss of vision and/or other symptoms such as night blindness, loss of peripheral vision, nystagmus (an involuntary oscillatory movement of the eyes), or an abnormal sensitivity to or intolerance of light (photophobia). Their diagnoses include, but are not limited to:

  • Albinism
  • Bardet-Beidl Syndrome
  • Congenital Stationary Night Blindness
  • Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment (CVI)
  • Juvenile Macular Degeneration
  • Leber Congenital Amaurosis
  • Retinal degenerations in infancy and childhood
  • Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP)
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa
  • Incontinentia Pigmenti
  • Mitochondrial disorders
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Related topics:
Mitochondrial Inheritance: Leber's Optic Atrophy
Retinoblastoma
Foundation Fighting Blindness
The National Organization for Albinism & Hypopigmentation
The Association for Retinopathy of Prematurity & Related Diseases
The SKI-HI Institute
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E-advisor: A resource for families of children with visual impairment
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