Evaluation of ocular involvement in patients with Hansen’s disease

Abstract

Purpose : The objective of this study was to identify the prevalence of ocular involvement in patients with leprosy at two specialist referral centers for treatment of the disease.

Methods : A cross-sectional study was conducted with ophthalmological evaluations of patients with leprosy from June 2017 to June 2018. Diagnostic ocular findings, corrected visual acuity, and refractive error were described. Findings were correlated with patients’ clinical and epidemiological variables.

Results : A total of 86 patients were evaluated, with a mean age of 50 years, predominantly males (59.3%), and with multibacillary leprosy (92%). The prevalence of ophthalmologic changes was 100% and the most common were dysfunction of the Meibomian glands (89.5%) and dry eye syndrome (81.4%). Cataracts were observed in 22 patients (25.6%), but best corrected visual acuity was normal or near normal in 84 patients (97.7%) and there were no cases of bilateral blindness. Patients with some degree ofphysical disability had more ophthalmological alterations, involving both the ocular adnexa (p=0.001) and the ocular globe (p=0.03).

Conclusions : Ocular involvement are common in patients with leprosy, reinforcing the importance of ophthalmologic examination in the evaluation and follow- up of these patients.

This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.