Retinal Involvements Secondary to Parasitic Infections in Iran

Abstract

Objective Little is discussed about retinal changes due to intestinal parasitic infections in humans worldwide. Design: We decided to investigate the presence of retinal changes in cases with intestinal parasitic infections in case and control groups. 75 cases that were infected with at least one parasitic infection and 75 healthy controls were chosen.Methods In this study, we investigated the presence of retinal change in people with intestinal parasitic infections. All infected and healthy cases underwent an ophthalmologic exam to discover retinal salt and pepper lesions.Results Of 75 infected cases, 4 cases had retinal salt and pepper lesions. All of these cases were infected with the Giardia lamblia parasite. Two cases were of school age and two stayed-home mothers. The cases were examined after proper anti-parasite treatment and the retinal lesions were cured in only one of four cases.Conclusions Considering this point that parasitic infections are more common in children who somehow are not able to explain their vision problems, maybe it's time to pay special attention to parasitic infections in patients, especially children.