[Ophthalmic pathology at a Lebanese clinic: the example of Sidon]

Ophthalmic consultations account for 15% of all activity at the medical department of the Caritas Center at Sidon. Over a period of 26 months, 1,000 ophthalmic diagnoses were made at this center, with some patients diagnosed with up to three conditions (for example, presbyopia, with cataracts and dryness of the eye). Two major symptoms, redness and pain, were the cause of most of the consultations. Ametropia (37.8%) and conjunctivitis (33.2%) were the most frequent diagnoses. Cheap reading glasses are sold at the center, to reduce the cost of optical treatment, and they are sometimes bought purely for the frame. We found no cases of xerophthalmia due to vitamin A deficiency or of florid trachoma, indicating that eye health is adequate in the region studied. The frequency of certain diseases causing blindness (cataracts, glaucoma, retinopathies and neuropathies) is certainly underestimated. Retinopathies were of diabetic origin and complicated in 70% of cases (stage IV or higher) because diabetologists do not systematically send patients to ophthalmologists. They often wait for loss of vision to become evident, by which time it is often too late for effective treatment to be given. For many reasons, the elderly do not consult as frequently as young patients. The feasibility of a mobile consultation service should be studied. It seems to be very important to initiate national mass campaigns for: - health education in the field of ophthalmology; - screening and treatment of diseases causing irreversible blindness; - recovery of old glasses for the use of poor patients.