Bright children’s eyes are a symbol of happiness, health, and joy of life. With their eyes, children discover the world and make contact with it and with us. We—as your pediatric ophthalmologist in Graz—have made it our mission to preserve the health of your children’s eyes, promote the development of vision, and detect and treat eye diseases and visual developmental disorders in children as early as possible. Our practice in the center of Graz offers special pediatric ophthalmology appointments for 15 hours each week, during which we focus particularly on our young and youngest visitors.
The field of ophthalmology that deals with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of visual disorders and problems in the coordination of the eyes is orthoptics.
Our experienced certified orthoptist, Ms. Dipl. Orth. Beate Arnhof, is your first point of contact with us and provides all children in our practice with comprehensive orthoptic examination and treatment.
In addition, we offer specialized orthoptic care for adult patients with eye movement disorders and strabismus following strokes, accidents, and neurological conditions.
Vision must be learned
The sense of sight is not yet fully developed at birth. In the first years of life, visual function matures along with the development of the child’s brain. Visual acuity increases and is only fully developed by school age. Any impairment of the eyes—refractive errors, strabismus, or organic diseases—for example, of the lens, optic nerve, and retina—can disrupt this sensitive process. Promoting this developmental process is only truly promising in the first 4 to 6 years of life. After that, only minimal improvements are possible. For this reason, early eye examination in children is so crucial.
The eye examination begins with an assessment of binocular vision.
- Is there a misalignment of the eyes?
- Do both eyes move freely and symmetrically in all directions of gaze?
- Can your child already see three-dimensionally (“3D”)?
- Is the development of visual acuity age-appropriate?
- Is visual acuity equal in both eyes, or is there amblyopia?
- A screening test for refractive errors is also performed.
This is followed by objective determination of the diopters (skiascopy). The pupils are first dilated with eye drops. After approximately 20 minutes, a playful examination follows in which your child only needs to look at a light. Your child does not need to be able to speak for this. After the examination, your child will see blurred, especially at near distances, for several hours and will be more sensitive to light. Sunglasses and a cap for the journey home are recommended, especially in summer.
Finally, an examination for organic eye diseases is performed.
- Opacities of the cornea and lens (e.g., congenital cataract)
- Retinal diseases, e.g., in premature infants or maternal infections during pregnancy.
- Optic nerve diseases
- Malformations, developmental disorders, and pediatric retinal tumors (retinoblastoma screening)
FAQ
In most cases, this is a misunderstanding. For examinations such as conjunctivitis or for follow-up checks, “dilating drops” are indeed often not required. Also, for a simple initial screening, such as mass screenings in nurseries, kindergartens, and schools, special devices—similar to the automatic diopter measurement devices for adults (but at a greater distance)—can be used to make an initial assessment of a visual impairment. However, this examination is not reliable in all cases. For an exact determination of visual impairment in children, “administering drops” remains simply indispensable. Furthermore, an examination of the retina for diseases—some of which are life-threatening—is not possible without pupil dilation.
At least once: Yes. Pupil dilation is essential and an international standard for both the objective determination of diopters (skiascopy) and the examination of your child’s retina.
No. The examination is conducted in a playful manner, and your child does not need to answer questions or be able to speak yet.
An eye examination by an ophthalmologist is scheduled in the Austrian mother-child health record between the 10th and 14th month of life and at the end of the second year of your child’s life (22nd-26th month). The first screening examination can be performed by the pediatrician in accordance with the mother-child health record. If there are abnormalities in the eyes, or if there are conditions associated with an increased risk of eye diseases, you may be referred to us, your pediatric ophthalmologist in Graz, at an earlier stage. If the findings are normal, a further examination is recommended shortly before starting school.
