Aphakia: A 5-Year review at Barau Dikko Teaching Hospital, Kaduna, North-west Nigeria

Aim: To describe the causes, visual potential and the proportion of aphakics that can be prevented from being blind in BDTH, Kaduna. Method: A retrospective review, the records of all aphakics that had refraction from January 2011 and December 2015 was retrieved from the refraction unit of our hospital. Patient's biodata, presenting visual acuity, corrected visual acuity, spherical correction and diagnosis were extracted and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Outcome Measures: Presenting visual acuity, corrected Visual acuity and spherical correction. Results: In 5 years, 56 eyes of 42 patients were refracted, with a mean age of 68.9years, 24 (54.8%) were males and 19 (42.2%) were females. Aphakia was caused by surgery in 29 (51.8%), couching in 23 (41.1%) and trauma in 4 (7.1%). Most eyes were corrected with +10D lens and aphakic spectacles could prevent 45 (83.4%) eyes from blindness. Visual outcome depended on the aetiologic cause of aphakia. Conclusion: There are still a few patients blind from aphakia mainly following cataract surgery. Adequate refraction and provision of spectacles can prevent blindness in a large proportion.