epidemiology of acute ocular chemical injury at labbafinejad medical center during 2004

purpose: to evaluate the prevalence of acute ocular chemical injuries in patients referred to labbafinejad medical center (lmc) over a period of one year. methods: all patients with chemical burns referred to lmc emergency ophthalmology service were included in the study. demographic characteristics and information regarding the burn were obtained. visual acuity assessment and slit lamp examination were performed in all cases. the hughes-roper-hall classification was used for grading the severity of ocular burns. results: of 25,486 patients referred to the lmc emergency ophthalmology service over one year, 219 (0.36%) were due to chemical injuries including 179 (81.9%) male and 40 (18.3%) female subjects. chemical injuries were more common in the 20-30 year age group which included 68 subjects (31.5%). the most common causes of chemical injury were occupational injury in 102 cases (46.6%); 119 cases (54.3%) were referred during the first hour after injury, in 99 cases (45.2%) the cause of injury was acid material and in 32 cases (14.6%) the burn was alkaline. grade i burn was seen in 155 cases (69.8%) and grade iv in 5 cases (2.25%).  grading of the injury was not related to the causative agent. conclusion: the incidence of chemical burns is less than 1% of patients to referred the emergency ophthalmology service. acids are the most common materials causing chemical eye burns and occupational accidents are the most common cause.