Purpose
To describe epidemiology, causes, treatments and outcomes of ocular injuries in adults aged 17 to 60 in southern Finland.
Methods
All new ocular trauma patients admitted to the Helsinki ...University Eye Hospital (HUEH), during 1 year in 2011–2012. The data were from hospital records and prospectively from patient questionnaires. The follow‐up time was 3 months.
Results
The incidence for ocular injury was 88/100 000/year. From 831 trauma patients, 80% were men, 34% were work‐related injuries, and 11% were assaults. Most of the injuries were minor traumas (54%). Contusions (22.5%) and chemical injuries and burns (13%) were common. Fractures (5%), lid wounds (3%), open globe injuries (OGI, 2%) and optic nerve injuries (0.5%) were rare. The main causes of ocular injury were superficial foreign bodies (33%), chemicals (13%), body parts (13%) and sports equipment (10%). The most dangerous objects were needles, stones, pellet guns, tools and guns. No patient with OGI used protective eyewear. All OGI and most of contusions needed a lifelong follow‐up. Permanent impairment (73 patients, 9%) was caused most often by body parts, sports equipment and work tools.
Conclusion
A typical ocular trauma patient was a man aged 31–45 with a minor trauma caused by a foreign body at work and a final visual acuity of 20/20. Most common serious injuries were contusion, OGI or fracture at home or at work and were caused by a body part, sport equipment or work tool. Factors causing common and serious eye injuries provide the targets for protective measures.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
We report the epidemiology, findings, treatment, long‐term outcome and use of resources for eye injuries caused by toy guns in southern Finland.
Methods
All new patients injured by toy guns ...in one year (2011–2012) and treated at Helsinki University Eye Hospital were included. Follow‐ups occurred at 3 months and 5 years.
Results
Toy guns caused 15 eye traumas (1% of all eye traumas). Most patients were male (n = 14) and children aged under 16 years (n = 13). Toy guns involved were airsoft guns (n = 12), pea shooters (n = 2) and paintball (n = 1). Eleven patients did not use protective eyewear, and four patients discontinued their use during the game. Seven patients were not active participants in the game. Blunt ocular trauma was the primary diagnosis in 13 patients and corneal abrasion in two. Seven patients had retinal findings. In the 5‐year follow‐up, eight of 15 patients had abnormal ocular findings: three had artificial intraocular lens, two iridodialysis, and one each retinal plomb, mydriasis or iris tear. None had glaucoma. Seven patients had permanent subjective impairment due to pain, lowered visual acuity, blur or difficulty in focusing. Four patients needed seven operations. The number of outpatient visits was 90. One patient required hospitalization.
Conclusion
Toy guns cause serious eye traumas. No glaucoma was found. Proper use of toy guns and protective eyewear during the whole game should be emphasized to both players and bystanders. We recommend that in Finland the selling of airsoft guns be placed under the Firearms Act to make the hazards of airsoft guns known.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
To describe epidemiology, causes, treatments and outcomes of all ocular injuries in southern Finland among people aged 61 and older.
Methods
All new ocular trauma patients, admitted to the ...Helsinki University Eye Hospital, during 1 year in 2011–2012. The data were from hospital records and prospectively from patient questionnaires. The follow‐up time was 3 months.
Results
The incidence for ocular injuries among the elderly was 38/100 000/year. From 118 patients 69% were men. The mean age was 70.9 years old (median 67). The hospitalization rate was 14%. Injury types were minor traumas (48%), contusions (22%), chemical injuries (10%), eyelid wounds (8%), open globe injuries (OGI; 7%) and orbital fractures (5%). The injuries occurred at home (58%), institutions (12%) and in other public places (12%). The main causes of ocular injury were falls (22%), sticks (19%), superficial foreign bodies (18%) and chemicals (12%). All OGI and 88% of contusions needed a lifelong follow‐up. A permanent visual or functional impairment occurred in 15 (13%) patients. Of these 53% were OGI, 40% contusions and 7% chemical injuries. The causes of permanent injuries were falls (seven cases, 47%), work tools, sports equipment, sticks, chemicals and eyeglasses. The incidence for legal blindness was 2.3/100 000.
Conclusion
Minor trauma was the most frequent type, and home was the location of the most occurred eye injuries. Falls were the most frequent and serious cause, but behavioural causes were not significant. Preventive measures should be directed towards the main identified causes and risk factors of the eye injuries in the elderly.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Objective
To estimate resource use and the costs of eye injuries in 2011–2012 in the Helsinki University Eye Hospital (HUEH), which covers 1.6 million people in Southern Finland.
Methods
This ...population-based study consisted of all new patients (1,151) with eye injuries in one year. The data were from hospital records, internal HUEH accountancy, and prospectively from questionnaires. The costs of direct health care, transportation, and lost productivity were obtained and estimated for the follow-up period of three months. The estimated future costs were discussed.
Results
During the follow-up, the total cost was 2,899,000 Euros (EUR) (= EUR 1,870,300/one million population), including lost productivity (EUR 1,415,000), direct health care (EUR 1,244,000), and transportation (EUR 240,000). The resources used included 6,902 days of lost productivity, 2,436 admissions and transportations, 314 minor procedures, 313 inpatient days, 248 major surgeries, and 86 radiological images. One open globe injury was the costliest (EUR 13,420/patient), but contusions had the highest overall cost (EUR 1,019,500), due to their high occurrence and number of follow-ups.
Conclusions
Eye injuries cause a major burden through high costs of direct health care and lost productivity: the imminent costs were EUR 1,870,000/one million population, and the future costs were estimated to EUR 3,741,400/one million population. Prevention remains the main factor to consider for better cost-efficiency.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Purpose
To report clinical features and potential disease markers of inherited retinal dystrophy (IRD) caused by the biallelic c.148delG variant in the tubby‐like protein 1 (TULP1) gene.
Methods
A ...retrospective observational study of 16 IRD patients carrying a homozygous pathogenic TULP1 c.148delG variant. Clinical data including fundus spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography (SD‐OCT) were assessed. A meta‐analysis of visual acuity of previously reported other pathogenic TULP1 variants was performed for reference.
Results
The biallelic TULP1 variant c.148delG was associated with infantile and early childhood onset IRD. Retinal ophthalmoscopy was primarily normal converting to peripheral pigmentary retinopathy and maculopathy characterized by progressive extra‐foveal loss of the ellipsoid zone (EZ), the outer plexiform layer (OPL), and the outer nuclear layer (ONL) bands in the SD‐OCT images. The horizontal width of the foveal EZ showed significant regression with the best‐corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the eye (p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.541, F = 26.0), the age of the patient (p < 0.0001, R2 = 0.433, F = 16.8), and mild correlation with the foveal OPL‐ONL thickness (p = 0.014, R2 = 0.245, F = 7.2). Modelling of the BCVA data suggested a mean annual loss of logMAR 0.027. The level of visual loss was similar to that previously reported in patients carrying other truncating TULP1 variants.
Conclusions
This study describes the progression of TULP1 IRD suggesting a potential time window for therapeutic interventions. The width of the foveal EZ and the thickness of the foveal OPL‐ONL layers could serve as biomarkers of the disease stage.
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DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
To quantify and characterize the epidemiology, treatments, long-term outcome, and use of resources for work tool-related eye injuries and their severity.
Methods
We included all new patients ...with a work tool-related eye injury treated at the Helsinki University Eye Hospital in 1 year. The data were from hospital records, examinations, and patient questionnaires. The follow-ups were at 3 months and 6 years.
Results
Work tools caused 3% (37/1151) of all eye injuries. The mean age was 37 and 84% were men. Most injuries (84%) occurred at work (17) or at home (15). There were 14 minor injuries, 12 contusions, 9 open globe injuries (OGI), and 2 eyelid wounds. The annual incidence of work tool-related eye injuries was 2.4/100,000 and hospitalization 0.6/100,000. At 6-year follow-up, we re-examined 18 patients and 17 were interviewed by phone. Four patients were blinded. We recorded 690 sick leave days and 43 major operations. No traumatic glaucoma was diagnosed. Fifteen patients needed lifelong follow-up. Permanent impairment occurred in 30% (11) of work tool-related eye injuries, from whom, nine were caused by manual tools. Work tools comprised 10% of the permanently impaired, but 2.5% of the non-permanently impaired cases among all eye injuries (1151).
Conclusion
The proportional difference between the permanently impaired and the non-permanently impaired was higher in work tool-related eye injuries than other causes reported in previous Helsinki Ocular Trauma Studies. High-risk injuries were mainly caused by manual tools and nails and resulted in OGI.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OBVAL, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Eye injuries can cause decreased vision or even blindness, and predispose to future complications. Wood as an independent cause of eye injuries has infrequently been the focus of the studies. The aim ...of this study is to report the current population-based epidemiology, treatment, use of resources and outcomes of eye injuries caused by sticks, branches, and other wooden projectiles in Finland.
The study included all patients injured by wooden projectiles with ocular or orbital traumas over a 1-y period. Patients were treated at the Helsinki University eye hospital, which covers a population of 1.5 million. The follow-up time was 3 mo.
Wooden projectiles caused 67 eye injuries and compromised 6% of all eye traumas during 1 y. Of the patients, males predominated (76%) and 22% were children under 17 y. Injury was most likely in spring (36%) and in males aged 51 to 67 y. The most common activity to cause injury was playing (27%), but in relation to time spent in each activity, the highest risk for eye injury was in gardening. Diagnoses were mild superficial trauma (54%), blunt ocular trauma (37%), eyelid wound (4%), orbital fracture (3%), and open globe trauma (1%). Permanent disability was estimated for 10% and a need for lifelong follow-up was estimated for 37%. Eleven patients needed major surgeries.
Wooden projectiles often cause serious eye injuries, permanent disability, and a need for lifelong follow-up. Caution is required to protect the eyes when playing with sticks and during gardening, forest work, and woodwork.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Objective: We studied the correlation between airbag deployment and eye injuries using 2 different data sets.
Methods: The registry of the Finnish Road Accident (FRA) Investigation Teams was analyzed ...to study severe head- and eyewear-related injuries. All fatal passenger car or van accidents that occurred during the years 2009-2012 (4 years) were included (n = 734). Cases in which the driver's front airbag was deployed were subjected to analysis (n = 409). To determine the proportion of minor, potentially airbag-related eye injuries, the results were compared to the data for all new eye injury patients (n = 1,151) recorded at the Emergency Clinic of the Helsinki University Eye Hospital (HUEH) during one year, from May 1, 2011, to April 30, 2012.
Results: In the FRA data set, the unbelted drivers showed a significantly higher risk of death (odds ratio OR = 5.89, 95% confidence interval CI, 3.33-10.9, P = 2.6E-12) or of sustaining head injuries (OR = 2.50, 95% CI, 1.59-3.97, P = 3.8E-5). Only 4 of the 1,151 HUEH patients were involved in a passenger car accident. In one of the crashes, the airbag operated, and the belted driver received 2 sutured eye lid wounds and showed conjunctival sugillation. No permanent eye injuries were recorded during the follow-up. The calculated annual airbag-related eye injury incidence was less than 1/1,000,000 people, 4/100,000 accidents, and 4/10,000 injured occupants.
Conclusions: Airbag-related eye injuries occurred very rarely in car accidents in cases where the occupant survived and the restraint system was appropriately used. Spectacle use did not appear to increase the risk of eye injury in restrained occupants.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
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