The “Dr. Holhoș” network, the largest private network of ophthalmology clinics in Romania, has completed the fifth edition of the ophthalmological screening campaign for kindergarten children at the beginning of this year. The campaign was carried out free of charge in the counties where the network’s units operate. This is the largest humanitarian screening campaign carried out in Romania by a private network of ophthalmology clinics.
The ophthalmological screening of kindergarten children is carried out free of charge by the medical staff of the “Dr. Holhoș” clinics, in partnership with participating schools and kindergartens. In the current season, the campaign took place at the end of 2023 and the beginning of this year, in 21 educational units in the counties of Alba and Cluj, involving a total of 1,396 children. These children were tested by qualified personnel to identify possible vision problems that can occur in early childhood, from amblyopia (the so-called “lazy eye” syndrome) to strabismus, astigmatism, myopia, hypermetropia, or others. The majority of the tested children are enrolled in kindergartens located in cities (1,208), while 188 attend kindergartens in rural areas.
During the screening campaign, 512 cases of vision defects were detected, representing 42% of the total number of tested children. Almost 38% of children in rural areas were found to have vision problems; given the limited access of the rural population to ophthalmology services, it is extremely important for such screening campaigns to be conducted periodically in order to identify vision problems, as they are mostly correctable in young patients.
Among these, 83 cases of myopia, 177 cases of hypermetropia, 93 cases of astigmatism, 11 cases of myopic astigmatism, 141 cases of hypermetropic astigmatism, and 7 cases of strabismus were detected.
“Very few people, even the most educated ones, are aware of the importance of ophthalmological examination for young children,” says Dr. Teodor Holhoș, the founder of the network of clinics that bear his name. “It is not necessarily the parents’ fault, because this subject is rarely discussed in public. Unfortunately, at the age of 2-5 years, a child, even if it has a vision problem, does not realize that it does not see well, or does not know how to express itself. Parents are usually the ones who notice certain signs: the child holds objects close to see them, squints the eyes, covers one eye, the eyes do not move perfectly in tandem, hand-eye coordination is not good, meaning they do not have normal dexterity in ball games, and so on.
However, sometimes the vision problem is not so pronounced, and parents, if they are not very attentive, identify it too late to correct it. This can happen with amblyopia, for example. Hence the importance of screening at a young age.”
While vision defects such as refractive errors – like myopia, astigmatism, etc. – can be corrected at any age, untreated amblyopia becomes permanent after the age of 7. On the other hand, the treatment of vision defects in children is almost always non-invasive, involving wearing glasses (or, in the case of amblyopia, an eye patch that covers one eye or engaging in recovery therapies for children, done through video games).
“Given the success of our initiative, we want to start expanding the coverage of the preschool children screening campaign to other counties where our clinics are present, namely Sibiu and Mureș, starting from the next school year, so that as many children as possible have the chance to identify potential vision problems in time,” says Dr. Teodor Holhoș. “I would also like to make a recommendation to all parents. When the screening identifies a problem, it is obvious that an examination with a specialist doctor is necessary to assess the severity of the problem and prescribe appropriate treatment. However, even when everything seems fine, the specialist recommendation is for parents to take their child for an ophthalmological examination at least once in the first years of life, because some ophthalmological problems, such as cataracts or glaucoma, cannot be detected through screening. In our clinics, we have specialized equipment that can detect vision problems even in six-month-old babies, using non-invasive methods.”
“Dr. Holhoș” represents the largest private network of ophthalmology clinics in Romania, with six units opened in Alba Iulia, Sibiu, Mediaș, Turda, Cluj-Napoca, and Târgu Mureș and 13 medical opticians’ practices operating in various locations in Alba, Sibiu, Cluj, and Mureș counties. It is also the only network of ophthalmology clinics in the country that owns two units (in Târgu Mureș and Cluj-Napoca) where the SMILE Pro surgery, the fastest and safest laser surgical intervention in the world for correcting myopia or myopic astigmatism, is performed. In the “Dr. Holhoș” clinics, all surgical interventions, including SMILE Pro, are personally performed by Dr. Teodor Holhoș, by appointment. With over 20 years of experience in ophthalmology and over 25,000 surgeries performed to date, Dr. Teodor Holhoș is one of the most experienced refractive surgery specialists in Romania, being the first to perform the SMILE Pro surgery in Transylvania.
“Dr. Clinics Holhoș” offers the entire suite of laser refractive surgeries for correcting myopia, astigmatism, hypermetropia, or presbyopia (SMILE Pro, PRK, FemtoLASIK, Presbyond), lens implant surgeries, retina interventions, crosslinking surgeries for treating keratoconus, laser surgeries for glaucoma, and others.