Angiopathy of the child's retina

Retinal angiopathy is an organic pathology of the eye, which is manifested by a lesion of the fundus vessels. This condition cannot be called a separate nosological unit, that is, retinal angiopathy is a background pathology of any systemic disease and manifests as one of its symptoms. Often this disease affects children, including newborns and infants.

What are the causes of the formation of pediatric angiopathy? What are the indications for early development of angiopathy? What are the methods of diagnosis and treatment of retinal angiopathy in children? All these questions will be answered by our article.

A pathology is formed as a result of a disturbance of the process of innervation of the fundus of the eye, which can be triggered by a number of systemic diseases that damage large and small vessels. More precisely, there is a violation of the normal blood circulation and vascular tone, which leads to the occurrence of their spasms or, conversely, cuts, and this, in turn, leads to damage to the structure of the blood vessels.

If you do not hinder the progression of the symptoms of this disorder, then this can result in serious violations. of view or his absolute loss.

The child’s immunity is in the formative stage, therefore children are more inclined to the occurrence of various diseases caused by both exogenous (external) and endogenous (internal) factors. Children's diseases can be completely cured, and they can become chronic or leave irreparable organic defects. Quite often severe systemic diseases provoke the occurrence of comorbidities. Angiopathy of the retina in children is just related to such disorders.

Pathological damage to the structure of the blood vessels of the retina is amenable to progression, however, it does not need special correction. Intensive treatment requires the underlying disease, which was the cause of angiopathy. If therapy will timely and fairly effectivethen the pathological vascular changes occurring in the fundus will gradually disappear. It should also be noted that the general condition of the pediatric vascular system is very unstable and largely depends on its position in space, as well as on the lifestyle of the baby and the intensity of physical exertion.

Depending on the etiological factors that caused the formation of angiopathy in a child, there are several varieties of it:

• Diabetic. This form of angiopathy is inherent in children with diabetes. The treatment of this endocrine disorder in children can be quite difficult, respectively, and the treatment of diabetic angiopathy can also be problematic.

• Hypertensive. The cause of this type of angiopathy is hypertension. Persistent increase in blood pressure is the cause of vascular damage in many organs and tissues of the body (the so-called target organs).Due to hypertension, the blood circulation in the organs of the optic apparatus is gradually disrupted, due to which pathological structural changes occur due to insufficient trophism and disruption of the normal venous outflow.

• Hypotonic. Here, the cause of the development of angiopathy is persistent lowering of blood pressure or hypotension. This condition leads to the fact that the tone of the arterial vessels and capillaries of the eyeball decreases, as a result of which they become wider.
• Youthful. Another name for this form of angiopathy of the retina is Ilza disease. Here, the fundus vessels (often venous) are affected by the inflammatory process, which causes minor hemorrhages on the retina. The threat of this condition lies in the fact that the vitreous body of the eye and the retina are replaced by fibrous tissue.

Juvenile angiopathy - the most formidable type of destruction of cellulose vessels, as it can be a provoking factor in the development of glaucoma (persistent increase in intraocular pressure), cataracts (clouding of the lens) or retinal detachment. Thoroughly the mechanism of development and etiology of the disease is currently not studied. It is believed that most boys suffer from Ilza’s disease.

Among the main causes of the development of retinal angiopathy in children identify the following factors:

• failure in the mechanism of innervation of blood vessels, which leads to a decrease in their tone;
• autoimmune diseases;
• diabetes;
• mechanical damage to the brain, leading to impaired blood circulation;
• hypertonic disease;
• hypotension;
• systemic diseases of the blood;
• ischemic processes in the cardiovascular system;
• feature of the structure of large and small vessels, due to a hereditary factor.

Since retinal angiopathy is not a separate nosological unit, a disease that caused the development of pathological vascular changes in the fundus in the eye requires precise diagnosis. The main diagnostic method for retinal angiopathy is ophthalmoscopy of both eyes. The study is the study of the surface structure of the fundus with a special device called an ophthalmoscope.

Another way to diagnose retinal angiopathy is fluorescent angiography of the fundus. The essence of the method consists in maintaining a special luminous contrast agent in the retinal blood vessels for their clear visualization. Also used to detect angiopathy of the retina. electroretinopathy - a diagnostic method that allows you to notice violations of the bioelectrical activity of the retina as a result of the deterioration of its trophism.

In addition to these methods, an ophthalmologist may order perimetry, a diagnostic test that can determine the field of view of a person.

As already mentioned, the success of the treatment of this pathology depends entirely on the timeliness and effectiveness of treatment of the underlying disease, be it diabetes, hypotension, or various injuries.

All the main manifestations of the disease are associated with pathological changes in the structure of the fundus vessels. On this basis, the attending physician prescribes medications that can positively affect local hemodynamics. Can also be used drugs that prevent aggregation (gluing platelets).

Usually, these groups of drugs are not used to treat angiopathy in infants.Any methods of drug therapy should be applied only on the basis of recommendations of the attending physician.

In addition to drugs and physiotherapeutic procedures aimed at combating the main disease, retinal angiopathy is usually prescribed by the ophthalmologist. topical preparationsthat have a positive effect on blood circulation in small vessels, and vitamin complexes. They have a general healing effect on the entire visual apparatus.

Eye drops are considered a component of the symptomatic treatment of angiopathy, since they do not eliminate the underlying cause of the disease. Quinax - a drug whose action is aimed at normalizing metabolic metabolism in the tissues of the eye. It has an antioxidant effect, increases the level of transparency of the lens.

If conservative therapies do not give the desired effect, then the attending physician may be asked surgical treatment vascular pathology of the fundus. The main criteria for choosing one or another method of treatment are the age of the child, the degree of vascular disorders, as well as the type of underlying disease.

See the following video for why the angiopathy of the retinal vessels of the child is diagnosed.