COLOBOMA

Coloboma is an eye condition that people are born with; entailing absent tissue in the iris, uvea, lens, retina, and macula of the eye, as well as, in some cases, the optic nerve.

Although symptoms are rarely reported, individuals with coloboma may have vision loss, blindness, low vision, or light-sensitivity.

Coloboma occurs when a baby’s eye does not develop normally during pregnancy- due to abnormalities or changes in genes that affect eye development. It may be hereditary in families or stemmed from environmental factors- such as alcohol-intake by mothers during pregnancy.

This disease may be seen in babies at birth.

Treatments cannot fix Coloboma; however, individuals may be educated on how to utilize the remnant of their vision.

Photo and information are courtesy of the National Eye Institute/ National Institutes of Health (NEI/NIH).