Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate ocular trauma cases seen at the emergency unit of a tertiary ophthalmic center that presented irreversible blindness as final outcome.
Methods: :
Retrospective study. Medical charts of patients seen at the Hospital São Paulo and followed at the Federal University of São Paulo, Ocular Trauma Section, from January 2002 to September 2008 were reviewed. Patients whose final visual acuity corresponded to no light perception were identified. Data on initial visual acuity, sex, age and type of trauma were collected.
Results: :
One thousand forty seven ocular trauma charts were reviewed and fifty three patients were selected. There was a male predominance (86.8%) and the median age was 44 years (7 - 97). The majority of cases (86.8%) was open-globe injuries (Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology, BETT). In four cases (7.5%), the ocular trauma resulted from car crashes and 18.9% of all the patients were 60 years old or older. Initial visual acuity ranged from counting fingers to absence of light perception. Twenty eight patients (52.8%) were already not able to detect light and 20 patients (37.7%) had light perception at presentation. Closed globe injuries were more associated to no light perception at the first evaluation (14.3%). However, they did not represent a statistical significant risk for blindness as final outcome (OR = 1.12; 95% CI, 0.22-5.58).
Conclusions: :
Male adults represent a significant proportion of patients with ocular trauma-related amaurosis. Among those patients, presenting visual acuity is usually significant compromised.
Keywords: clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: outcomes/complications