Lost vision, lost time: Lessons from a delayed diagnosis
Issue -
December - 2025, Posted On: 01 December 2025
A six-year-old girl was first taken to an eye specialist with a late-onset squint and partial loss of vision in her left eye. The doctor examined her, noted mild temporal pallor in the retina, and diagnosed a common childhood condition (amblyopia). Glasses were prescribed, and the parents were advised to cover the right eye and return for review. No imaging or neurological investigations were ordered.
Six months later, when the child was brought back for follow-up, her vision had deteriorated sharply. Only then did the doctor suspect a possible brain tumour. Even at that stage, she did not refer the child to a neurologist, choosing to continue treatment herself. The parents eventually sought a second opinion at another hospital, where imaging revealed an advanced brain tumour. Surgery was performed, but by then the child had lost sight in one eye, and the operation left her blind in the other.
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