Distribution of phthisis bulbi and status of fellow eyes at a tertiary eye-care centre in Nigeria: a ten-year review

BACKGROUND: Phthisis bulbi is an irreversible cause of visual loss with insufficient evidence about its aetiology and status of patients' fellow eyes. OBJECTIVES: To identify the distribution of patients with phthisis bulbi and determine the status of their fellow eyes at Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. METHODS: We analysed data retrospectively retrieved from medical records of patients diagnosed with phthisis bulbi at initial clinic visit from January 2008 to December 2017. Information abstracted included biodata, laterality of phthisical eye, duration and aetiology of phthisis bulbi, visual acuity, and morbidities present in fellow eyes. RESULTS: Seventy-nine patients presented with unilateral phthisis bulbi. The mean age was 51±21.2 years and forty (50.6%) were males. The commonest aetiologies of phthisis bulbi were trauma 37 (46.8%), infection 17 (21.5%) and uveitis/inflammation 11 (13.9%). Seventy (88.6%) patients had morbidities in their fellow eye such as glaucoma 26 (32.9%), refractive errors 23 (29.1%) and cataract 22 (27.9%). Forty (50.6%) patients were either visually impaired or blind in their fellow eye (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: The commonest cause of phthisis bulbi was trauma. Approximately nine out of ten patients had ocular morbidities in their fellow eye. A thorough follow-up of patients with phthisis bulbi is recommended.