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CONTEXT: This study aimed to know the clinical and demographic profile of pediatric cataracts in Oman. AIMS: The aim of this study was to describe the demographic and clinical profile of pediatric cataracts in a tertiary care hospital, Oman. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: This was a hospital-based, retrospective observational study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: A retrospective cross-sectional study of all Omani children presented to ophthalmology outpatient at a tertiary hospital, between January 2012 and December 2016. All patients aged <18 years presented with lens opacity were included in the study. Traumatic cataract cases were excluded from the study. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: SPSS version 22.0 International Business Machines, (Armonk, New York, Unites States of America, dated 8/13/13) used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Among 379 eyes of 239 patients, 58.6% (140 patients) had bilateral cataracts. Male-to-female ratio was 1.38:1. We arrived at prevalence of 4.32 with 95% confidence interval (3.85, 4.77) of congenital cataract cases/10,000 Omani Children. Most patients (54%) were from either Muscat (28.9%) or A'Sharqiyah (25.1%). The median age of cataracts first noticed by parents was 3 months and the median age of presentation to the eye care unit was 15 months. Patients with positive family history significantly (P = 0.007) presented with bilateral cataracts (75%). About 22.2% of the patients had associated systemic diseases. Among those with systemic association, 77.4% of cases had bilateral cataracts. About 35.4% of eyes had another ocular association. The most common ocular association was squint (11.1%). The most common cataract morphologies at presentation were 20.1% presenting with total lens opacities and 19.8% with posterior subcapsular/posterior lenticonus. CONCLUSIONS: A higher demographic distribution of pediatric cataracts was found in Muscat governorate. There was a significant median delay in presentation to the pediatric ophthalmology clinic by 12 months since lens opacity was first noticed by parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Early detection of sight-threatening disorders by technological applications like teleophthalmology and prompt treatment can help decrease visual impairment. This study evaluated the role of teleophthalmology in underserved rural areas along with cost-saving estimates for the end user. Methods: A prospective, observational, cross-sectional hospital-based study was conducted over 3 months. First 1000 teleconsultations were included. None of the patients denied providing informed consent. The patients were consulted at the eight vision centers and three satellite centers of the hospital in the nearby rural and tribal regions closer to their residential places. These vision and satellite centers were connected to the base hospital like a hub and spoke model with a teleophthalmology network. Results: Cataract (n = 301, 30.1%) and refractive error (n = 290, 29%) were the most common diagnosis. 42.1% of patients were referred to base hospital for further evaluation. Thus, a total of 57.9% of patients were not required to visit the base hospital for initial consultation, saving time and money. Furthermore, 15.1% of patients were provided medical treatment at the vision center and satellite center, which helped in making teleophthalmology cost-saving for the patients. An average of Rs. 621/- were saved per patient for the community in our study. Conclusion: Networked teleophthalmology model can be an affordable and feasible tool for providing eye care delivery services in rural and tribal regions of Gujarat and the whole country, especially for the end user. Thus, it may be a workable model in ophthalmology practice with substantial cost saving to the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]