Terror-related open-globe injuries: a 10-year review.
OBJECTIVE
To describe mechanisms and injury characteristics influencing visual outcomes in eyes with open-globe injuries sustained in terrorist acts.


METHODS
Retrospective, interventional case series.


METHODS
The charts of 260 consecutive patients (285 eyes) who had open-globe injury caused by terrorist attack and admitted to the tertiary referral center for military in Turkey between March 1991 and April 2001 were reviewed, and 50 patients (56 eyes) with complete data were evaluated for predicting visual outcome according to the Ocular Trauma Classification System (OTCS).


RESULTS
The mean age of patients was 22.6 years, and the mean follow-up was 5.8 months. Seventeen patients (6.54%) had traumatic amputation in the extremities. Forty-eight eyes (16.84%) were enucleated. Type A, grade V, zone III, and RAPD-positive injuries were associated with unfavorable visual outcome. Land mine and hand grenade injuries had the worst outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
In terror-related open-globe injuries, unusual presentations and devastating visual results are common, and OTCS seems to predict visual outcomes.
Sobaci
Güngör
G
Ophthalmology Department, GATA Gülhane Military Medical Academy and Medical School, 06018 Etlik, Ankara, Turkey. gsobaci@gata.edu.tr
Akýn
Tŭorul
T
Mutlu
F Mehmet
FM
Karagül
Suat
S
Bayraktar
Mehmet Z
MZ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001753:Blast Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D002648:Child; D015353:Eye Enucleation; D017234:Eye Evisceration; D015807:Eye Injuries, Penetrating / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D023481:Terrorism / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology; D014792:Visual Acuity; D014948:Wounds, Gunshot / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery