An 8-year-old girl was diagnosed with congenital heart disease and glaucoma on the same day, and the "Glaucoman" helped her keep her sight

When Mr. Lin (pseudonym) learned that his daughter had congenital heart disease, he was shocked. Before he could recover from the pain, his daughter was diagnosed with glaucoma that afternoon. After the hospital learned that Mr. Lin's family was in financial difficulty, it applied for public welfare fund assistance for his child, and successfully completed the glaucoma surgery.

Huahua (pseudonym), 8 years old this year, lives in Huangshi, Hubei Province. She has always lived with her father and grandmother. She is lively and cheerful. Two months ago, Huahua's father, Mr. Lin, found that her right eye was strabismus. He went to a local hospital for treatment and found that Huahua had poor vision and high intraocular pressure in both eyes, 40 mmHg in the right eye and 30 mmHg in the left eye. At the end of January, Huahua was further examined and diagnosed with glaucoma in both eyes. On the morning of the same day, Huahua was also diagnosed with congenital heart disease in the hospital due to difficulty breathing.

In early February, Huahua underwent surgery to treat patent ductus arteriosus. At the same time, she had been using eye drops to treat blood pressure, but the intraocular pressure in both eyes was poorly controlled. After the heart condition stabilized, Mr. Lin took Huahua to the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University for treatment.

After examination, Huahua's left eye vision was 0.25, and her right eye could only sense light. After a detailed examination, Wu Zuohong, the director of the glaucoma department, confirmed that Huahua had developmental glaucoma and needed surgical treatment.

Since the family only relied on Mr. Lin's work to support the family, the cost of the child's treatment was stretched to the limit. After learning about the difficulties of Huahua's family, the hospital applied for the "Blue Light Man" special fund to help the family relieve their urgent needs.

Last week, Director Wu Zuohong successfully completed a microcatheter-assisted 360-degree goniotomy on Huahua's right eye, and will perform surgery on the left eye after the condition stabilizes.

March 6, 2024 is the 17th World Glaucoma Day. Director Wu Zuohong introduced that glaucoma is the world's number one irreversible blinding eye disease, which can cause optic nerve atrophy, narrowing of the visual field, vision loss and even blindness. Therefore, early diagnosis and early treatment are particularly important for glaucoma patients.

It is understood that in order to allow patients with financial difficulties to receive timely treatment, the "Glaucoma Man" Foundation has joined hands with the Aier Eye Hospital affiliated to Wuhan University to recruit glaucoma patients from poor families. Patients can apply for a maximum subsidy of 10,000 yuan. Glaucoma patients under the age of 50 (in special circumstances, the age limit can be appropriately relaxed), with a registered permanent residence in Hubei, who are from urban and rural "five-guarantee households" ("three-no persons"), urban and rural subsistence allowance households, key preferential treatment recipients, and urban and rural low-income families, can apply for assistance.