title: Morbidity of malignant tumours with ocular location in the Bulgarian district of Plovdiv.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study the actual and standardized morbidity of malignant tumours with ocular location (per 100,000 inhabitants) over a period of ten years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective evaluation of the registers of the Plovdiv District Oncology Centre and the Department of Ophthalmology in the Medical University. It includes 698 patients grouped according to the international Classification of Diseases. We used the method of standardization (world standard).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The highest is the actual and standardized morbidity of carcinoma of the eyelid, followed by eyeball tumours and the lowest is malignant melanoma of the eyelids. The standardized morbidity of eyelid carcinoma is significantly higher for males and the rural population. There is no significant difference between epi- and intrabulbar morbidity (from the group of the tumours affecting the eyeball). The rural population suffers more from epibulbar and the urban population from intrabulbar malignant tumours.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The morbidity of malignant tumours of the eyes is relatively low but it has clinical importance because these tumors may lead to blindness and death.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
authors.forename: B K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Atanassova-Chilova
mesh_terms: D002031:Bulgaria / Q000453:epidemiology; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D005142:Eyelid Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009017:Morbidity; D009918:Orbital Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population