April 29, 2007

4sight4children (formerly known as the blind baby fund)
Mission
A Worldwide Need
Baby Corneal Transplantation
How You Can Help a Child See
Publications
Make a Donation

Mission
The mission of 4sight4children (formerly known as the blind baby fund) is to aid families from all parts of the world that lack financial resources to undergo crucial eye surgery. 4sight4children assists these families by providing lodging and/or transportation during their lengthy stays in San Diego, as well as the urgently needed eye surgery.

The Shiley Eye Center offers unique care for infants born with eye diseases that may result in blindness. Babies born blind from congenital corneal opacities come to the Shiley from all parts of the globe needing corneal transplants. Often with just a few days notice, they arrive for evaluation and treatment by Stuart I. Brown, M.D., Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Director of the Shiley Eye Center. Dr. Brown is the originator and one of the few physicians in the world who performs corneal transplants on infants. It is considered one of the most intricate procedures in ophthalmology.
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A Worldwide Need
Because very few ophthalmologists have experience and even fewer have success with infant corneal transplantation, the vast majority of families with a newborn afflicted by one of the rare conditions are incorrectly told nothing can be done for their child. Consequently, these children remain blind.

Fortunately, some parents do learn of Dr. Brown by networking through previous patients, foreign ophthalmologists who trained under him or via Internet searches. Urgently, these families then travel great distances, typically paying last minute airfares to San Diego, California, ideally beginning treatment before the child is six weeks of age.

However, the choice to give their child sight often leaves each family confronting mounting bills. For months, while forsaking their income, they acquire the costs of a hotel room, local transportation, and multiple surgeries. One family reported they sold “everything they owned” to pay travel expenses from Greece and the medical procedure that allowed their daughter to see for the first time.
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Baby Corneal Transplantation
The majority of these patients are born perfectly healthy, except for a “cloudy” covering over one or both eyes. Additionally, obscure eye infections during the toddler years can result in a similar condition.

Transplantation is the only opportunity to provide, or in the toddler cases restore, sight. Timing is critical. Within weeks of diagnosis, the young patient should undergo their first operation to provide the best chance of sight.

The cornea is the clear front of the eye that covers the colored iris and the round pupil. It acts as a lens that focuses what we see through the pupil. The absence of a clear cornea, often compared to the crystal covering of a watch, means light cannot enter the eye to initiate the process of seeing. When the eye doesn’t function properly at such a young age, the brain gives up trying to send signals transmitting visual messages. At this point, the potential for sight is greatly diminished or completely lost.

Once the tiny patient has been evaluated and it has been determined he/she can benefit from a transplant, a suitable adult donor cornea is obtained from the local eye bank. However, before a cornea for transplantation is released, the eye bank tests the human donor for the viruses that cause hepatitis and AIDS.

The outpatient operation typically takes two or more hours and is painless, as general anesthesia is used. The surgeon uses an instrument called a trephine to remove the baby’s cornea and to cut out a similar “button” from the donor cornea. The surgeon then places the donor cornea button in the round hole of the baby’s cornea. Finally, the clear donor cornea is painstakingly sewn into place. In approximately two weeks, stitches are removed in the surgical suite.

Since the baby and infant cornea transplants are more complicated than those in adults, a successful transplant requires care and meticulous attention by both the parents and patient. Dr. Brown follows his young patients closely after the surgery (sometimes daily) for several months, as it generally takes this amount of time before the vision stabilizes.
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How You Can Help a Child See
After surgeries performed here at the Shiley Eye Center, these children go on to have productive lives with the ability to see. Your gift will directly benefit the youngest of our patients and their future with vision. If you would like more information or are interested in donating to 4sight4children, please call 858-534-8017. There is also an annual family fundraising picnic that takes place near Los Angeles, California in the spring. Please see the Shiley Events page if you are interested in attending or donating towards the silent auction.
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