JOIN USA smartphone pic can detect eye cancer
Does your child have a white spot in the eye in the photos clicked at night or does it have a squint? These are symptoms of eye cancer. If noticed early, could be life-saving.
A red spot in photographs taken on a smartphone during the night is common. This is a red reflex. However, if a child has a white reflex instead, it is one of the telling signs of cancer in the eye. So, the smartphone can double up as a cost-effective diagnostic tool for cancer.
All it takes is a simple photo taken in a dark setting or dimly lit room that can help detect Retinoblastoma. Not aware of it, several parents just ignore it to be a light setting on the phone. A few alert ones reach doctors and in several of these cases, the child has had Retinoblastoma.
While the red reflex is a sign that the child has good blood circulation in the eye, a white reflex could be cancer. Even as it is accepted in several countries as one of the most common diagnostic tools, India is yet to pick it up, say doctors.
Dr Jyothsna, consultant Vitreo Retinal surgeon, Agarwal Hospitals, said this is one of the most cost-effective ways to identify retinoblastoma.
“Testing for reflex is the most cost-effective way of doing it. Some parents are smart and observe the unusual colour and bring the child to us. Some others miss out on it,” she said.
She added that there is so little awareness about Retinoblastoma that parents did not even believe that there was a possibility of having cancer in the eye.
“They are shocked when we tell that the child has cancer. They express disbelief when we tell them that the eye must be removed to ensure that cancer does not metastasise,” she said.
Squint luck
Yet another sign that is most commonly ignored is a squint in the eye. “There is a myth that if a child has a squint, it is a sign of good luck. Parents refuse to get a child diagnosed because of this myth. In all such cases, cancer has to be ruled out said,” Dr B L Sujatha Rathod, director, Minto Ophthalmic Hospital.
Prevalence
The prevalence of retinoblastoms is four in one million. As opposed to an age of two to five that is mentioned in medical texts, doctors have started seeing patients from a varied age group. Dr B L Sujatha Rathod, director, Minto Ophthalmic Hospital, said that she has been seeing them even in just born and even upto 12.