Retinal detachment in childhood

This is very uncommon in childhood and is usually secondary to trauma, surgery for congenital (present at birth) cataract or another ocular abnormality such as myopia (short sightedness), optic disc and retinal coloboma (cleft like defect), retinopathy of prematurity (a condition causing a marked increase of the retinal blood vessels), retinoschisis (splitting of the retina) and Marfan syndrome (a connective tissue multisystemic disorder). Treatment usually involves attempting to reattach the retina by surgery, laser or cryotherapy. The resulting visual acuity is very variable.