RESUMEN
Background: Red reflex screening is the primary but unheeded test for the detection of vision- and life-threatening eye conditions.
Aims: To evaluate the red reflex of newborns, percentage of ocular diseases resulting in red reflex abnormality, and their relation with consanguinity in Southeast Turkey.
Methods: Newborns [n = 1358] were examined with pencil light and direct ophthalmoscopy.
Results: Eight hundred of these newborns were hospitalized in a rooming-in unit. [RIU] and 558 were in the neonatal intensive care service [NICS]. In the RIU there were 7 [0.88%] newborns with abnormal red reflex and in the NICS there were 14 [2.51%]. Sensitivity of pencil light examination was 71.4%. Studies from the Middle East have shown potential recessive genetic causes of common paediatric ocular conditions. In our study, consanguineous marriage was found to have a significant association with red reflex abnormality [P = 0.017].
Conclusions: Red reflex screening test is important in the early diagnosis of vision- and life-threatening eye disorders in Southeast Turkey where consanguinity is common