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The nation's top pediatric organization is calling for what is called a Red Reflex eye exam for every infant and child. Those revised recommendations include babies in neonatal nurseries before they're discharged from the hospital.
The American Academy of Pediatrics says it's becoming even more critical to catch eye disorders at a very early age before they become irreversible.
Twelve-year-old Kayla Carter got more than a passing grade from ophthalmologist Robert Hoffman at the University of Utah Moran Eye Center and Primary Children's Medical Center. Next was her 7-year-old brother Brycen.
Child after child, from 2-year-old Hannah, who's had cataract surgery, to 4-year-old Emma, who is cataract free, a little, portable battery-powered device with a light sees it all.
The marvelous thing about Red Reflex screening is it's not done with $50,000 worth of equipment. Rather, doctors use a very simple instrument, costing as little as $100, and it's in the hands of almost every physician.
Dr. Robert Hoffman, with the University of Utah Moran Eye Center and Primary Children's Medical Center, said, "You can access the surface of the eye, look at the cornea, the lens, and we can also use this to look at structures inside the eye."
The American Academy of Pediatrics says there's no excuse not to routinely screen every single person from birth to adulthood. Dr. Hoffman couldn't agree more.
The Reflex can find cataracts, a misaligned eye, even a possible tumor.
"The most scary thing in the list of possible causes for that is retinal blastoma," Hoffman said. "Cataracts in infants - particularly if they occur in one eye - will go on and if not caught in the first couple of months of life - can cause irreversible harm that we cannot fix down the road."
Red Reflex is only a screening tool, but the AAP says it can catch many things that more sophisticated screening can then confirm. Early intervention, especially at the age of an infant, is the epitome of prevention.
E-mail: eyeates@ksl.com
