Vision of preterm baby with retinopathy of prematurity restored

A preterm baby from Nellore in Andhra Pradesh, who was born to underprivileged parents, developed a severe form of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a disease that affects vision in preterm babies. The baby underwent suture-less advanced keyhole lens-sparing vitrectomy surgery in both the eyes at Radhatri Nethralaya. The baby’s vision has been completely restored due to the timely surgery. Vasumathy Vedantham, vitreoretinal surgeon who performed the surgery, said the baby’s problem was identified during a screening by Project Vision on Wheels, the rural teleophthalmology project of Radhatri Nethralaya, under the aegis of Gurupriya Vision Research Foundation, the public charitable trust of Radhatri Nethralaya, which has screened more than 1,50,000 babies all over rural Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh for ROP. The surgeries was done free of cost with the support of HCL Foundation.