What is a coloboma?

What is a coloboma?

A coloboma is an area of missing tissue in your eye. Colobomas are present in a person’s eye when they’re born. They can affect one or both eyes.

The most recognizable and common colobomas affect the iris and cause your pupil to have a keyhole shape. But there are many types of colobomas, most of which you can’t see externally (on the outside).

Some colobomas cause no symptoms, but others can have serious impacts on your child’s vision. What symptoms they’ll have depends on where in their eye the coloboma developed and which kind of tissue they’re missing.

Your healthcare provider might be able to diagnose a coloboma when your baby is born.