أسباب العمى عند الأطفال في سورية

الملخص EN

Objective : To assess the prevalence and etiology of blindness and low vision at children in Syria.

Methods : In this descriptive study, which has been done by medical students from Damascus University, we studying the files of 218 children aged between 6-18 years from 9 Syrian states who are registering at the Blindness Rehabilitation Center in Damascus.

Results : According to the WHO classification, the major causes of blindness (visual acuity < 3 / 60) are retinal diseases (36.1 %), optic nerve diseases (13.2 %), congenital syndromes (11 %), congenital glaucoma (10 %), the whole globe diseases (7.8 %), congenital cataracts (6.4 %), corneal diseases (5.9 %) and others (10 %).

The major clinical diagnosis in our study is retinitis pigmentosa (18.2 %).

The prevalence of relativity marriage at the children parents is 72.1 %, 30 % of the children’s families have other similar defects.

The prevalence of relativity marriage increased in the low economical status families.

The diseases nature determines the type of treatment without any relationship with the familial economical status.

Conclusions : Most causes of blindness and low vision are hereditary and preventable by working on reducing the prevalence of relativity marriage in the Syrian society.

These results could assist in developing a national plan for prevention of blindness at children in Syria in cooperation with the international programs.