PREVALENCE OF OCULAR MANIFESTATIONS IN PATIENTS HOSPITALIZED WITH DENGUE FEVER

AIM: To study the prevalence of ocular manifestations in seropositive dengue patients. METHODS: Cross sectional observational study was done at R.L. JALAPPA hospital. IgM positive dengue cases were selected over 6 week period of a dengue epidemic and ocular examination was carried out. RESULTS: A total of 142 eyes of 71 patients were examined in which 40(56.3%) were males and 31(43.6%) females. Age of patients ranged from 3 to 60 years (mean-24 years). 40 eyes (28.5%) of 21 patients had ocular manifestations. 21 eyes (52.5%) had anterior segment findings in form of petechial and subconjunctival hemorrhages. 19 eyes (47.5%) had posterior segment findings like cotton wool spots, dot and blot hemorrhages, macular edema, hyperemic disc and optic neuritis. 17 patients with platelet count of <1, 00, 000/µl had ocular manifestations. P value was not significant because of limited subjects. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of ocular manifestations in patients of dengue in our setup was 28.1%. Ocular manifestations were more common in patients with decreased platelet count and it's advisable for a detailed ocular examination in patients with