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Current Opinion in Ophthalmology Jan 2017Cataracts are a significant cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. The present article reviews the literature and describes the current extent of cataracts... (Review)
Review
PURPOSE OF REVIEW
Cataracts are a significant cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. The present article reviews the literature and describes the current extent of cataracts globally, barriers to treatment, and recommendations for improving the treatment of cataracts.
RECENT FINDINGS
Prevalence and absolute number of blind because of cataracts remain high, although rates are declining in many areas globally. The age-standardized prevalence of blindness in adults older than 50 remains highest in western sub-Saharan Africa, with a rate of 6.0%. The greatest declines in age-standardized blindness because of cataracts in adults older than 50 between 1990 and 2010 were in East Asia, tropical Latin America, and western Europe. Recent studies have largely found higher rates of cataracts in women than in men. A new simulator for training ophthalmologists in manual small-incision cataract surgery holds promise for the future.
SUMMARY
The rates of cataract surgery are increasing and postoperative outcomes are improving worldwide, yet challenges to reducing the cataract burden further remain. Cost, an insufficient number of ophthalmologists, and low government funding remain significant barriers but investment in further eye care infrastructure and training of additional ophthalmologists would improve the current situation.
Topics: Blindness; Cataract; Cataract Extraction; Global Health; Health Services Accessibility; Healthcare Disparities; Humans
PubMed: 27820750
DOI: 10.1097/ICU.0000000000000340 -
Journal Francais D'ophtalmologie Dec 2022
Topics: Humans; Smartphone; Blindness
PubMed: 35868892
DOI: 10.1016/j.jfo.2022.03.027 -
Journal of the Indian Medical... Nov 2010
Topics: Blindness; Developing Countries; Humans; India; Risk Factors
PubMed: 21510564
DOI: No ID Found -
Arquivos Brasileiros de Oftalmologia 2020The burden of corneal blindness and visual deficiency can be felt worldwide. Its association with several endemic diseases such as childhood blindness, trauma,... (Review)
Review
The burden of corneal blindness and visual deficiency can be felt worldwide. Its association with several endemic diseases such as childhood blindness, trauma, infectious keratitis (including variants caused by herpes, hanseniasis, and fungi), vitamin A deficiency, diabetes mellitus, and other dry eye syndromes reflects its poorly understood underlying mechanisms and suggests that the actual frequency of the disease is underestimated. The low effectiveness of preventive and therapeutic strategies against corneal scarring or deformity predicts a high frequency of patients with corneal blindness in the future. Corneal blindness is associated with environmental factors and socioeconomic limitations that restrain health assistance and maintain a modest efficiency of the current therapeutic strategies for resolving corneal diseases in large-scale programs. We present here a critical review of the concepts associated with corneal blindness that need to be considered when planning strategies to prevent and treat corneal blindness worldwide (to be able to leave Plato's cave, where corneal blindness is encaged.
Topics: Blindness; Corneal Diseases; Corneal Injuries; Corneal Opacity; Humans; Keratitis
PubMed: 33084821
DOI: 10.5935/0004-2749.20200102 -
Eye (London, England) 1988
Review
Topics: Adolescent; Africa; Blindness; Child; Child, Preschool; Global Health; Humans; Infant
PubMed: 3076153
DOI: 10.1038/eye.1988.131 -
Indian Journal of Pediatrics Dec 2017The World Health Organization estimates that 19 million children are visually impaired, among whom, 1.4 million are blind. Childhood blindness is an excellent indicator... (Review)
Review
The World Health Organization estimates that 19 million children are visually impaired, among whom, 1.4 million are blind. Childhood blindness is an excellent indicator of the state of child health and primary care services in a country. Childhood blindness is important not just due to the number of children blind but also because the number of years that the surviving child has to live with blindness (blind years lived). Childhood blindness is next only to adult cataract in terms of the number of blind person years lived. Under-five mortality rates have been used as a proxy measure to compute the prevalence of childhood blindness in low and middle income countries due to limitations of other methods of data collection. In India, it is estimated that there are 0.8 blind for 1000 children. Whole globe lesions, corneal scarring, retinal pathology and afflictions of the lens are important anatomical sites in children. Causes operating in childhood and hereditary causes are important in etiology of childhood blindness. In 38.2%-68.4% cases across the region, a specific cause of blindness could not be identified in South Asia. The proportion of blindness that can be prevented or treated (avoidable) in children is less than 50%. Therefore a comprehensive eye care system needs to be in place to cater to the needs of children with avoidable and those with incurable blindness. Early detection and prompt management are critical for success of programs targeting avoidable blindness in children.
Topics: Adolescent; Blindness; Child; Child, Preschool; Humans; India; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Prevalence
PubMed: 28646264
DOI: 10.1007/s12098-017-2405-2 -
Archives of Ophthalmology (Chicago,... Nov 2012
Topics: Blindness; Cataract; Cataract Extraction; Global Health; Humans; Incidence
PubMed: 23143446
DOI: 10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2013.765 -
Australian and New Zealand Journal of... Aug 1990Transient monocular blindness (TMB) or amaurosis fugax is diagnosed when visual disturbance or loss (blindness, dimming, fogging, blurring) affects one eye for seconds... (Review)
Review
Transient monocular blindness (TMB) or amaurosis fugax is diagnosed when visual disturbance or loss (blindness, dimming, fogging, blurring) affects one eye for seconds or minutes. TMB may occur alone or in combination with transient hemispheric ischaemia (TIA). The cause of TMB is usually an atheromatous plaque at the carotid bifurcation in the neck liberating emboli or causing a temporary reduction in carotid and retinal blood flow. In most patients no embolus or ischaemic change is visible in the fundus. TMB should be investigated and treated in the same way as neurologic TIAs with emphasis on rapid detection of extracranial arterial disease, cardiac abnormalities and haematological disorders.
Topics: Blindness; Carotid Arteries; Coronary Artery Disease; Diagnosis, Differential; Hematologic Diseases; Humans; Ischemic Attack, Transient; Retinal Vessels; Vision, Monocular
PubMed: 2261177
DOI: 10.1111/j.1442-9071.1990.tb00624.x -
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Apr 2012Complications following facial cosmetic injections have recently heightened awareness of the possibility of iatrogenic blindness. The authors conducted a systematic... (Review)
Review
BACKGROUND
Complications following facial cosmetic injections have recently heightened awareness of the possibility of iatrogenic blindness. The authors conducted a systematic review of the available literature to provide the best evidence for the prevention and treatment of this serious eye injury.
METHODS
The authors included in the study only the cases in which blindness was a direct consequence of a cosmetic injection procedure of the face.
RESULTS
Twenty-nine articles describing 32 patients were identified. In 15 patients, blindness occurred after injections of adipose tissue; in the other 17, it followed injections of various materials, including corticosteroids, paraffin, silicone oil, bovine collagen, polymethylmethacrylate, hyaluronic acid, and calcium hydroxyapatite.
CONCLUSIONS
Some precautions may minimize the risk of embolization of filler into the ophthalmic artery following facial cosmetic injections. Intravascular placement of the needle or cannula should be demonstrated by aspiration before injection and should be further prevented by application of local vasoconstrictor. Needles, syringes, and cannulas of small size should be preferred to larger ones and be replaced with blunt flexible needles and microcannulas when possible. Low-pressure injections with the release of the least amount of substance possible should be considered safer than bolus injections. The total volume of filler injected during the entire treatment session should be limited, and injections into pretraumatized tissues should be avoided. Actually, no safe, feasible, and reliable treatment exists for iatrogenic retinal embolism. Nonetheless, therapy should theoretically be directed to lowering intraocular pressure to dislodge the embolus into more peripheral vessels of the retinal circulation, increasing retinal perfusion and oxygen delivery to hypoxic tissues.
CLINICAL QUESTION/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE
Risk, V.
Topics: Blindness; Cosmetic Techniques; Face; Humans; Injections; Retinal Artery Occlusion
PubMed: 22456369
DOI: 10.1097/PRS.0b013e3182442363 -
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology Feb 2017A review appropriateness of the current definition of blindness under National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), Government of India. Online search of... (Review)
Review
A review appropriateness of the current definition of blindness under National Programme for Control of Blindness (NPCB), Government of India. Online search of peer-reviewed scientific published literature and guidelines using PubMed, the World Health Organization (WHO) IRIS, and Google Scholar with keywords, namely blindness and visual impairment, along with offline examination of reports of national and international organizations, as well as their cross-references was done until December 2016, to identify relevant documents on the definition of blindness. The evidence for the historical and currently adopted definition of blindness under the NPCB, the WHO, and other countries was reviewed. Differences in the NPCB and WHO definitions were analyzed to assess the impact on the epidemiological status of blindness and visual impairment in India. The differences in the criteria for blindness under the NPCB and the WHO definitions cause an overestimation of the prevalence of blindness in India. These variations are also associated with an over-representation of refractive errors as a cause of blindness and an under-representation of other causes under the NPCB definition. The targets for achieving elimination of blindness also become much more difficult to achieve under the NPCB definition. Ignoring differences in definitions when comparing the global and Indian prevalence of blindness will cause erroneous interpretations. We recommend that the appropriate modifications should be made in the NPCB definition of blindness to make it consistent with the WHO definition.
Topics: Blindness; Humans; India; Prevalence; Program Evaluation
PubMed: 28345562
DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_869_16