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[Etiology of childhood visual impairment in 1989]
Insights
Cataract is the leading cause of visual impairment in children aged 3-20 years, followed by tapetoretinal degeneration and optic nerve lesions. This study analyzed etiologies in 171 children, comparing findings to previous research.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Medicine
- Genetics
Context:
- The study focuses on children aged 3 to 20 years with visual impairments.
- The research was conducted at the Alfred Peyrelongue Center in Ambarès, France.
- Participants were free of significant motor or cognitive handicaps.
Purpose:
- To investigate and rank the etiologies of visual impairment in a cohort of children.
- To compare current findings with historical data from the same center.
- To provide an updated overview of pediatric visual impairment causes.
Summary:
- Cataract was the most frequent cause (31 cases).
- Tapetoretinal degeneration (28 cases) and optic nerve lesions (22 cases) were the next most common etiologies.
- Other significant causes included retinopathy of prematurity, coloboma malformations, severe congenital myopia, congenital glaucoma, congenital nystagmus, congenital achromatopsia, retinal abnormalities, and ocular injuries.
Impact:
- Provides crucial data for understanding trends in pediatric visual impairment.
- Informs clinical practice and resource allocation for visually impaired children.
- Contributes to the scientific literature on the causes of childhood blindness and low vision.
Abstract:
We studied the etiologies of visual impairment in the 171 children managed at the Alfred Peyrelongue Center, Ambarès France. This center is open to visually impaired children aged 3 to 20 years and free of significant motor or cognitive handicaps. Etiologies of visual impairment in the decreasing order of frequency were as follows: cataract (31 cases), tapetoretinal degeneration (28 cases), optic nerve lesion (22 cases), retinopathy of prematurity (13 cases), coloboma malformations (13 cases), severe congenital myopia (12 cases), congenital glaucoma (10 cases), congenital nystagmus (8 cases), congenital achromatopsia (6 cases), retinal abnormalities, and ocular injuries. We discuss these results, compare them with those of a similar study carried out in the same center in 1978, and briefly review the literature.