Causes of Visual Impairment and Blindness in Children Aged 0 to 15 Years Old at the Application Center for the Specialized Studies Diploma in Ophthalmology (CADES/O) at the Donka National Hospital in Conakry, Guinea

Introduction: Visual impairments and blindness are conditions in which visual acuity is less than 3/10. Several conditions may be involved in their occurrence in children in developing countries where they pose a public health problem due to the burden they place on society. Conditions responsible for visual impairment or blindness in children are very common in CADES/O in current practice despite the paucity of data on them. Our study aimed to determine the main causes of visual impairment and blindness in children in Cades/o. Methodology: This was a retrospective, cross-sectional, descriptive study. Result : We carried out 7281 consultations including 1200 children or 16.48%. The male sex was the most frequent with 58.83%, giving a sex ratio of 1.43 M/F. The age groups 3-5 years 21.67% and 0-2 years 21.58% were the most represented. Tropical endemic limbo-conjunctivitis (LCET) 26.17% and other forms of conjunctivitis 25.5% were the main diagnoses retained followed by ametropia 15.66% and trauma sequelae 12.17%. Trauma sequelae were by far the most found causes of visual impairment and blindness with 36.94% of cases, followed by uncorrected ametropia in 23.42% of cases. Trauma sequelae followed by uncorrected ametropia were the main causes of visual impairment. Trauma sequelae followed by lens pathologies were the most common causes of blindness.