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-39-
4. SPECIAL REPORTS & TABLES.
Attached will be found special report supplied to me by the
Consulting Surgeon of the Opthalmic Clinic, a detailed report of the
defects treated at the Orthopaedic Clinic and the special tables
required by the Board of Education.
With regard to co-operation with parents, other organisations etc.,
there was practically no variation from that stated in previous
reports.
"I have pleasure in submitting a report of the Eye Clinic for
1939. Owing to the War, the Eye Clinic was closed during the autumn,
but it has been working again since the beginning of February 1940.
In this matter Brentford has shown great initiative as this is the
first eye clinic in the London region to re-open since the war began.
During 1939 there were 292 examinations made, excluding weekly
examinations of cases which were being treated for squint and "lazy"
eyes. Of these, 247 were of Council School children, and 45 of
County Schools children. The majority of these were cases of
defective vision. In passing, I should like to pay a tribute to the
efficiency of the nursing staff, firstly for their care in conducting
the school examinations, which they always carry out with the greatest
efficiency, and secondly for the efficient way in which they conduct
the clinic itself.
The proportion of eye defects shown in the clinic bear a close
relation to those quoted by other statistics. A short table is
appended.
Myopia (short-sighted) 45 cases 19%
Hypermotropic (Long sighted) 48 cases 20%
Myopia astigmatism 42 cases 17.5%
Hypermetropic astigmatism 62 cases 26%
Squint Internal 15 cases 5%
Squint,External 2 cases 1%
"Lazy" eye 18 cases 7½%
External eye diseases:
Acute Conjunctivitis 6 cases 2.5%
Blepheritis and styes 16 cases 8%
Phlyctenular Conjunctivitis 4 cases 1.5%
It must be remembered that some cases appear twice in this
table, where two conditions were coincidental.
County School children.
Myopia 19 cases 37.5%
Mypermetropia 3 cases 7%
Miopia astigmatism 14 cases 29%
Hypermetropic astigmatism 5 cases 12%
Conjunctivitis 1 case 2%
The high incidence of short sighted children here is due to the
fact that these children have been preselected, it being a well known
fact that myopic children are naturally more studious than the normal.
The new departures from the previous procedure have been adopted;
the children with "lazy eyes have been formed into a special group,
attending weekly or fortnightly, and having the good eye covered
under supervision with a plaster pad, to make the "lazy" eye work
properly. This has also been applied in certain selected cases of
squint. Secondly, all cases of myopia are examined as a routine
every six months, to avoid the missing of any cases of progressive
myopia. These children, when discovered are seen at monthly intervals
and kept on Calcium by the mouth, to keep the short sight from
progressing at too rapid a rate
Only one case of progressive myopia has failed to respond out
of 12 cases treated; this was probably a case of congenital origin,
and in any case was very far progressed by the time it ca me to the
clinic.