Ophthalmologic findings in contact sport disciplines.
BACKGROUND
The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence and the incidence of ocular complications in contact sport disciplines in a large population of professional and amateur athletes over a period of 3 years.


METHODS
We performed a retrospective review of 694 medical records from athletes examinated from 2008 to 2011. The following data were collected during the routine visit for agonistic sports eligibility: medical history, age, weight, years of sport practice, approximate number of matches, head and eyes injuries during and beyond of the match and a through ocular history. All athletes underwent a detailed ophthalmological evaluation. The follow-up of each athlete was carried out during the following routine visit for agonistic sports eligibility.


RESULTS
Most common disorders observed were: peripheral retinal degeneration, blepharitis, conjunctival and corneal diseases with a prevalence of 7%, 4%, 7% and 4% respectively. It was observed a positive correlation between peripheral retinal degeneration and age in amateur male boxers. Moreover, we noticed an incidence of 6% of laser therapeutic treatments as a result of retinal holes or degenerations, during the follow-up.


CONCLUSIONS
Contact sport disciplines did not result in higher prevalence of severe ocular lesion. Both conjuntival diseases and peripheral retinal degenerations represented the ophthalmologic disorders with the higher prevalence in our sample. In particular, peripheral retinal degeneration is remarkable because of the increased risk of retinal detachment. Dyschromatopsie, even if quite rare, should be considered when analysing the reception of shots, since gloves in most cases are either red or blue.
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy.
Paolo
P
Borrione
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy.
Federico
F
Quaranta
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy.
Valeria
V
DE Luca
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy.
Fabio
F
Sperandii
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy - emanuela.ciminelli@uniroma4.it.
Emanuela
E
Ciminelli
Villa Stuart Sport Clinic FIFA Medical Centre of Excellence, Rome, Italy.
Emilia
E
Cantera
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy.
Federica
F
Fagnani
Department of Movement, Human and Health Sciences, University of Rome &quot;Foro Italico&quot;, Rome, Italy.
Fabio
F
Pigozzi
D000328:Adult; D056352:Athletes / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001914:Boxing / Q000293:injuries; D003229:Conjunctival Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D005131:Eye Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D016139:Martial Arts / Q000293:injuries*; D015995:Prevalence; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000453:epidemiology; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies