Associations between red reflex abnormality, consanguinity and intensive care hospitalization of newborns in Turkey.

Background: Red reflex screening is the primary but unheeded test for the detection of vision- and life-threatening eye conditions.

Aims: To evaluate the red reflex of newborns, percentage of ocular diseases resulting in red reflex abnormality, and their relation with consanguinity in Southeast Turkey.

Methods: Newborns (n = 1358) were examined with pencil light and direct ophthalmoscopy.

Results: Eight hundred of these newborns were hospitalized in a rooming-in unit. (RIU) and 558 were in the neonatal intensive care service (NICS). In the RIU there were 7 (0.88%) newborns with abnormal red reflex and in the NICS there were 14 (2.51%). Sensitivity of pencil light examination was 71.4%. Studies from the Middle East have shown potential recessive genetic causes of common paediatric ocular conditions. In our study, consanguineous marriage was found to have a significant association with red reflex abnormality (P = 0.017).

Conclusions: Red reflex screening test is important in the early diagnosis of vision- and life-threatening eye disorders in Southeast Turkey where consanguinity is common.