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Analysis of pupillary responses in pediatric patients with vitamin D deficiency
Gamze Yıldırım Biçer1, Zeynep Yılmaz Öztorun2, Kadir Eren Biçer3
1Department of Ophthalmology, Niğde Ömer Halisdemir University School of Medicine, Bor Yolu, Nigde, Turkey. gmz_y_06@hotmail.com.
Insights
Children with vitamin D deficiency exhibit larger pupils in bright light, suggesting autonomic nervous system dysfunction. This finding highlights a potential link between vitamin D levels and pupillary responses in pediatric patients.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Pediatrics
- Endocrinology
Background:
- Vitamin D deficiency is prevalent in pediatric populations.
- Autonomic nervous system function can be influenced by various physiological factors.
- Pupillary responses are indicators of autonomic nervous system activity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of vitamin D deficiency on pupillary responses in children.
- To compare pupillary behavior between children with and without vitamin D deficiency.
Main Methods:
- A case-control study involving 52 children with vitamin D deficiency and 52 healthy controls.
- Automatic pupillometry was used for static (scotopic, mesopic, photopic) and dynamic measurements.
- Pupil dilation speed was assessed under dynamic conditions.
Main Results:
- A significant difference in pupil diameter was observed under photopic (bright light) conditions (p=0.001).
- Children with vitamin D deficiency had larger mean pupil diameters (4.46 mm) compared to controls (3.95 mm) in photopic conditions.
- No significant differences were found in scotopic, mesopic, or dynamic measurements.
Conclusions:
- Pediatric vitamin D deficiency is associated with significantly larger pupil diameters in photopic conditions.
- These findings suggest autonomic dysfunction, particularly affecting the parasympathetic system, in children with vitamin D deficiency.
- Pupillometry may serve as a non-invasive tool to assess potential autonomic disturbances related to vitamin D status in children.
Purpose:
To evaluate the effects of vitamin D deficiency on pupillary responses in the pediatric population.
Methods:
The study was conducted using data from the right eyes of 52 children with vitamin D deficiency and 52 healthy children. Measurements were taken under static and dynamic conditions with automatic pupillometry. Static measurements were performed at scotopic, mesopic, and photopic light intensities. The mean pupil dilation speed was calculated by observing the changes in pupil dilation over time according to dynamic measurements. Differences between patient and control groups were analyzed for the static and dynamic measurements and the mean pupil dilation speed.
Results:
While the two groups were similar in terms of scotopic, mesopic, the first dynamic measurements, and the pupil dilation speed data (p > 0.05), a significant difference was found in the photopic conditions (p = 0.001). The mean pupil diameter of the patient group was 4.46 ± 0.928 mm and 3.95 ± 0.556 mm in the control group under photopic conditions.
Conclusions:
Pediatric patients with vitamin D deficiency have significantly larger pupil diameters in photopic conditions than healthy children. These results suggest that there is an autonomic dysfunction in vitamin D deficiency in the pediatric population, especially pointing to the parasympathetic system.
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