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Astigmatism occurring in association with pediatric eye disease
Insights
Children with low vision exhibit significantly higher astigmatism than normal vision peers. Conditions like albinism and retinitis pigmentosa show the highest astigmatism prevalence in pediatric low vision.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatric Optometry
- Clinical Research
Background:
- Astigmatism is a common refractive error that can affect visual acuity.
- Low vision in children encompasses a range of conditions causing visual image degradation.
- Understanding the relationship between specific diseases and astigmatism is crucial for visual rehabilitation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between various diseases causing visual image degradation and astigmatism in children.
- To compare astigmatism levels in children with low vision to those with normal vision.
- To identify specific disease categories and age-of-onset patterns associated with increased astigmatism.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective analysis of clinical data from 496 eyes of 256 children with low vision.
- Inclusion of refraction data from 79 children with normal vision as controls.
- Classification of children into 14 disease groups and 5 age-of-onset groups (0-13 years).
Main Results:
- Children with low vision demonstrated significantly higher mean astigmatism compared to normal vision controls.
- Astigmatism was most pronounced in children diagnosed with albinism, retinitis pigmentosa, and idiopathic nystagmus.
- Increased astigmatism prevalence was observed even in cases with late-onset low vision (up to 13 years).
- With-the-rule astigmatism was more frequent than oblique or against-the-rule astigmatism in the low vision cohort.
Conclusions:
- Children with low vision, particularly those with albinism, retinitis pigmentosa, or idiopathic nystagmus, have a higher prevalence and degree of astigmatism.
- The timing of low vision onset does not preclude increased astigmatism.
- Astigmatism patterns in pediatric low vision warrant further investigation for targeted interventions.
Abstract:
Retrospective clinical data from 496 eyes of 256 children attending a low vision clinic were analyzed to determine the relation between different classes of disease that involve visual image degradation and astigmatism. Control data comprised refractions from 79 normal vision children. Children were classified into groups according to the category of disease (14 groups) and the reported age-of-onset of their visual disability (0 to 13 years, 5 groups). The mean astigmatism for all groups of children with low vision was larger than that of the normals and in most cases the difference was significant at the 95% level. Astigmatism was highest in children with albinism, retinitis pigmentosa, and idiopathic nystagmus. Increased prevalence of astigmatism compared to normals was noted in children having their onset of low vision as late as 13 years of age. In the low vision subjects with-the-rule astigmatism occurred more frequently than oblique or against-the-rule astigmatism and oblique astigmatism more frequently than against-the-rule astigmatism.