Central Retinal Artery Occlusion and Its Visual Prognosis In An African Population-Analytical Comparative Retrospective Study
Introduction: Central Retinal Artery Occlusion (CRAO) is a blinding severe ophthalmic emergency but more serious still is its indirect replica of possible mortality in affected individuals. Aim: To assess visual prognosis of large series of patients after being diagnosed with CRAO. Materials and Methods: Records of patients who had been managed for CRAO were reviewed retrospectively for safety, complication, visual outcome and prognosis. Patients’ demographic data, indications of treatment and length of follow up were collected and analysed using Chi square and paired t-tests. Results: A total of 40 eyes of 40 patients (15 females and 25 males) were identified. Mean age at diagnosis was 70.4 +3.5 (range68-75 years) with minimum follow up period of 5 years (range 5 – 8).Visual acuities were poor in all eyes 40 (100%). Ten patients (25%) died from various cardiovascular diseases.
