Ocular rosacea

Abstract

Purpose: To determine the prevalence of ocular rosacea in the "Dr. Luis Sánchez Bulnes" Hospital of the Asociación Para Evitar la Ceguera en México (APEC), and to evaluate the frequency of signs and treatment most used. Design: A retrospective, transversal and descriptive study. A longitudinal phase was included to evaluate visual acuity Methods: A retrospective review of the clinical records of patients with ocular rosacea from the "Dr. Luis Sánchez Bulnes" Hospital APEC from January 1994 to June 2001, were included. The variables captured included: gender, age, chief complain, initial and final best corrected visual acuity, clinical signs and treatment. Results: From a total of 333,752 clinical records in the hospital data base 50 had the diagnosis of ocular rosacea. Sixty eight percent were female and 32% male. It was more frequent in 46 years old or older. The chief complain was foreign body sensation (42%), followed by itching (24%), red eye (14%), blurred vision (12%) and tearing (8%). Fifty eight percent of subjects had a initial visual acuity from count fingers at 4 m to 4/10. Best corrected visual acuity improved in 70% of cases, 80% had corneal peripheral vascularization, 80% presented corneal leucoma, 92% had cutaneous involvement characterized by telangiectasias, diffuse thickness of the eye lid and malar erythema, 94% presented meibomianitis and lacrimal film instability, 94% received topical and 80% systemic treatment, being the tetracyclines the most used, 34% of subjects had anti-inflammatory treatment, steroids were more frequently prescribed. Conclusions: Ocular rosacea had a prevalence of 0,015% in the "Dr. Luis Sánchez Bulnes" Hospital. The most frequent chief complain was foreign body sensation; the clinical signs most frequently found were meibomianitis, peripheral corneal vascularization, peripheral corneal leucoma and cutaneous involvement. Tetracyclines were the drugs most frequently used.