Cataract prevalence, etiology, and systemic association in children attending EI walidain Charity Eye Hospital from April to July 2015

Abstract

Background: Childhood cataracts are responsible for 5%–20% of blindness in children worldwide and for an even higher percentage of childhood visual impairment in developing countries. This study is an attempt to evaluate the prevalence, etiology, and systemic association of cataract in Sudanese children attending El walidain Charity Eye Hospital. Materials and Methods: this is a cross-sectional, observational prospective study in the period between April and July 2015. Out of 783 children were enrolled in this study, 52 children aged ≤18 years presented with cataract to El walidain Charity Eye Hospital in Khartoum state in the period between April and July 2015. Diagnosis of cataract was made based on history and clinical examination using ophthalmoscope and slit lamp. Results: Prevalence was 6.6%. Nearly 63% of the patients were male, mostly were male, usually idiopathic and juvenile in nature, corneal opacity and photophobia in addition to lens opacity manifested were the usual presentation. Trauma, steroid therapy, congenital, Down syndrome, and other systemic diseases found to be a risk factor. Conclusion: The prevalence of cataract in children in El walidain Charity Eye Hospital was more than that of a hospital-based study done in Tanzania. The mean age of patients was 6.1 years. Corneal opacity and lens opacity were the most common symptoms and signs, respectively. Idiopathic cataract was the most common type and decreased vision was the most common complication.