causes of childhood blindness among students of blinds' school in shiraz, iran

background: causes of blindness in children vary according to the region and socioeconomic development. within a given country these causes vary with passage of time. this reflects different levels of socioeconomic development and provision of healthcare services. this cross-sectional study was undertaken to estimate the major causes of severe visual impairment in children and specially preventable and curable blindness in southerniran.   methods: 145 students of shiraz blinds' school,shiraz,iran, interviewed, examined and their medical documents reviewed. causes of visual loss were analyzed according to involved anatomic area.   results: 145 students (290 eyes) were examined (53.1% girls and 46.9% boys), among which 42.1% had vision of no light perception. eye dysgenesis was found in 21.4%, glaucoma in 15.9%, lens associated visual loss in 6.2%,  optic nerve lesions in1.4%, retinal problems in 54.48% and corneal problems in less than 1%. sixty five students had retinitis pigmentosa, which was the single commonest cause of visual loss.   conclusion: the major cause of childhood blindness in this region is retinitis pigmentosa, followed by microphtalmia, eye dysgenesis and congenital glaucoma. large proportion of these blind children had a positive history of consanguineous marriage in their parents and this seemed to be the most probable cause of increased frequency of genetic causes of childhood blindness. iran j med sci 2005; 30(2): 55-58.   keywords ● childhood blindness ● retinitis pigmentosa ● consanguinity