Browsing by Author "Zaghrini, Elie"

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    Changing Trends in Eye-Related Complaints Presenting to the Emergency Department in Beirut, Lebanon, over 15 Years
    (Hindawi, 2018-03-13) Salti, Haytham I.; Mehanna, Carl-Joe; Abiad, Bachir; Ghazi, Nicola; Raad, Samih; Barikian, Anita; Haddad, Randa; Ashkar, Adnan; Harmouche, Elie; Zaghrini, Elie; Mufarrij, Afif; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Objective: To report the 15-year trend in ophthalmic presentations to the emergency department (ED) at the only medical center in Lebanon that provides 24-hour ophthalmologic care. Methods: Retrospective review of 1967 patients presenting to the ED with eye-related complaints between September 1997 and August 1998 and between September 2012 and August 2013. Diagnoses were classified into 4 categories according to the International Society of Ocular Trauma and include penetrating eye injuries, nonpenetrating eye trauma, nontraumatic ophthalmic emergencies, and nontraumatic, nonurgent ophthalmic conditions. Results: One thousand sixty eye-related presentations out of 39,158 total ED visits (2.71%) presented in 1997 compared to 907 out of 46,363 in 2012 (1.96%). Penetrating and nonpenetrating eye emergencies decreased between 1997 and 2012 (7.17% to 4.19%, p = 0.003 and 52.64% to 29.00%, p < 0.001, resp.) while nonurgent cases increased from 30.19% to 53.47% (p < 0.001). 57% of patients were covered by third-party guarantors in 1997 versus 73% in 2012. Conclusion: Our results demonstrate a significant increase in nonurgent cases in parallel with the proportion of third-party payers, an issue to be addressed by public health policies and proper resource allocation. A detailed nationwide review is needed to make solid recommendations for the management of ophthalmologic presentations in the ED.