PAAO-YO Research:
Dr. Camila Ventura

Camila Ventura MD PhD, is a pediatric retina and vitrous specialist at the Altino Ventura Foundation and the HOPE Eye Hospital in Recife, Brazil.

She recently published this article:

– Ophthalmological manifestations in congenital Zika syndrome in 469 Brazilian children

Since the 2015 ZIKV outbreak, studies performed in Brazil, Latin America, and the United States have reported the ocular manifestations of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). However, these studies included a limited number of children. To date, the current study is the largest cohort to describe the ophthalmologic manifestations in infants with CZS from different Brazilian states..

One third of children with congenital Zika syndrome presented ocular manifestations, which included anterior and posterior segment findings and structural abnormalities.
The current study confirms that funduscopic alterations are the most prevalent ocular findings in congenital ZIKV infection.
Although microcephaly was the first manifestation reported in CZS, the current study showed that less than half of the children presented with microcephaly at birth.
7.5% of children with CZS that did not present with microcephaly at birth had ocular findings.
Children born in Pernambuco State, Brazil, were more severely affected.

Ventura CV, Zin A, Paula Freitas B, Ventura LO, Rocha C, Costa F, Nery N Jr, De Senna TCR, Lopes Moreira ME, Maia M, Belfort R Jr. Ophthalmological manifestations in congenital Zika syndrome in 469 Brazilian children. J AAPOS. 2021 May 31:S1091-8531(21)00137-3. doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2021.01.009. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34082114.