Visual Impairments - Grace

Achromatopsia

DEFINITION IN BOOK

Albinism

A hereditary condition that results in pigmentation loss in the retinal pigment epithelium, iris, and choroid

Amblyopia

Reduced vision without observable changes in the structure of the eye, caused by the eyes that are not straight or by a difference in the refactive errors in the two eyes, sometimes formerly called lazy eye; not correctable with lenses because the cause of vision loss is the brain’s suppression of the image

Aniridia

A condition that causes babies to be born without irises. Some babies are missing their entire irises. Others only have part of an iris in each eye. Aniridia always affects both of your child’s eyes (it’s a bilateral condition).

Anophthalmia

Where one or both eyes don’t develop at all so they are missing.

Aphakia

The absence of the crystalline lens, usually resulting from the removal of a cataract

Astigmatism

A refractive error that is caused by an irregular curvature of the cornea and that prevents light rays from coming to a point or focus on the retina

Buphthalmos

The medical term for an inherited congenital enlargement of your eye. Glaucoma (high pressure as a result of fluid building up) commonly causes buphthalmos.

Cataract

A clouding of the lens of the eye, which may be congenital, traumatic, secondary to another visual impairment, or age related. When a cataract is surgically removed, an intraocular lens implant, contact lens, or spectacle correction is necessary to provide the refractive function of the absent lens

CHARGE syndrome

A genetic condition caused by a mutation in a single gene; major characteristics include coloboma, atresia of the choanae (nasal passage), cranial nerve abnormality, and ear abnormalities; minor characteristics include heart defects, cleft lip or cleft palate, kidney abnormalities, growth deficiency, and genital abnormalities

Chorioretinitis

A type of uveitis, an eye inflammation, that affects the posterior (back parts) of your eye — your choroid and retina. As your choroid supports your retina’s outer layers, inflammation can lead to complications that threaten vision.

Coat’s Disease

Causes blood vessels in your child’s eye to develop incorrectly. Specifically, it affects blood vessels in their retina. Eventually, it makes the blood vessels swell and leak plasma into their retina.

Coloboma

A congenital cleft in some portion of the eye caused by the improper fusion of tissue during gestation; may affect the optic nerve, ciliary body, choroid, iris, lens, or eyelid

Corneal Dystrophy

An umbrella term for over 20 different genetic diseases that affect the cornea of your eye. Dystrophy-type corneal diseases can cause tissue changes or damage that disrupt how light passes through your corneas. If the disruptions are severe enough, they can cause changes or decreases in how well you see (vision loss).

Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI)

When your child has vision issues due to damage to parts of their brain that process vision. It is the leading cause of vision loss in children.

Diabetic Retinopathy

A noninflammatory disease of the retinal blood vessels caused by diabetes, a leading cause of blindness in the United States

Enucleation

A surgical procedure consisting of removal of the entire eyeball

Glaucoma 

A disease in which increased intraocular pressure results in the degeneration of the optic disk and eventual reduction in the visual field. If not treated, the outcome may be total blindness

Hemianopsia

The reduction or total loss of peripheral vision in half of the visual field, usually the result of brain damage caused by stroke or trauma

Histoplasmosis

An infection caused by a fungus that's often found in bird and bat droppings. People get the infection by breathing in airborne cells, called spores, from the fungus. These spores often get in the air during demolition, construction or cleanup projects.

Hyperopia

Aka farsightedness. A refractive error in which light rays have not yet converged when they arrive at the retina, resulting in vision that is better for distant than for near objects; corrected with a plus (convex) lens

Keratoconus

An eye condition in which the clear, dome-shaped front of the eye, called the cornea, gets thinner, steeper and bulges outward into a cone shape. A cone-shaped cornea causes blurred vision and may cause sensitivity to light and glare.

Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis

A rare disease that affects the retinas in babies’ eyes. “Congenital” means it’s present at birth. Babies born with LCA have low vision that gets worse as they grow up. They often lose some or all of their sight.

Macular Degeneration

Deterioration of central vision caused by a degeneration of the central retina

Microphthalmia

An abnormally small eyeball

Myopia

Aka nearsightedness. A refractive error resulting from an eyeball that is longer than “typical”; corrected with a concave (minus) lens

Nystagmus

An involuntary, rapid movement of the eyes, usually rhythmical and faster in one direction, that may be side to side, up and down, or rotary

Optic Atrophy

An ocular condition characterized by degeneration of the optic nerve and resulting in loss of vision and construction of the visual fields

Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH)

A congenitally small optic disk, usually surrounded by a light halo and representing a regression in growth during the prenatal period; may result in reduced visual activity

Peter’s Anomaly

A rare congenital disorder where the cornea does not form correctly, causing a cloudy or white center that blocks vision. It can have associated systemic abnormalities like cleft lip, cleft palate, short stature, abnormal ears, and intellectual disability. A significant number of patients develop glaucoma and amblyopia.

Photophobia

Light sensitivity to an uncomfortable degree; usually symptomatic of other ocular disorders or diseases

Phthisis Bulbi 

Aka end-stage eye. The medical term for your eye after damage causes it to stop working forever.

Presbyopia

A decrease in accoommodative power (focusing at near) caused by the increasing inelasticity of the lens-ciliary muscle mechanism that occurs after the age of approximately 40

Ptosis

A condition in which your upper eyelid droops, sags or falls over your eye. It usually happens because your levator muscle — the muscle that lifts your eyelid — doesn’t work as it should. The condition can limit your vision or block it completely, depending on how much your lid droops.

Retinal Detachment

The separation of the retina from the underlying choroid, nearly always caused by a retinal tear, which allows fluid to accumulate between the retina and the retinal pigment epithelium. It usually requires surgical intervention to prevent loss of vision

Retinitis Pigmentosa

A hereditary degeneration and atrophy of the retina, of unknown etiology; causes night blindness and results in optic atrophy and obstruction of the peripheral visual fields

Usher Syndrome

An inherited disorder that includes the major symptoms of both hearing and vision loss, hearing loss is either congenital or progressive beginning in middle childhood, while vision loss is the result of retinitis pigmentosa, often beginning in late childhood or the teen years

Retinoblastoma

An intraocular malignant tumor of early childhood, often hereditary or caused by a mutated gene. Symptoms include redness, pain, inflammation, or a gray or white pupil. Treatment options include chemotherapy, cryotherapy, radiation, and enucleation (surgical removal of the eye)

Retinopathy of Prematurity

A series of retinal changes (formerly called retrolental fibroplasia), from mild to total retinal detachment, seen primarily in premature infants, that may be arrested at any stage. Functional vision can range from near normal to total blindness

Retinoschisis

A condition that happens when your retina divides into two or more layers. Affects the light-sensing layer of your retina and the layer of cells that transmits signals to your brain through the optic nerve. This division of the layers can affect how well you see.

Scotoma

A gap or blind spot in the visual field that may be caused by damage to the retina or visual pathways. Each eye contains one normal scotoma, corresponding to the location of the optic nerve head, which contains no photoreceptors

Stargardts Disease

A condition transmitted in an autosomal recessive manner, in which the macular pigment epithelium slowly degenerates, leading to loss of central vision

Stickler Syndrome

A genetic condition that affects connective tissues that support and give structure to other organs in your body, primarily in the face, ears, eyes and joints. This hereditary condition can cause facial abnormalities like a cleft palate. The condition can lead to problems with vision, hearing and movement.

Strabismus

An extrinsic muscle imbalance that causes misalignment of the eyes; includes extropia, estropia, hypertropia, and hypotropia

Trachoma

A contagious eye infection caused by a bacterium called Chlamydia trachomatis. It spreads through contact with eye, nose or throat secretions, or by sharing contaminated items such as towels or eye makeup. Without treatment, can lead to blindness. It is the world's leading preventable cause of blindness.

Uveitis

A form of eye inflammation that affects the middle layer of tissue in the eye, called the uvea. It can cause redness, pain, blurred vision and floaters.