Routine eye exam identified brain condition in Oxford neurosurgeon's daughter

A Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon from Oxford Children's Hospital is stressing the importance of regular routine eye exams for children, after his own daughter was diagnosed with a serious brain condition following her annual eye test.

Jay Jayamohan has been operating on the brains of babies and children for decades; a day job that consists of saving lives and improving quality of life on a daily basis. At home he's a dad to three girls and in a strange twist of fate last August, his youngest daughter was added to his hospital theatre list.

An optometrist had spotted what's known as papilledema, or swelling on the optic nerve, as they looked behind the eye during a free check-up at his local Specsavers. Papilledema is an indicator of raised pressure inside the brain and after some further specialist tests, she was diagnosed with hydrocephalus.

The condition causes excess fluid to build up inside the brain, which can cause brain damage if left untreated. It meant the very team that Jay had helped to recruit and train was then tasked with operating on his 12-year-old daughter.

"I always say to my patients that my team are people I would trust with my kids. And actually, I didn't even blink about asking them to do it. I had complete faith in them. So, yeah, it was a bit nerve wracking at the time, but my anaesthetist, my neurosurgery team and my nursing team are awesome." Jay says, as he explains his daughters previous eye test just 12 months earlier had been completely normal.

New research commissioned by the College of Optometrists has revealed the average child in the UK is 5 before they have their first eye test, with 21% of parents relying solely on school for that check and 15% admitting they have never had their child’s eyes checked.

Jay continued: "Kids are supposed to go for annual checks, well we all are, but we make sure that we take our girls every year. At the back of the eye, you can look at the optic nerve. That's the nerve that goes from the eyeball to the brain. And if you've got pressure inside in your brain, that pressure can travel backwards along the nerve to the back of the eyeball. And you can see that with swelling at the back of the eyes. That's part of the routine eye check that all opticians do.

"So we took all three of our girls to our local Specsavers on the high street. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, every good optician will look in the back of the eyes. And even though she was absolutely fine, she had no other symptoms of headaches or anything else… They brilliantly picked up swelling at the back of the eyes. We went through to the eye hospital who confirmed it, she had an MRI scan and then had an operation for it."

NHS eye checks are free for children under 16 and Jay believes all parents should take advantage of the scheme after his own family's experience:" That's an example of prophylactic medicine. It was caught early, before she had any real symptoms. Her vision is back down to normal now and it's been caught early enough that she hasn't been left with any major long term injury - by just a simple eye check. She still needed the operation but long term, undoubtedly that's going to have made a huge impact for the rest of her life."

Now a teenager, Jay's daughter is recovering well and continues to be monitored under the care of his team at Oxford Children's Hospital.

You can find out more information about the links between eye exams and hydrocephalus on the Harry's Hydrocephalus Awareness Trust website.

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