Changing trends over the last decade in the aetiology of childhood blindness: a study from a tertiary referral centre

Öztürk, Taylan; Er, Duygu; Yaman, Aylın; Berk, Ayşe Tülin

doi:10.1136/bjophthalmol-2015-306737

Cited by 41 publications

(48 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Over one quarter of vision loss was due to lenticular disorders. Much lower proportion of lens related vision loss has been reported from neighboring African and other countries [ 4 , 7 , 8 , 16 – 19 ]. Many of these cataract cases were un-operated for the reasons of associated complications and poor visual prognosis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thus, the most of the available data on the causes of blindness in children from developing countries have been obtained from examining children in schools for the blind, although this method is also potentially biased because very few of the blind children attend such schools [ 4 ]. Other methods to collect data on childhood blindness include key informant methods [ 6 ], blindness registry and hospital based studies [ 7 – 9 ]. Hospital records of the children can provide the information on childhood vision loss with minimum cost, human resource and time spent.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Retrospective data on causes of childhood vision impairment in Eritrea

Gyawali

Bhayal

Adhikary³

et al. 2017

BMC Ophthalmol

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BackgroundProper information on causes of childhood vision loss is essential in developing appropriate strategies and programs to address such causes. This study aimed at identifying the causes of vision loss in children attending the national referral eye hospital with the only pediatric ophthalmology service in Eritrea.MethodsA retrospective data review was conducted for all the children (< 16 years of age) who attended Berhan Aiyni National Referral Eye Hospital in five years period from January 2011 to December 2015. Causes of vision loss for children with vision impairment (recorded visual acuity less than 6/18 for distance in the better eye) was classified by the anatomical site affected and by underlying etiology based on the timing of the insult and causal factor.ResultsThe medical record cards of 22,509 children were reviewed, of whom 249 (1.1%) were visually impaired. The mean age of the participants was 7.82 ± 5.43 years (range: one month to 16 years) and male to female ratio was 1:0.65. The leading causes of vision loss were cataract (19.7%), corneal scars (15.7%), refractive error and amblyopia (12.1%), optic atrophy (6.4%), phthisis bulbi (6.4%), aphakia (5.6%) and glaucoma (5.2%). Childhood factors including trauma were the leading causes identified (34.5%) whereas other causes included hereditary factors (4%), intrauterine factors (2.0%) and perinatal factors (4.4%). In 55.0% of the children, the underlying etiology could not be attributed. Over two-thirds (69.9%) of vision loss was potentially avoidable in nature.ConclusionThis study explored the causes of vision loss in Eritrean children using hospital based data. Cataract corneal opacities, refractive error and amblyopia, globe damage due to trauma, infection and nutritional deficiency, retinal disorders, and other congenital abnormalities were the leading causes of childhood vision impairment in children attending the tertiary eye hospital in Eritrea. As majority of the causes of vision loss was due to avoidable causes, we recommended primary level public health strategies to prevent ocular injuries, vitamin A deficiency, perinatal infections and retinopathy of prematurity as well as specialist pediatric eye care facilities for cataract, refractive errors, glaucoma and rehabilitative services to address childhood vision loss in Eritrea.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrospective data on causes of childhood vision impairment in Eritrea

Gyawali

Bhayal

Adhikary³

et al. 2017

BMC Ophthalmol

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“…A recent hospital-based study from Turkey by Ozturk et al investigated the causes of severe visual impairment and blindness in a group of patients with an age range of 1 month to 17 years (19). The leading causes were reported as cortical visual impairment (30.5%), retinal pathologies (most commonly chorioretinal dystrophies) (24.6%), and disorders related to crystalline lens (17.1%) for blindness and SVI in that study.…”

Section: Figure 2 Distribution Of Causes Of Msvi Based On Age Groupsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Causes of Blindness and Moderate-Severe Visual Impairment in Niğde, Central Anatolia, Turkey

Küçük¹

2019

Erciyes Med J

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Objective: We investigated the causes of blindness and moderate to severe visual impairment (MSVI) in the Niğde province of Turkey using the disability health board records of the Niğde State Hospital. Materials and Methods: The disability health board reports of Niğde State Hospital recorded between 2011 and 2015 were retrospectively evaluated. The causes of blindness and MSVI were determined using the cause in the better-seeing eye, based on World Health Organization (WHO) criteria. The overall, age-related, and gender specific causes of blindness and MSVI were identified. Results: During the study period, 335 subjects were recorded as blind and 381 subjects were recorded as having MSVI. The main causes of blindness were retinitis pigmentosa (14.6%), age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (12.2%), and diabetic retinopathy (12.2%). In the MSVI group, the main causes were cataract (18.4%), AMD (16.5%), and diabetic retinopathy (13.9%). Conclusion: Retinitis pigmentosa, AMD, and diabetic retinopathy were the leading causes of blindness, and, in addition to these, cataract was a prominent cause of MSVI. The prevalence of retinitis pigmentosa was unexpectedly high in this region of Turkey, which may be due to the high frequency of consanguineous marriages that are commonly seen in Middle Eastern countries. This information is important for planning public health policies and raising public awareness of the visual impairment, given that several leading causes of visual impairment are reversible or preventable.

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“…26 In Turkey perinatal birth injury related cerebral visual impairment (CVI) is now the most common cause of childhood blindness with significant decreases in blindness secondary to ROP, and cataract. 29 Whilst maternal (vertical) and 'horizontal' transmission of potentially blinding diseases such as measles and rubella has fallen, other infectious diseases may come to the fore. For example, a third of Brazilian children with suspected Zika associated microcephaly have ocular abnormalities, the commonest being pigmented change or retinochoroidal atrophy.…”

Section: Trends In the Global Causes Of Childhood Blindnessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Epidemiology of blindness in children

2017

Arch Dis Child

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An estimated 1.4 million of the world's children are blind. A blind child is more likely to live in socioeconomic deprivation, to be more frequently hospitalized during childhood, and to die in childhood than a child not living with blindness. This update of a previous review on childhood visual impairment focuses on emerging therapies for children with severe visual disability (severe visual impairment and blindness or SVI/BL). For children in higher income countries, cerebral visual impairment and optic nerve anomalies remain the most common causes of SVI/BL, whilst ROP and cataract are now the most common avoidable causes. The constellation of causes of childhood blindness in lower income settings is shifting from infective and nutritional corneal opacities, and congenital anomalies, to more resemble the patterns seen in higher income settings. Improvements in maternal and neonatal health, and investment in and maintenance of national ophthalmic care infrastructure is key to reducing the burden of avoidable blindness. New therapeutic targets are emerging for childhood visual disorders, although the safety and efficacy of novel therapies for diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity or retinal dystrophies are not yet clear. Population based epidemiological research, particularly on cerebral visual impairment and optic nerve hypoplasia, is needed in order to improve understanding of risk factors, and to inform and support the development of novel therapies for disorders currently considered 'untreatable'.

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Changing trends over the last decade in the aetiology of childhood blindness: a study from a tertiary referral centre

Abstract: The prevalence of CVI was found to be relatively increased due to the significant reduction in the frequency of preventable causes of SVI. Furthermore our clinical practice for visual rehabilitation in aphakia has resulted in a considerable decrease in SVI in the last decade.

Cited by 41 publications

References 22 publications

Retrospective data on causes of childhood vision impairment in Eritrea

Retrospective data on causes of childhood vision impairment in Eritrea

Causes of Blindness and Moderate-Severe Visual Impairment in Niğde, Central Anatolia, Turkey

Epidemiology of blindness in children

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