Ultraviolet Fluorecence Photography to Detect Early un Damage in the Eye of chool-Aged Children

Purpoe To develop a method to detect precuror of ocular un damage uing ultraviolet fluorecence photography (UVFP). Deign Obervational cro-ectional tudy Method etting: Prechool, primary, and high chool in ydney, Autralia. tudy population: 71 children age 3 to 15 year old (both eye). Incluion criteria were children attending the chool who gave conent. There were no excluion criteria. obervation procedure: UV and tandard (control) photograph were taken of the naal and temporal interpalpebral region bilaterally. main outcome meaure: Preence of area of increaed fluorecence detected by UVFP, or preence of pinguecula detected by tandard photography. Reult Etablihed pingueculae, on tandard photography, were een in even of 71 (10%) children; all were 13 year of age or older. On UVFP, all of thee pingueculae demontrated fluorecence. In total, 23 of 71 (32%) had increaed fluorecence detected on UVFP, including the even of 23 (30%) with pingueculae. Of the remaining 16 of 23 (70%), the change were only detectable uing UVFP. Fluorecence on UVFP wa een in children age 9 year and above, with prevalence increaing with age. The preence of fluorecence (in at leat one region) wa 0 of 15 (0%) for children age 3 to 5 year, 0 of 12 (0%) of children age 6 to 8 year, 6 of 23 (26%) for thoe age 9 to 11 year, and 17 of 21 (81%) of thoe age 12 to 15 year. Concluion We hypotheize that the area een to fluorece on UVFP but not detectable on control photography repreent precuror for ophthalmohelioe. Our preliminary data trongly ugget that UVFP i a enitive method for detecting early ocular un damage occurring many year before clinical manifetation