The Ocular Manifestations of Tuberculosis Patients In Al-Najaf Governorate

Background: Tuberculosis can have a variety of ocular manifestations, and consequently may mimic a number of ocular inflammatory diseases. Moreover, the absence of pulmonary tuberculosis does not rule out the diagnosis of ocular tuberculosis. Most commonly, tuberculosis presents as a posterior uveitis. Intraocular tuberculosis may also manifest as retinitis, optic neuropathy or endophthalmitis. Patients and Methods: The study involves 204 participants (163 males and 41 females) with age ranging from 20 to 40 years. Those patients were attenders of the tuberculosis center at Al-Najaf, Iraq. The study accomplished from March to October 2016 using a questionnaire form to collect general information of patients, a Snellen chart to determine visual acuity, air puff tonometry to measure IOP, a slit lamp microscope and direct ophthalmoscope to assess the ocular findings in patients. Data were analyzed using Pearson Chi square and Fisher exact tests. Results: Mean age of patients in the study was 29.89 years with standard deviation = 6.237, with male to female ratio 4:1 and positive family history in 84.8% of participants. 0.98% of participants were having ocular involvement. Conclusion: Although the ocular involvement in our study was 0.98%, there should be a high index of suspicion of ophthalmic tuberculosis because of endemic nature of the disease in Iraq. Aim: To assess the prevalence of ocular manifestations in patients with tuberculosis in Al-Najaf province.