Murti Devi is a happy, self confident lady today. Things were not so easy for her couple of months back. Hailing from a remote village of Alwar district of Rajasthan, 35 years old Murti had been suffering from an unusual eye problem since she was 20 years old. Her left eye seemed to be increasing in size gradually until it had become so grotesquely big that she was too ashamed to uncover her face in front of anybody and had practically lived her life in isola-tion for past 10 years, hiding herself behind her "ghunghat" .

Her family had seeked consultation for Murti�s eye condition at several hospitals and was referred to a higher centre as her�s was "complicated case" and the expertise required for treat-ing such cases was not available locally .When a local village doctor advised against any sur-gery as it meant sure death for her, her family decided to leave it to fate!

Murti was examined at our Institute�s Oculoplasty and Ocular Oncology department where such conditions as well as other tumors and deformities of the eyelid and eyeball are treated. A CT scan was done and she was diagnosed to have an orbital tumor. The long and complicated sur-gery (orbitotomy) involved removal of part of the bone from orbital wall with mechanized saw to create a window for removing the tumor with minimal damage to her eyeball and optic nerve. The excised orbital mass was sent for histopathological examination which confirmed it to be a rare orbital tumor called schwannoma.

Murti is still recovering from her surgery and her eyeball does not look protruding anymore . She is excited to start her life all over again!

Murti is yet another success story of the institute�s continued endeavor which has made tertiary care expertise in eye treatment available and affordable to all.

A 43-years-old male came to us with complaints of blurring of vision in the right eye since two days. There was history of blunt trauma to the right eye two days back.

There was history of MMC-augmented trabeculectomy (glaucoma surgery) 3 years back. On examination, his best corrected visual acuity in the right eye was 6/18. Slit lamp examination revealed conjunctival congestion, clear cornea with grade 2+ anterior chamber reaction. The anterior chamber was flat (grade 2). Fundus view was hazy. Digital tension was low. A Seidel�s test was performed which was positive and demonstrated a brisk aqueous leak. A diagnosis of bleb leak due to blunt trauma was made.

Repair of bleb with scleral patch graft was done. During surgery, the site of conjunctival leak was identified after application of sterile flourescein strip. The conjunctiva at the bleb site was undermined. The underlying scleral flap was found to be unhealthy. Injection of saline from paracentesis site revealed leakage of aqueous from the scleral flap. Scleral patch graft was placed and sutured to the old scleral flap after confirming adequate flow through the ostium and no leak. Conjunctiva was then sutured in a water-tight fashion to the cornea.

Postoperatively, the AC was well formed with no leak. At three weeks postoperatively, the visual acuity in RE improved to 6/9 and IOP was well controlled on single anti-glaucoma drug. The patient was doing very well and was satisfied with glass prescription.

The Vision Enhancement Centre (VEC) was initiated in September 2001 with an objective of enhancing the lives of people with low vision via a variety of services to facilitate them to carry on their daily routine with minimal or no handicap.

Over the years, a large number of children have been attending the VEC; and out of these chil-dren many have been using the Low vision devices most successfully, yet many of the parents of these children find it difficult to adjust to the new way of life . As and when these parents have tabled their difficulties at the clinic, we found great similarities in the issues faced by most . Parents showed much encouragement and motivation which in turn reflected on the pro-gress.

With this insight, the Parents Club was organized in the hospital.
The goal of the meet was to address the specific needs of parents in the upbringing of children with visual disabilities. Professionals, through group discussions, lectures and practical demon-strations, provided guidelines to the parents. It gave a good opportunity to children to enhance their independence level, peer group interaction and self esteem. This event also created a plat-form for the parents to interact with one another and share their experiences. The children par-ticipated by doing various activities and they were given prizes as well.
The meet over all was a success and we plan to have the same at regular intervals. The feed-back from the parents as well as the children too indicates the ardent need of such groups.