Retinopathy of prematurity as а cause of severe visual impairment and blindness among students from the Prof. Dr. Ivan Shishmanov Specialized School Students with Visual Impairment in Varna

Introduction: Severe impairment of visual function and total vision loss are particularly important public health issues worldwide. The issue is even more sensitive when children are involved, because the ability to see plays a key role in the process of perceiving the world around us and its loss has severe consequences on all aspects of a child’s development. Aim: The aim of this article is to report causes of severe visual impairment and blindness among students from Prof. Dr. Ivan Shishmanov Specialized School for Students with Visual Impairment in Varna, as well as to describe the place of the retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among them. Materials and Methods: The current study included a sample of 143 persons, 88 boys (61.5%) and 55 (38.5%) girls. The included students were between 6 and 20 years of age, and the mean age for the whole cohort was 12.5 ± 3.7 years. The study was conducted in the period August 2022–November 2022 among the students in the Prof. Dr. Ivan Shishmanov Specialized School for Students with Visual Impairment after received permission from the school principal. Results: Atrophy of the optic nerve has been determined as a leading cause for vision loss with a rate of 74.8% of all cases. Retinopathy of prematurity took second place with a rate of 8.4%, followed by cortical visual impairment (5.6%) and other, unclassified reasons (5.6%). Among children with visual impairment due to ROP, the mean birth weight was 1033 ± 352 g, and the mean gestational age was 34.4 ± 1.44 weeks. The boys-to-girls ratio was 2:1. In most cases treatment for ROP had been conducted—cryotherapy in 5 cases (41.7%) and surgical treatment in 5 cases (41.7%). Almost all children (91.7%) were with neurodevelopmental delay, and hearing problems were diagnosed among 41.7% of them. Conclusion: Diseases of the optical nerve and retina were the main reason for severe visual impairment among the students from the Prof. Dr. Ivan Shishmanov Specialized School for Students with Visual Impairment in Varna.