[Bilateral blindness and visual impairment in children aged 0-5 years in the women's and children's hospital of Yaounde].

Abstract

A retrospective study covering the period from March 2002 to December 2008 at the Yaounde Women's and Children's Hospital sought to identify the causes of blindness and severe visual impairment in children younger than 5 years old. Of the 55 cases recorded (prevalence: 2.4%), 33 patients were boys and 22 girls. Total blindness were found among 69% of the group, while 31% had severe visually impairment. The most frequent anatomical sites of the disease leading to blindness and severe visual impairment were the lens (27.3%), the visual cortex (25.5%) and the retina (14.5 %). As the initial prognosis is severe, close collaboration between all those responsible for these children must be set up to enable early specialised management and education.