Abstract
Purpose :
Ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) is the leading cause of infectious posterior-uveitis in several geographical areas and is also a significant cause of visual impairment (VI) worldwide. Very few studies have focused on the causes of VI in patients with OT. We performed a retrospective analysis of the patient's medical records with a diagnosis of OT to determine the frequency and causes of VI.
Methods :
The medical records of 77 patients with a diagnosis of OT were reviewed. Clinical and socio-demographic data were analyzed. The visual acuity (VA) of the patients was classified according to WHO criteria. VI was considered for a final best-corrected VA < 6/18 in at least one eye. Results are expressed as mean ± SD [min–max] for continuous variables and frequency (%) for categorical variables. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0 was used for statistical analysis. P values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant.
Results :
The mean age of the patients was 36.7±14.1 years (limits: 8-69 years), with 59.7% of men. Visual impairment concerned 28 patients (36.4%), of whom 15 had low vision (19.5%); and 13 had blindness (16.9%). Visual impairment was bilateral in 4 patients (5.2%); one had bilateral blindness. Macular scars (23.4%) and cataracts (3.9%) were the more frequent causes of visual impairment. Patients with bilateral ocular toxoplasmosis (P = 0.013, OR = 3.4 [95% CI: 1.2—9.3]) and macular lesions (P = 0.004, OR = 4 [95% CI: 1.5—10.9]) had a higher risk of developing visual impairment.
Conclusions :
Visual impairment is frequent among patients with ocular toxoplasmosis. Patients with bilateral and macular lesions are at greater risk. Since the pathology mainly concerns young patients, it would significantly impact their quality of life.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.