[Clinico-morphological characteristics of developmental defects of the eye]

Analysis of the records of the ophthalmologic pathoanatomic laboratory of the Kazakh Research Institute of Ophthalmic Diseases has shown that the incidence of developmental abnormalities due to disorders in the embryonal period and organogenesis have made up 3.7 percent of the total number of ocular tumors and 6.0 percent of benign tumors over the past 34 years. More than 60 percent of the patients with developmental defects were residents of South-Eastern Kazakhstan, equally frequently aborigens and representatives of other nationalities (41 and 43 patients, respectively), with male patients predominating (46 of 84 subjects). The patients' ages varied from 3 months to 70 years, children under 14 (50 patients) and young subjects aged 14 to 30 (24) prevailing. The most frequent developmental defects were dermoid cysts (61.9 percent) localized mainly in the orbit, less frequently dermoids and lipo-dermoids (20.2 percent) in the cornea, and dystrophic lacrimal gland in scleral conjunctiva (14.3 percent). Teratoma, brain hernia, and cystic eyes occurred in 1.2% of cases each; these conditions and dystopic lacrimal gland were histologically diagnosed.