[Etiology of childhood visual impairment in 1989].

We studied the etiologies of visual impairment in the 171 children managed at the Alfred Peyrelongue Center, Ambarès France. This center is open to visually impaired children aged 3 to 20 years and free of significant motor or cognitive handicaps. Etiologies of visual impairment in the decreasing order of frequency were as follows: cataract (31 cases), tapetoretinal degeneration (28 cases), optic nerve lesion (22 cases), retinopathy of prematurity (13 cases), coloboma malformations (13 cases), severe congenital myopia (12 cases), congenital glaucoma (10 cases), congenital nystagmus (8 cases), congenital achromatopsia (6 cases), retinal abnormalities, and ocular injuries. We discuss these results, compare them with those of a similar study carried out in the same center in 1978, and briefly review the literature.