Purpose
To identify the epidemiological characteristics and the most common etiologies of corneal disease at the cornea clinic of the Second Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, China.
Methods
During a three-week period in November 2014, one hundred consecutive patients seen by the only corneal specialist at The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University were evaluated. Ocular history, demographic information and ocular use of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) were recorded and analyzed. Causes of infectious keratitis were diagnosed clinically. Fungal and Acanthamoeba keratitis were confirmed by confocal microscopy.
Results
Of the 100 consecutive patients evaluated, there were 50 female and 50 male patients. Sixty patients (60%) had noninfectious corneal disease. The most common of which was dry eye syndrome (26.7%, n=16). The majority (75%, n=12) of dry eye syndrome patients lived in an urban setting and were over 50 years of age (62.5%, n=10). The second most common cause of noninfectious corneal pathology was corneal abrasion (18.3%, n=11). Forty-five patients had infectious keratitis, with viral keratitis being the most frequent cause overall (57.8%, n=26). The rate of fungal keratitis was equal to that of bacterial keratitis (both 20%, n=9). Five patients had both infectious and non-infectious corneal diseases. The majority (73.3%, n=33) of infectious keratitis patients lived in a rural setting and were over age 50 (60%, n=27). Farming was the most common occupation for patients with infectious keratitis (42.2%, n=19), with fungal etiology as the most common for infectious keratitis amongst farmers (42.1%, n=8). The majority of patients utilizing topical and/or systemic TCM for corneal diseases were from a rural setting (71.4%, n=10).<br />
Conclusions
Dry eye syndrome was the most common noninfectious etiology for corneal diseases. Viral keratitis was the most common infectious etiology for corneal diseases. Age, rural or urban setting, and occupation may be important demographic characteristics in the prevalence of some corneal diseases in China and may influence patient choice for use of TCM.