Pediatric Retina in Jacksonville, Florida
Retinal disease in children is not the adult version in a smaller eye. Some of it is present at birth, some is inherited, and much of it is silent. Children are seen at South Atlantic Retina by referral from the doctor who already looks after their eyes.
How children are seen here
A child's eye care belongs with their own pediatric ophthalmologist, ophthalmologist or optometrist. That doctor examines the whole eye, manages glasses, alignment and amblyopia, and follows the child over time. This practice provides one specific thing: the retinal opinion, imaging or surgical care that doctor asks for. After that the child goes back to them.
If you are a parent and you are worried about your child's eyes, start with your pediatrician or your child's eye doctor. They will examine your child and arrange a retinal referral if one is needed. That is the right order, and it is faster for your child than starting here.
Why children are examined differently
A young child cannot tell you that the centre of their vision is blurred, or that one eye sees less than the other. A child born with reduced vision has no other experience to compare it with, so nothing seems wrong to them. Retinal disease in childhood is therefore usually found on examination rather than reported as a symptom — at a well-child check, at a school screening, during an eye examination for glasses, or because a condition elsewhere in the body prompted someone to look.
That is why the examination matters more than the history. A dilated view of the whole retina, ultra-widefield photography and OCT scanning give a record that can be compared visit to visit, which is often how a slowly changing condition is recognised.
Conditions present at birth or in infancy
Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP)
The blood vessels of the retina finish growing only in the last weeks of pregnancy. A baby born early is born before that process is complete. In some premature infants the vessels then grow abnormally at the edge of the retina, and in the more severe forms that abnormal tissue can contract and pull the retina off. Premature babies are examined on a set schedule for exactly this reason, and most ROP resolves without treatment. When treatment is needed it is time-critical.
Persistent fetal vasculature
Before birth a temporary network of blood vessels feeds the developing eye, and it is meant to disappear before a baby is born. Sometimes it does not. The leftover tissue can affect the lens, the retina, or both, and it is usually found in one eye.
Coats disease
Abnormal, widened retinal blood vessels leak fluid and fatty deposits into and under the retina. It almost always affects one eye, is not inherited, and is found most often in boys. Because only one eye is involved and children compensate well, it is often picked up late — sometimes on a routine vision screening.
Familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR)
An inherited condition in which the outer edge of the retina never develops a blood supply. It can look very like ROP, but it occurs in children born at full term. Because it runs in families, finding it in one child often means examining siblings and parents.
Inherited retinal disease in children
Several inherited retinal conditions begin in childhood. Leber congenital amaurosis is a severe dystrophy present from infancy. Retinitis pigmentosa begins with night vision and side vision. Stargardt disease is the childhood form of macular degeneration, affecting central vision while side vision is preserved. X-linked retinoschisis splits the layers of the retina microscopically and almost always affects boys.
Genetic testing has become central to this group, both for diagnosis and because it determines eligibility for gene therapy and for clinical trials. Our full guide to inherited retinal disease covers this in more detail.
Inflammation and infection
Uveitis in children is inflammation inside the eye. In children it is frequently linked to juvenile idiopathic arthritis, and the important point is that it can be present with no redness and no pain at all. A child will not complain. That is precisely why children with arthritis are examined on a schedule rather than only when something hurts, and why the eye examination is not optional in that setting. Our full guide to uveitis explains the workup and treatment.
Infectious retinitis covers infections such as toxoplasmosis or cytomegalovirus, either passed on before birth or acquired later, which damage the retina directly. Old, inactive scars are sometimes found by chance years afterward.
Injury and retinal detachment
Retinal detachment is uncommon in children, and when it happens it most often follows an injury. Blunt trauma can tear the retina at its outer edge, and the detachment that follows may develop slowly and quietly — weeks or months after the injury, long after everyone has stopped thinking about it. Any significant eye injury in a child deserves a dilated examination of the retina, not just a check of the front of the eye. Our full guide to retinal detachment explains repair and recovery.
Retinal findings in whole-body conditions
Some systemic diagnoses come with a known retinal risk, and the retina is often where the diagnosis is confirmed or refined. Stickler syndrome carries a high lifetime risk of retinal detachment and is one of the few situations where preventive treatment of the fellow eye is discussed. Incontinentia pigmenti can produce an avascular peripheral retina in infancy. Sickle cell disease affects the small vessels of the retina, and children with sickle cell disease need periodic examination — our sickle cell retinopathy guide covers the schedule.
Tumors, and what is not managed here
Retinoblastoma is not managed at this practice. The most common eye cancer of childhood is treated at an ocular oncology centre, by teams who do this work every week and who coordinate with pediatric oncology. A child with a suspected intraocular tumour is referred directly there rather than worked up here first, because time matters and the referral pathway should be short.
Hamartomas and hemangiomas are benign growths of the retina or of the layer beneath it. Some occur on their own. Others are a marker for a condition affecting other organs, and finding one can be the reason a broader diagnosis is made.
For referring providers
Pediatric retinal referrals can be sent directly — a suspected detachment, a retinal finding in a child with a systemic diagnosis, an abnormal fundus appearance you want a retinal opinion on, or an inherited retinal dystrophy where genetic testing and counselling are the next step. Urgent cases are worked into the schedule the same or next business day. Reports go back to the referring doctor, and the child continues under your care. Referral information is here.
Getting seen
Children are seen on referral. If your child's eye doctor or pediatrician has asked for a retinal opinion, our office is at 3627 University Blvd S, Suite 605, Jacksonville, FL 32216, open 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Friday, and the number is (904) 666-5050. Our staff speak English, Arabic, and French.
If no one has examined your child's eyes yet, please start with your pediatrician or an eye doctor who sees children.
This page is general information about medical conditions and is not a substitute for examination and advice from your own physician. Do not start, stop, or change any medication based on what you read here.