As families gather this season to capture memories around twinkling lights and festive tables, a simple photograph could reveal something far more important than a perfect smile: a medical emergency hiding in plain sight.

It's a phenomenon that pediatric ophthalmologists call "the glow" an abnormal white, yellow, or opaque reflection in a child's pupil that appears in flash photography. And while it might seem like just another photo mishap to delete, that gleam could be the only warning sign of serious eye diseases, including retinoblastoma, a rare childhood cancer that, left untreated, can be fatal.

That’s why the American Academy of Ophthalmology is encouraging parents to look through their holiday pictures carefully. Most of the time a parent or family member is the first to notice the white gleam glinting off their child’s eye. It's rare for these conditions to be picked up during well-child checkups, even though they should be.

Leukocoria, the medical term for the glow, can indicate more than 20 different eye conditions: retinoblastoma, Coats disease, retinal detachment, cataracts, infections that cause granulomas, persistent fetal vasculature, even a significant difference in refractive error that means a child needs glasses.

The holidays create ideal conditions for detecting the glow: flash photography in dim lighting, families gathered for pictures, multiple photographers capturing the same children from different angles.

Parents should look for a white, yellow, or opaque spot in the pupil not the common red-eye reflection, which is normal and healthy. The glow might appear when children look away from the camera, but the most concerning cases occur when they're looking directly at it. Make sure flash is on and red-eye reduction is off.

If you see the glow once, be on alert. It could just be light bouncing off the child’s optic nerve. If you see it twice in the same eye, bring those photos to an eye specialist an optometrist or ophthalmologist and request a comprehensive dilated eye exam.

The holidays are prime time for these accidental diagnoses.

Jesse L. Berry, MD, director of Ocular Oncology and Retinoblastoma program at Children's Hospital Los Angeles and professor of Ophthalmology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, sees a surge of patients in late December and early January, as parents notice the glow in Christmas morning snapshots or New Year's Eve celebrations moments when flash photography meets dim lighting conditions.

"It can be vision-saving, eye-saving, and life-saving," Dr. Berry says. "The earlier it is picked up, the easier it is for us to treat these tumors and to save the eyes and the vision."

(Newswise/HG)