New blood test for congenital cataracts

While it is easy to diagnose congenital cataracts at birth, determining the cause of the congenital cataracts is much more involved and can take several months or years which results in delayed treatment for the child.¬† However, a new blood test has been developed which examines all the known mutations in the DNA that are associated with the disease. The test was developed by a research team at Manchester University and the Central Manchester Health Care Trust in the United Kingdom. There are more than 100 different mutations in a child's DNA that are linked to congenital cataracts and this new blood test helps to diagnose patients much more quickly and thus treatment can be started much earlier.*