Restoration of Severely Impaired Eyesight in an Adolescent with Down Syndrome and Bilateral Cataract in South Asia

PURPOSE: To report the recovery of visual function after phacoemulsification in a 16-year-old adolescent with Down syndrome (DS) from Saharsa, India. METHODS: Interventional case report and short review of the pertinent literature. RESULTS: A 16-year-old South Asian male with DS and bilateral cataract underwent successful surgery in both eyes after considerable difficulty for his parents including cross-border travel from India into Nepal. After the operation, the patient responded to visual stimuli (e.g. movement of hands) that had eluded him prior to surgery, and thus the additional obstacle to social participation imposed by the impaired eyesight could be removed. CONCLUSIONS: The establishment of basic ophthalmological surgery in developing countries is feasible and can yield extraordinary benefits for individual patients.