"Mom, It's Dark Here": Three-Year-Old Girl Suddenly Loses Her Sight
A three-year-old girl from Ramle suddenly went blind while playing in her yard. Doctors at Shamir Medical Center diagnosed a rare optic nerve inflammation and successfully restored her vision through emergency treatment.
A few weeks ago, three-year-old Sh. from Ramle was playing in her yard when she suddenly approached her mother and said she could not see anything.
"At first, I didn't understand what she was talking about," the mother tells mako Health. "I asked her, 'What do you mean?', and she told me that everything was dark and black. I was in shock, I didn't know how to react."
Shortly thereafter, the mother noticed that Sh. had developed a fever. She did not wait a moment, rushing the child to the pediatric emergency room at the Shamir Medical Center.
Dr. Roni Bari-Berkovich, deputy director of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, says the girl arrived in an unusual and complex condition. "It was an extreme case that we do not encounter in routine practice," she explains. After consultation between experts in neurology, ophthalmology, and radiology, doctors concluded that Sh. was suffering from a rare and severe inflammation of the optic nerves, affecting the chiasm area. To stop the inflammatory process, the team initiated treatment including steroids, a biological drug, and antibody therapy.
Prof. Chaim Bassan, director of the Pediatric Neurology Department, explains that the immune system attacked the nerve sheath (myelin), a condition that can occur following an infection.
"Due to the critical location, the damage to the visual system was sharp and rapid, leading to total blindness. In her case, the presentation was particularly unusual because the MRI findings were abnormal and did not match cases known to us."
The treatment was successful, and within a week, there was a dramatic improvement in Sh.'s condition, and her vision returned.
"I was sure that my child would never see again, that she had lost her sight," says her mother. "When we realized that her vision had returned, I felt that I could finally breathe."
Sh. will continue follow-up care with specialists. Prof. Bassan concludes: "This is a disease that has a treatment, and when diagnosed quickly, significant recovery can be achieved. If you identify a sudden decrease in vision or unusual neurological symptoms in children, it is important to seek medical treatment immediately."
