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¹M.D., Sütçüimam University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Ohthalmology, Kahramanmaraş/TURKEY
²M.D. Asistant Professor, Sütçüimam University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Ohthalmology, Kahramanmaraş/TURKEY
³M.D. Professor, Sütçüimam University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Ohthalmology, Kahramanmaraş/TURKEY
⁴M.D. Asistant Sütçüimam University Faculty Of Medicine, Department Of Ohthalmology, Kahramanmaraş/TURKEY Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the causes of severe visual impairment in legally blind children in The East Mediterranean Region in Turkey.
Materials and Methods: One hundred eighty five children attending the schools for the blinds were included into the study. The major underlying etiology of blindness was recorded using the standardization of World Health Organization. Full ophthalmic examinations were performed, and past medical history, familial history, intellectual status, consanguineous marriage (CM) and socio-economic status were noted.
Results: The major pathology of BL was at whole globe in 23 (12.4%), retina in 139 (75%), lens in 29 (16.4%) and cornea in 7 (3.8%). The number of cases whom were treatable or had capability of improvement were 95 (51.2%). These patients had high hypermetropia, cataract and glaucoma accounted for 61 (33%), 29 (15%) and 6 (3.2%), respectively. We detected a history of CM in parents of 104 (56.2%) patients. We observed a high correlation between BL and CM (r=0.689 p<0.05).
Conclusions: Many causes of BL were potentially preventable. There is a high positive correlation between BL and CM Keywords : Consanguineous marriage, blindness, severely visually impaired