2Uz. Dr., Van Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Göz Hastalıkları, İzmir, Türki
3Uz. Dr., Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi, Göz Hastalıkları, İzmir, Türkiye
4Doç. Dr., İzmir Bozyaka Eğitim Arastırma Hastanesi, Göz Hastalıkları, izmir, Türkiye Purpose: To demonstrate fundus lesions affecting asymptomatic individuals for a group that includes subjects between 12 and 75 years of age who presented for a routine eye examination only based on refractive symptoms.
Materials and Methods: 1654 subjects who applied to our ophthalmology outpatient clinic with a purely refractive complaint without the knowledge of any preexisting ocular and systemic illness enrolled in the study. Fundus fi ndings were noted and subjects were divided into 4 age strata including younger than age 20, between 21 and 40, between 41 and 60 and older than age 60. The distribution of fundus fi ndings were analyzed according to these age groups.
Results: Asymptomatic fundus fi ndings were detected in 84 patients (5.1%). The most common diagnosis was diabetic retinopathy. The prevalence of these conditions increased with increasing subject age. The percentage was 0.8% in subjects younger than 20 years and it was 11.2% in subjects older than 60 years.
Conclusions: We believe that our study support the signifi cance of regular fundus examinations, especially in elderly patients. Therefore, a routine dilated fundus examination should be an integral part of the routine eye examination and it should be performed at specifi c time intervals in certain age groups in developing countries.
Keywords : Asymptomatic retinal conditions, diabetic retinopathy, dilated fundus examination, elderly patients, routine eye examination