Abstract

Purpose: To determine the spectrum of ocular manifestations of vitamin-D deficiency/insufficiency, its effects on vision and the levels at which they occur.

Materials and Methods: A prospective study done in concurrence with the department of endocrinology over a period of 1 year on 150 patients who had been referred to the ophthalmology clinic for screening and treatment of ocular complaints.

Results: Dry eye disease(DED) was found in 102 patients (78%), followed by glaucoma in 33 (27%) patients, diabetic retinopathy in 30 (22%), myopia as the common refractive error in 25 patients (16.7%), hypertensive retinopathy in 13 out of 150 (8.7%) and age related macular degeneration(ARMD) in 6 patients (4%).

Among the various ocular features, keratoconjunctivitis sicca was the most common manifestation across all age groups with vitamin-D deficiency; followed by glaucoma.

In those with dry eye, decreased TBUT occurred in 30 patients and decreased Schirmer’s in 72 patients. This was found to be statistically significant with a p-value of 0.381. Among those with glaucoma, 4 (2.7%) were disc suspects, 2 (1.3%) had primary angle closure and 13 (8.3%) patients had primary open angle glaucoma and 11 had ocular hypertension. The incidence of glaucoma was higher in women with deficiency and this was found to be statistically significant with p = 0.03. Myopia in 16.7% and diabetic retinopathy in 22% were other features. Visual loss and visual field defects occurred predominantly in patients with glaucoma due to optic nerve head changes.

Conclusion: Vitamin-D levels and genetic variations influence the development of a wide range of ocular pathologies, such as myopia, age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma and uveitis with its anti-angiogenic, anti-inflammatory and anti-fibrotic properties. Many tissues in the eye activate and respond to vitamin-D, suggesting that vitamin-D is a biologically relevant entity to study throughout the eye.

Keywords: 25-Hydroxy Vitamin-D3; Intraocular Pressure; Tear Breakup Time; Dry Eye Disease; Glaucoma

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Citation

Citation: Radha Annamalai., et al. “Ocular Morbidity, Clinical Profile and Visual Loss in Vitamin-D Deficiency; A Systemic Correlation”. Acta Scientific Ophthalmology 3.5 (2020): 77-82.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2020 Pallavi Joshi., et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.