A Study on the Incidence of the Ocular Complications of Leprosy in Resttlement Villages

Chang, In Seok; Lee, Ho Sung

Abstract

Screening ocular examinations were performed in 509 leprosy patients(84%) among 605 lepers, who resided in 8 resettlement villages of Kyungpook Province f rom Oct. till Dec., 1988. The results were as follows: 1. Of the 496 patients studied, excluding the 13 patients who did not check visual acuity, 241 were males(48.6%), and 255 were females(51.4%). The patients' ages were varied from 26 to 80 years old and the peak age group was from 61 to 70 years old, which comprised of 160 patients(32.3%) among 496 patients. 2. The types of leprosy were L type in 379(76%), T type in 103(21%), B type in 5(1%), and I type in 9 patients(2%). 3. Among 992 eyes, 59 eyes were blind states(visual acuity, below 0.02) and 12 patients(2.4%) were binocular blind states. The numbers of blind eyes were the most from 71 to 80 years old as 25 eyes. 4. The ocular complications in leprosy, in order of frequency, were chronic anterior uveitis(23.8%), lagophthalmos(21.8%), corneal disease(20.8%), aphakia(5.2%), trichiasis(4.6%), complicated cataract(4.6%), phthisis bulbi(1.3%), and anophthalmos(0.5%). 5. Surgical treatment was necessary in 48 patients(9.7%) with lagophthalmos, and in 16 patients(3.2%) with cataract.