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Hakob A., a 5-year-old boy from Maralik community in Shirak province has been diagnosed with a rare eye disease. Hakob is the fourth person in the world with this diagnosis.

Head of inflammatory diseases department at Ophtalmological Center after S.V.Malayan, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Associate Professor, Anna Hovakimyan said that her first guess was adenoviral conjunctivitis. Yet, afterwards it became clear that the boy has ligneous conjunctivitis.

According to public relations department of the Ministry of Health of Armenia, in order to clarify the diagnosis, sample of the boy’s blood was sent to Hematology Center after prof. Yolyan MH RA, then to Moscow. The results confirmed the diagnosis.

The child underwent three operations in Moscow, yet the results weren’t final.

“I have never come across to this disease in practice. It turned out, Hakob is the fourth person diagnosed with ligneous conjunctivitis, a genetic disease, caused by the lack of plasminogen in the blood. The only cure is to obtain plasminogen regularly,” Anna Hovakimyan said.

According to Hakob’s grandfather, the boy has been receiving treatment in Florence, Italy for seven months.
The treatment process continues. Once in every two months the boy receives medicine from Italy with the support of Ophtalmological Center after S.V.Malayan.