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Hypermetropia (farsightedness) in children
Last reviewed: 18.10.2021
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Hypermetropia (farsightedness) is a physiological kind of refraction when it comes to a young child. This type of refraction is due to the short anterior-posterior axis of the eyeball, the small diameter of the cornea and the shallow anterior chamber. The thickness of the lens is usually not changed.
[The importance of hypermetropia (farsightedness) in children
In the absence of accommodation disorders, hypermetropia during the first 10 years of life is rarely accompanied by clinical symptoms. The subsequent easing of accommodation can lead to asthenopic complaints - headaches and blurring of vision. The greatest practical importance is the close relationship of gynermetropia with convergent strabismus.
Associated changes in the organ of vision
Hypermetropia (hyperopia) can be combined with other disorders, the main one of which is strabismus. The accompanying pathology of the organ of vision includes:
- strabismus (accommodative form and convergent strabismus in newborns);
- microphthalmos;
- pseudo-optic disc of the optic nerve;
- positive alpha angle.
Concomitant general disorders
Hypermetropia (hyperopia) of high degree occurs in combination with certain common disorders, including:
- albinism;
- Franceschetti syndrome (microphthalmia, macrophage, taperoteretal degeneration);
- Congenital amaurosis of Leber (Leber);
- autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.
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Treatment of hypermetropia (farsightedness) in children
Children of younger age with a low degree of hypermetropia and lack of strabismus correction of ametropia is usually not required. With concomitant convergent strabism, a full correction is usually prescribed (according to the data of the refraction study in conditions of cycloplegia) in order to eliminate strabismus or decrease the eye deflection angle. In older children with asthenopic complaints (blurred vision and headaches) ametropia is corrected without fail. The question of whether undetected hypermetropia affects the ability to learn in pre-school children remains controversial. The question remains whether the strabismus, which is not corrected at an early age, causes strabismus.