Clinical profile and visual outcome of traumatic paediatric cataract in suburban Malaysia: a ten-year experience

INTRODUCTION Available data on traumatic cataract in Asian children is primarily confined to South Asian countries. We aimed to describe the demographics, nature of injury and visual outcomes of Malaysian children with traumatic cataract from a suburban area, and discuss the literature on Asian children with this condition. METHODS We conducted a retrospective study of 29 children below 17 years of age who were diagnosed with traumatic paediatric cataract and who attended Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia, between January 2000 and December 2010. Follow-up periods ranged from 12 to 120 months. Demographic data, clinical features, mechanism and extent of injury, and final visual outcome were recorded. RESULTS The study population was predominantly male. The right eye was injured in 62.07% of patients. A majority of patients had penetrating injuries, with the most common cause being injury by an organic foreign body (24.14%). Presenting visual acuity worse than 6/60 was observed in 68.97% of patients. Only 34.48% of patients had a final corrected visual acuity of 6/12 and better. 55.18% of patients were operated on within less than one month of their injuries. A majority of children sustained concurrent injuries to the anterior segment structures. Corneal opacity and amblyopia were the most common causes of poor final visual acuity. CONCLUSION Health education and awareness are essential tools that can prevent avoidable blindness due to traumatic cataract in the paediatric population. The importance of rehabilitation programmes for these patients should be emphasised.