Abstract

Background and objectives: To determine the causes of irreversible unilateral or bilateral blindness in the Saudi population of the eastern province of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Methods: This observational, exploratory cross-sectional study evaluated patients with irreversible unilateral or bilateral blindness using a nonprobability sampling technique, which was conducted in a major referral hospital of the eastern province in Dammam city. Saudi patients were enrolled if they had < 0.05 (3/60 Snellen acuity) vision in the better eye after correction bilaterally, or visual field of 10–15° around fixation in the better eye. The same was done in unilaterally blind eye patients. The primary investigator excluded treatable cases of blindness, such as refractive error and cataract and corneal pathology occurring after 5 years of age, in addition to keratoconus, recent vitreous hemorrhage (< 6-month duration), and operable retinal detachment.
Results: A convenient sample of one hundred consecutive unilaterally or bilaterally blind patients comprised the study sample. The mean age of the study sample was 54 ± 2.26 years. The male: female ratio was 4:5. The most common cause of blindness in an eye(s) was glaucoma. Seventy-eighty patients had unilateral blindness. Deep amblyopia (11) turned out to be almost the second most common cause of unilateral blindness occurring mainly in the left eye in majority of the patients (10/11).
Conclusion: Glaucoma is the most common cause of irreversible blindness in one or both the eyes. Although underestimated (due to old corneal scarring and other causes), amblyopia is likely to be the second most common cause of blindness in an eye in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Deep amblyopia occurred more frequently in the left eye.

Keywords: Unilateral blindness, bilateral blindness, irreversible blindness, glaucoma, amblyopia.