Developments in eye and general diseases in the Landesschule fur Blinde und Sehbehinderte des Saarlandes in the last 20 years

Background: The aim of the study was the evaluation of how ophthalmological diagnoses and the proportion of multiply handicapped children has changed within the last 20 years at a state school for visually handicapped and blind children. Patients and methods: A profile investigation was conducted on all 105 children at the Landesschule Mr Blinde und Sehbehinderte des Saarlandes and compared to the results of an examination from 1975. Results: The predominant ophthalmological diagnoses were: optic atrophy (17.5%), ocular albinism (11.9%), scar-stage IV and V of retinopathy of prematurity (11.1%), as well as tapetoretinal dystrophies with related syndromes (8.7%) and myopia magna (7.9%). Blind: 10.3% (1975: 36.4%); visually handicapped: 47.1% (1975: 49.2%); multiply handicapped: 42.5% (1975: 14.4%). Conclusions: (1) The diseases that dominated in earlier years in schools for the visually handicapped have become rare (cataract, aphakia, buphthalmia, macular dystrophy all less than 5%); (2) the proportion of completely blind pupils has become much smaller; (3) there is an increasing tendency to educate visually handicapped pupils in regular schools with integrative aids; (4) there is also an increasing proportion of multiply handicapped children (school and kindergarten: 42%, early patronage 74%).