[Ophthalmological exploration of children with Down's syndrome. Main results and comparison with a control group].

BACKGROUND: Down's Syndrome is the most frequent chromosomal aberration. There is a wide variety of symptoms. From an ophthalmological point of view, numerous alterations associated with Down's Syndrome have been described. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We have carried out a complete ophthalmic exploration on 60 children with Down's Syndrome and 60 control children. RESULTS: The first group showed a high percentage of refraction errors (90%), nystagmus (28%), strabismus (48%) and cataracts (13%). If we compare these results with those of the control group we find that the Down's group has a frequency significantly higher both in refraction errors as a whole (p < 0.001) and myopia (p < 0.01), hypermetropia (p < 0.02) and stigmatism (p < 0.001). They have also shown a frequency significantly higher of strabismus (p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: All of the observed alterations can have a negative influence on the appropriate educational development of these children. An early ophthalmological exploration would be advisable in children with Down's Syndrome.