Causes of visual disability in children and young adults.

OBJECTIVE

Blindness and visual disability is a great problem all over the world. Loss of visual acuity in children requires special attention. The aim of the study was to determine the causes of uni- and bilateral low vision in children and young adults. Patients were from our clinic and from the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Lodz.

METHODS

The study group included 271 patients aged from 3 months to 21 years, visually disabled and with uniocular reduction of visual acuity to 25% or less.

RESULTS

The commonest cause of low visual acuity in the group was optic nerve atrophy (22%) due to perinatal hypoxia. Other important causes were retinopathy of prematurity (17%) and congenital abnormalities of the eye globe (11%). The main causes of uniocular low vision were anisometropia and strabismus.

CONCLUSIONS

The main cause of visual impairment and disability in the study group from our region was optic nerve atrophy. Retinopathy of prematurity was also frequently seen in the handicapped children and was responsible for severe visual loss. Anisometropia and strabismus were predominant causes of uniocular visual deterioration, but not of visual disability.