title: Ocular diseases and nonbattle injuries seen at a tertiary care medical center during the Global War on Terrorism.
abstract: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 107 U.S. military personnel referred to the Walter Reed Army Medical Center ophthalmology service with eye diseases and nonbattle injuries diagnosed during Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Ocular diseases and nonbattle injuries ranged from minor to vision-threatening, represented a broad variety of conditions, and required the expertise of a number of ophthalmic subspecialists. The most common diagnoses were uveitis (13.1%), retinal detachment (11.2%), infectious keratitis (4.7%), and choroidal neovascularization (4.7%). Eighty-four patients (78.5%) met Army retention standards and were returned to duty. Twenty patients (18.7%) were referred to a medical evaluation board, seven (6.5%) of whom failed to meet retention standards for eye and vision; the retention status of three patients (2.8%) remains to be determined.
authors.affiliation: Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, DC 20307, USA.
authors.forename: Maximilian
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Psolka
authors.forename: Kraig S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Bower
authors.forename: Dain B
authors.initials: DB
authors.lastname: Brooks
authors.forename: Steven J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Donnelly
authors.forename: Melissa
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Iglesias
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Rimm
authors.forename: Thomas P
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Ward
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003710:Demography; D004219:District of Columbia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005128:Eye Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006772:Hospitals, Military / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008887:Military Medicine; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D023481:Terrorism; D014600:Utilization Review; D014857:Warfare