OBJECTIVE: To identify the prevalence of ophthalmic diseases seen in the emergency department of a specialized center in Brazilian Center-Western area. METHODS: This is a retrospective transverse observation study based on patients chart who were seen at Ophthalmic Reference Center (CEROF), Federal University of Goiás,Goiânia (GO) Brazil, between april, 2009 to march, 2010. Age, gender, origin, ocular and associated systemic diseases were identified. RESULTS: 2105 charts were analyzed. The age of patients ranged between 15-29 years-old (30.2%), 30-39 years-old (20.9%) and 40-49 years-old (14.9%), with a 34.3 years-old on average. Male gender were more frequent than females (64.8% vs 35.2%). The majority of patients live in Goiania (80.7%) and the remaining (19.3) came from other cities in the county area or from other states in Brazil. Ocular dust was the leading cause for medical attendance, followed by infectious conjunctivitis (23.6%), keratitis and cornea ulcer (11.3%), tumors of the eyelids or the orbit (7.2%), dry eyes (4.7%), and blepharitis (3.8%). Ocular trauma occurred in a 6.3% of patients. CONCLUSION: Ocular diseases in patients presenting at the emergency department of an ophthalmic reference center in the Center-Western area have a similar prevalence as in other centers in Brazil. Most of them can be treated in common health facilities and don't need to be referred to specialized centers. These centers should deal with more complex problems, saving costs and time.
Eyes diseases; Conjunctivitis; Eye injuries; Emergencies; Prevalence
