EAC 2026 - Day 3: #01. Follow up of children with congenital aniridia. An interdisciplinary approach

This is session 9 of the 8th European Aniridia Conference 2026, held in Sofia, Bulgaria, from April 17th to April 19th Session 9: New diagnostic approaches and therapeutic innovations Speaker: Erlend Landsend, Senior Consultant and Researcher, MD, PhD, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway Biopic: Erlend Christoffer Sommer Landsend completed his medical degree at the University of Oslo. He was trained as an ophthalmologist at the eye departments in Ålesund and Tønsberg, and finally at Oslo University Hospital, where he is now working as a senior consultant and researcher. Landsend specialises in paediatric ophthalmology. His PhD concerned various aspects of congenital aniridia. His current research mainly deals with congenital eye diseases, visual complications to prematurity, and myopia. Title of presentation: Follow-up of children with congenital aniridia - an interdisciplinary approach Abstract of presentation: Congenital aniridia is a rare genetic eye disorder with total or partial absence of the iris from birth. Hypoplasia of the retinal fovea is usually present and is associated with reduced visual acuity and nystagmus. Aniridia-associated keratopathy, glaucoma, and cataract are serious and progressive complications that can further reduce visual function. Refractive errors are also common in aniridia. In a study from Norway, 14.2% of the aniridia patients had high-grade hyperopia and 21.4% had high-grade myopia. In another Norwegian study, manifest strabismus was detected in 88% of the participants, whereof 61% had esotropia, 24% had exotropia, and 3% had a vertical deviation. We have also found that reduced health-related quality of life in aniridia is associated with increased symptoms of anxiety, depression, and obesity, and with presence of ocular pain. Moreover, those who suffered from ocular pain reported more difficulties with executive functioning, sleepiness and fatigue. Hence, the follow-up of young children with aniridia should not only aim at detecting progressive ocular complications but also focus on correcting refractive errors and manage strabismus to achieve best possible visual function and prevent amblyopia. Measures to prevent anxiety, depression, obesity, and ocular pain could possibly also improve quality of life and functioning later in life in these children. http://www.aniridiaconference.org | http://www.aniridia.eu