My anisocoria baby
So I thought I would use this thread to share updates on my babies uneven pupils as I myself haven’t been able to find anything online where people have give updates on the outcome
When I first noticed this on my little boy 5 days after he was born I was terrified and google made me feel even worse after reading it could be nothing or it could be a life threatening childhood cancer
My doctors at first where a little useless and didn’t want to refer us to a specialist even though on the first few weeks the difference in pupil size in the dark was massive! I kept pushing and eventually paid for a private opinion whilst waiting for a NHS referral
Both the private and NHS doctors want to believe that is is physiologic as both eyes react to light and dilate in the dark albeit one not as much as the other we had eye drops in and a full exam of the back of the eye which all looked good we are due back at the end of September for a follow on review and more tests and if there are any markers for concern we will be referred to a neurologist for MRI scans
We where told to keep an eye out for any other symptoms such as baby been unwell or redness on one side of the face or a droopy eye lid,etc
So far we still have a happy and healthy 4 month old so 🤞🏻 I will keep updating this post on the follow on appointments in hopes that if any mums are going through the same it might give them some insights and less worry which I wish I had
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Is this different to a coloboma?
Yes so his pupils are fully formed just something is stopping the iris sphincter muscle from dilating fully it could be physiologic or pathological
Hi Sarah, im an Orthoptist.
It's very difficult to say what it is from a photo and description online, as there are many many many different things that can affect pupils.
a lot of the time when the pupil doesn't dilate in the dark it can be a congenital Horners syndrome, when diagnosed in a baby this young majority of the time it is only the eye that is affected.
Googling it will completely freak you out though and by looking at your photos he doesn't have a droopy lid on that side. So it could be a pure physiological anisocoria.
You have 100% done the right thing and gone to see an ophthalmologist and they will guide you, but keep an eye out for any other unusual symptoms. Most likely it's physiological and will not affect his life in anyway.
Thinking of you all the way from Australia 😊
He is adorable 😍
My babie’s look the same! We were just referred to a pediatric ophthalmologist and we’ll hopefully see him soon. Our regular pediatrician was a bit lost.
Baby is 6m and I just noticed it but looking back at pictures, she’s had it forever.
Please update us! I will too
Oh and thank you for that list of symtpms. I knew to watch out for a droopy eyelid but not for redness on the one side. I noticed that the other day but I can’t remember which side it was
I meant to update the other week but been so busy we went back to the ophthalmologist and they have discharged us which is great news!
They are convinced her has physiological anisocoria which just means it’s how my babies eyes are! They have told me to continue watching for any new symptoms or significant changes and if we see any to book straight back in
They did a full eye exam which was easier now he was 6 months old and his pupils are apprenlty now uneven all the time which has changed since he was smaller it used to just be in dim light we noticed but now all day they are uneven soo less of a concern he can see well in both eyes put the bigger pupil is slightly stronger
He does get a droopy eye lid on the eye with the bigger pupil but they said to only worry if it’s on the eye with the smaller pupil
Hope your little one is okay! they did say to me as my little one has pretty much had it since birth that it’s not as much of a concerning if acquired later
Great news!!! So happy for you ✨
So glad I found this post! My son has the same exact issue since birth (one pupil smaller than other and the difference is mostly apparent in dim lighting bc the smaller one doesn't dilate as much) and we went to a ped opthalmologist when he was 10 days old, and have been monitoring since then. He's 4 months now. So far everything still looks good and he doesn't have any other symptoms that are concerning so we're hoping it's just physiologic as well! Funnily enough we've noticed occasional droopiness on the larger pupil side just like you but we were told it's only an issue if we see it on the smaller pupil. She told us we can do an MRI if we want for peace of mind so we've been debating but we really don't want to put the LO through the sedation and contrast if things are looking fairly good right now. So glad to hear of your case too, it's really hard to find information on this online that isn't immediately terrifying. So happy it all turned out ok!
yes we where told that the next step for us would me an MRI but we where the same the sedation really put me off and they have to do 3 scans to do the different areas so was told it could be 4 hours and I really didn’t want to do that with him being so young!
We have been told if anything at all changes they will happily bring us straight back in but they are discharging him from ophthalmology for now
It is soo scary online isn’t it in all honest when I first saw the pupils when he was 5 days old the first thing I’d do was google it and then it took ages to get a referral and I went though like a 4/6 week time frame where whenever I looked it my little one I just cried because I was so scared after everything I read online
The doctors have assured us it’s very common and I kept pushing back because the difference is way more than 2mm but as it’s now the same in both light and dark now he’s older they aren’t as worried anymore it’s still a big difference though!
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