Muhammad Zubair Masud, Nuzhat Rahil, Rahil Malik.
Vernal Kerato-conjunctivitis, Clinical & Demographic Patterns.
Ophthalmol Update Jan ;15(3):343-6.

Objective: To study the demographic and clinical profile of patients with vernal kerato-conjunctivitis (VKC) presenting at Naseer Teaching Hospital. Material and Methods: This was a hospital based descriptive case series study done at Department of Ophthalmology, Naseer Teaching Hospital from January 2014 to December 2014. Total 215 patients presenting with vernal keratoconjunctivitis at Eye Department, Naseer Teaching Hospital were included in the study in which consecutive (non-probability) sampling technique was used. A thorough history and ocular examination was performed in each patient gender distribution and clinical pattern of the disease was evaluated. Results: Mean age at presentation was 11 years. Majority of the patients had palpebral variety (43%), followed by mixed (38%) and only limbal variety was seen in (17%) of patients. Chronic perennial disease was seen in 23% patients. Personal or family history of allergies was noted in 4% patients. Persistent disease beyond 20 years of age was found in 7% patients. VKC-related complications such as corneal scarring were seen in (5%), shield ulcer (3%), and keratoconus in (4%), respectively. Conclusion: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis is a commonly occurring chronic condition and an important public health problem. Clinical pattern of VKC seen in the tropical climate of Peshawar is essentially similar to that seen in other tropical countries. Chronic perennial disease, with exacerbations in summer, low association with atopy, and higher propensity for disease and treatment related complications were important distinct features which were noted.

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