Incidence of refractive errors in victims of chemical weapons as a delayed effect

Aims. During the recent years many victims of chemical weapons (VCW) express the appearance of some degree of refractive errors, which none of them felt this before and assume it persumably as a long -term (delayed) effect of sulfur mustard exposure and no related study has been found. Myopia, hyperopia and astigmatism are the refractive errors of the eye. Prevalence of these errors depends on several factors. These factors include: genetics, age, job, working in closed distance and also some geographical factors. The effect of sulfur mustard on the eye could be very complexed and related to intensity of injury. Cornea is the main target in the eye for sulfur mustard. These effects are produced in early stages of contact. The delayed effects will be discussed in this study Methods. In this study, refractive errors were accounted as one of delayed effects of sulfur mustard in VCW. 2252 eyes of VCW and 2228 eyes of normal cases as control were chosen. Both groups went through an optometric and ophthalmic examination. The refractive errors were measured by autorefractometer (Topcon RM 2300). Results were analyzed using student T-test. The significant level was P<0.05. Results and Conclusion. 1- prevalance of refractive error in VCW group was higher than the control group. 2- Astigmatism was the main refractive error in VCW groups, and it’s prevalence was higher than the control group. 3- The type of astigmatism that mentioned above was mostly Against the Rule and Oblique astigmatism. However, with the rule astigmatism had also a significant prevalence. 4- Prevalance of myopic astigmatism in VCW groups was also higher than the other type of astigmatisms. More studies may be needed to be carried out to reach to conclusive result.