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Query: UMLS:C0086543 (cataract)
 29,165 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Cataract is responsible for 50% of world blindness, with at present an estimated backlog of 13.5 million cases in need of surgery. Low-cost cataract surgery must be made more available in developing countries, making use of alternative approaches for outpatient surgery and optimal management of available resources. Trachoma control needs to be targeted at the worst affected areas in endemic countries, with more emphasis on behavioural, educational and community aspects of the disease. Vitamin A deficiency and xerophthalmia control are becoming matters of maternal and child health care, with early intervention during infancy in view of the mortality issue. There are good prospects for the prevention of blindness from onchocerciasis, through the availability of ivermectin, but large-scale distribution schemes are still needed in most of the African countries concerned. The early detection and management of open-angle glaucoma still poses a major problem in developing countries, and further development of appropriate technology is needed in this field. Another area where more efforts are needed is ocular trauma, which is commonly the cause of unilateral loss of vision. General preventive measures must be enforced and better training provided to health personnel to deal competently with such cases, in order to prevent late complications. Diabetes, finally, is on the increase in many developing countries, giving rise to problems in dealing effectively with the ensuing retinopathy.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Present challenges in the global prevention of blindness. 138 40

A population-based survey of the prevalence of major blinding disorders was conducted in three villages in central Tanzania. Overall, 1827 people over the age of seven years old were examined. In those age seven and older, the prevalence of bilateral blindness (visual acuity in the better eye of less than 3/60) was 1.26% and monocular blindness (visual acuity of less than 3/60 in one eye) was 4.32% and the prevalence of visual impairment (visual acuity less than 6/18 but greater than or equal to 3/60 in both eyes was 1.04% and in one eye was 1.75%. Corneal opacities were responsible for 44% of bilateral and 39% of monocular blindness and resulted from trachoma, measles often in association with Vitamin A deficiency, keratoconjunctivitis, and the use of traditional eye medicines. Cataracts accounted for 22% of bilateral and 6% of monocular blindness. Readily preventable or reversible causes of blindness were responsible for 65% of cases of bilateral and 46% of monocular blindness.
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PMID:Prevalence and causes of vision loss in central Tanzania. 202 39

Problems of prevention and treatment of blindness in Africa are discussed with particular reference to Tanzania. Cataract accounts for fully half this blindness, and present measures to treat it are totally inadequate. The relationship between measles and vitamin A deficiency is discussed. Measles with its attendant corneal destruction accounts for most blindness in children. Blinding trachoma is seen as a community disease needing a community approach to factors such as waste disposal, water supply and cyclic reinfection. Primary eye care is seen as the key, through education at village level, to prevention and treatment of blindness. Training of village health workers is the essential first step.
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PMID:Ophthalmology in Africa. 407 58

About 1% of the population of Malawi is blind. The major contributors are cataract (40%), trachoma and other infections (15%) and measles/Vitamin A deficiency (15%). There are 3 ophthalmologists in government service. However, one serves as the director of medical services, and is therefore frequently burdened with administrative duties. In addition, one missionary ophthalmologist and 25 ophthalmic auxiliaries are available. Two of the ophthalmic auxiliaries are being trained to perform cataract surgery to aid the ophthalmologists in attacking the current backlog of approx. 24,000 blind cataract patients in the country. Trachoma and onchocerciasis are present regionally, although the latter by itself does not appear to be a major cause of vision loss. In children under age five, the major causes of blindness are measles and protein-energy-malnutrition (PEM) and its associated hypovitaminosis A. Previous surveys in Malawi have been either clinic/hospital-based or have been local population-based studies. In order to establish a realistic plan of preventive and therapeutic action, a comprehensive series of country-wide population-based ocular disease prevalence surveys is planned over the next five years. The information will enable the Ministry of Health to more equitably disperse trained ophthalmic personnel and to obtain appropriate supplies and drugs in a rational manner.
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PMID:Ocular disease and ophthalmic services in Malawi. 664 97

On the basis of a screening of 6226 patients in western Nepal the most common causes of disease were established. Refraction anomalies and cataract were both found in over 20 percent of the patients, conjunctivitis/dacryocystitis and corneal opacities each in more than 10 percent. Lid conditions, trachoma, pterygium, vitamin A deficiency, glaucoma, iritis, diseases of the fundus and phtisis bulbi were each seen in more than 1 percent of the patients. Problems of treatment are described.
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PMID:[Ophthalmologic findings and problems in West Nepal]. 714 31

Five million blind people in India suffer from cataract, which is a curable condition. Untreated cataract accounts for more than half of the cases of blindness in that country. Twenty percent of all cases of blindness are caused by infections, while malnutrition accounts for 27% in children. In India, ophthalmological care has been provided for many years now in eye-camps. In cataract surgery, the expression method is customary. Trachomas at all stages, infectious eye diseases, traumatic lesions, vitamin A deficiency and leprosy are also diagnosed and treated in large numbers of cases. By way of an example the authors, assistants at the First Eye Clinic of Vienna University, describe an eye-camp in Andhra Pradesh where they worked. Work of this kind can be recommended to others.
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PMID:[Eye diseases and ophthalmological care in a developing country (author's transl)]. 734 34

Pupils attending 12 schools for the blind in Malawi, 3 schools in Kenya and 2 schools in Uganda were examined to determine the causes of severe visual impairment or blindness (visual acuity in the better eye of less than 6/60). A total of 491 pupils aged 3-22 years was examined. Visual acuity was measured in each eye using a Snellen E chart. The anatomical site of abnormality and underlying cause of visual loss were determined by clinical examination for each eye, and for the child. Information was recorded on a standard reporting form (the WHO/PBL Eye Examination Record for Children with Blindness and Low Vision). Data were analysed for those aged less than 16 years using a database which accompanies the form. Preventable and treatable causes were identified. 260 pupils aged 5-20 years were examined in Malawi, 163 pupils aged 3-19 years were examined in Kenya and 68 pupils aged 6-22 years were examined in Uganda. Of the 491 students included in the study 309 (62.9%) were blind (BL) and 69 (14.1%) were severely visually impaired (SVI). 244 were aged less than 16 years and had SVI/BL. In these 244 children 35.2% of visual loss was due to corneal pathology, 13.5% was due to cataract and 14.8% to diseases of the retina. Corneal pathology, attributed to vitamin A deficiency and measles infection in the majority, was responsible for proportionally more SVI/BL in students in Malawi than in Uganda or Kenya.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Causes of childhood blindness in east Africa: results in 491 pupils attending 17 schools for the blind in Malawi, Kenya and Uganda. 758 38

Using WHO definitions of visual loss and a standardised methodology, 256 children were examined in schools for the blind in Thailand (1 school) and the Philippines (3 schools). 244 (95%) were blind (BL) or severely visually impaired (SVI). Causes of SVI and blindness were classified anatomically and aetiologically, and avoidable causes identified. Causes of visual loss in Khon Kaen, Thailand (n = 65) and Manila, Philippines, (n = 113) were similar, with conditions of the whole globe accounting for 27.7 and 27.4% of SVI/BL; retinal disease 29.2 and 23.0%; cataract 16.9 and 16.8%; corneal disease 12.3 and 13.4%; and optic nerve disease and glaucoma 6.2 and 8.8%. Perinatal factors accounted for 20.0 and 23.0% of SVI/BL; hereditary disease 13.8 and 17.7%; and 12.3 and 15.0% was due to events occurring during childhood. The underlying aetiology could not be determined in 50.8 and 41.6% of cases, respectively. In the two schools together twenty six children (15%) were blind from retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and 16 (9%) from corneal scarring attributed to Vitamin A deficiency. 103 of 178 (58%) children had avoidable causes of visual loss. In the Filipino towns of Baguio and Davao (n = 66), the causes of visual loss were different from those in Khon Kaen and Manila, with 54.8 and 42.9% of SVI/BL being due to corneal disease, and only 3.2 and 8.5% to retinal disease.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Causes of blindness in children attending four schools for the blind in Thailand and the Philippines. A comparison between urban and rural blind school populations. 811 71

Blindness is a major problem in most developing countries. It occurs at ten times the rate seen in the developed countries and in over 80% of cases is either preventable or curable. The four main causes are cataract, trachoma, onchocerciasis and xerophthalmia. Cataract, which is responsible for half the blindness, can be effectively cured with modern cataract surgery. Trachomatous blindness follows frequent episodes of reinfection, which can be prevented by simple hygienic measures. Onchocerciasis can be halted by the simple administration of a once-a-year dose of ivermectin, a drug which is currently being provided at no cost to all those with this infection. Vitamin A deficiency, which causes xerophthalmia, can be prevented by vitamin A distribution programs or dietary education. The challenge is to deliver these interventions effectively in the areas of need.
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PMID:Blindness in the tropics. 837 95

It is estimated that at least 200,000 children in India have severe visual impairment or blindness and approximately 15,000 are in schools for the blind. Although this represents a small percentage of the estimated 5 million blind in India, it is significant in terms of 'blind-years'. Strategies to combat childhood blindness require accurate data on the causes to allocate resources to appropriate preventive and curative services. Since socio-economic factors vary in different areas of this industrializing country data should be representative of the country as a whole. This is the first multi-state study to be undertaken in India using the Record for Children with Blindness and Low Vision from the World Health Organization/PBL Programme. A total of 1411 children in 22 schools from nine states in different geographical zones were examined by an ophthalmologist and optometrist. Of these, 1318 children were severely visually impaired or blind (SVI/BL). The major causes of SVI/BL in this study were: (1) corneal staphyloma, scar and phthisis bulbi (mainly attributable to vitamin A deficiency) in 26.4%; (2) microphthalmos, anophthalmos and coloboma in 20.7%; (3) retinal dystrophies and albinism in 19.3%; and (4) cataract, uncorrected aphakia and amblyopia in 12.3%. This mixed pattern of causes lies in an intermediate position between the patterns seen in developing countries and those seen in industrialised countries. The causes identified indicate the importance both of preventive public health strategies and of specialist paediatric ophthalmic and optical services in the management of childhood blindness in India.
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PMID:Childhood blindness in India: causes in 1318 blind school students in nine states. 854 69


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