Purpose: The purpose of the study is to evaluate a recent series of pa
tients who presented with open-globe injuries and to compare this seri
es with a previous series collected at the authors' institution to det
ermine whether prognostic factors or visual outcomes have changed. Met
hods: A retrospective review of 290 eyes of consecutive patients who p
resented to the Wilmer Ophthalmological Institute with open-globe inju
ries between December 1985 and January 1993 (group B) was compared wit
h a series of 476 eyes with open-globe injury treated and evaluated at
this institute between January 1970 and December 1981 (group 8). For
comparison, the outcomes evaluated included rates of enucleation and f
inal visual acuity. Results: Several factors identified previously in
group A to correlate with visual outcomes also were found to correlate
significantly (P < 0.001) with visual outcome in group 8, including.
(1) type of injury, (2) location and extent of injury, (3) initial vis
ual acuity, (4) presence of an afferent pupillary defect, (5) lenticul
ar involvement, (6) Vitreous hemorrhage, and (7) type of intraocular f
oreign body. Overall visual outcomes differed significantly between th
e groups (P = 0.02). The incidence of enucleation was lower in group B
(24%) than in group A (30%). However, the percentage of patients who
achieved ambulatory visual acuity (5/200) or better was similar in bot
h groups (57%, group A versus 55%, group 8). Conclusion: Prognostic fa
ctors identified previously proved valid in this recent series. Visual
outcomes have improved at this institution in the last 20 years for p
atients with severe ocular trauma, although visual potential for these
patients is still limited.