This is a Canadian site. Due to high volume, questions emanating from IP addresses outside of Canada will not be answered.Nicole wrote:
My daughter was born with congenital cataracts, just like my husband was. I would like to know if there is anything that can be done prior to pregnancy or during pregnancy to help reduce the risk any future children being born with cataracts?
ANSWER
Hello Nicole,
I’m sorry to hear that your daughter has to suffer this condition. Congenital cataracts are almost always genetic in nature (meaning you are born with them). Because it is a mutation in the genes themselves, there is nothing that you did during pregnancy to cause them, and nothing you could have done to prevent them. It is certainly possible that children from future pregnancies would be affected as well, and there is unfortunately nothing you can do to prevent cataracts. The risk of the genetic mutation being passed on will depend on the inheritance pattern. You can certainly ask your family doctor for a referral to a genetic counsellor to give you an idea of what the chances are of children from future pregnancies developing cataracts.
That being said, cataract surgery is remarkably successful with low risk of complication. Once they are removed, your daughter will have to be followed regularly, but her visual prognosis is good. I hope this helps.
Dr. Donati
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