Ophthalmology and Eye Diseases

INTRODUCTION: Glaucoma is a public health issue worldwide, particularly in Africa. In Cameroon, the prevalence rate of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) ranges between 4.5% and 8.2%. Helicobacter pylori (HP) has been implicated in digestive and extra-digestive diseases, including glaucoma. The objective of this work was to evaluate the implication of CagA- and VacA-positive strains of HP in POAG using a case-control design. METHODS: An analytical study was conducted from October 2013 to December 2013...

AIM: To describe a surgical technique suitable for cataract surgery in regions with a high prevalence of HIV infection. METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 20 consecutive AIDS patients with cataract who underwent modified small-incision cataract surgery (mSICS) with posterior chamber lens implantation. Classic extracapsular cataract extraction (ECCE) was compared to mSICS. The number of potentially risky steps for contamination during surgery and duration of surgery were analyzed...

Glaucoma involves a characteristic optic neuropathy, often with elevated intraocular pressure. Before 1850, poor vision with a normal eye appearance, as occurs in primary open-angle glaucoma, was termed amaurosis, gutta serena, or black cataract. Few observers noted palpable hardness of the eye in amaurosis. On the other hand, angle-closure glaucoma can produce a green or gray pupil, and therefore was called, variously, glaucoma (derived from the Greek for glaucous, a nonspecific term connoting blue, green, or light gray) and viriditate oculi...

A cross-sectional survey of the prevalence of eye injuries among primary school children in two noncontiguous local government areas of Enugu State of Nigeria was undertaken. One of the local government areas was urban, while the other one was rural. Children who were <15 years in two randomly selected primary schools in the urban area and three randomly selected schools in the rural area were interviewed and examined with Snellen chart, pen torch, head loupe, and direct ophthalmoscope. The findings were recorded using a semi-structured questionnaire and the World Health Organization Programme for Prevention of Blindness (WHO/PBL) eye examination form...

INTRODUCTION: Music has been proposed as a safe, inexpensive, nonpharmacological antistress intervention. The purpose of this study was to determine whether patients undergoing cataract surgery while listening to meditation music experience lower levels of blood pressure and heart rate. METHODS: Two hundred individuals undergoing cataract surgery participated in the study. Hundred individuals listened to meditation music, through headphones, before and during the operation (intervention group) and 100 individuals received standard care (control group)...

AIM: To investigate possible age-related changes in glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) in the human cornea. The substances today called GAGs were previously referred to as mucopolysaccharides. METHODS: Samples of human cornea were taken from 12 younger (age 21 ± 1.2) and 12 older (age 72 ± 1.6) male subjects. Samples were weighed, homogenized, and used for biochemical and molecular analyses. All the quantitative results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The human cornea appears to undergo age-related changes, as evidenced by our biochemical and molecular results...

Ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury has been associated with several retinal pathologies, and a few genes/gene products have been linked to IR injury. However, the big picture of temporal changes, regarding the affected gene networks, pathways, and processes remains to be determined. The purpose of the present study was to investigate initial, intermediate, and later stages to characterize the etiology of IR injury in terms of the pathways affected over time. Analyses indicated that at the initial stage, 0-hour reperfusion following the ischemic period, the ischemia-associated genes were related to changes in metabolism...

Dry-eye syndrome (DES) is a multifactorial disease affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Various factors, including age, hormonal status, genetics, sex, immune status, innervation status, nutrition, pathogens, and environmental stress, can alter the cellular and molecular structure or function of components of the ocular surface system. The resulting imbalance increases susceptibility to desiccation and epithelial damage, leading to a vicious circle in which inflammation amplifies and sustains further damage by chronic deregulation of the system...

BACKGROUND: Myopia is a very common condition and a significant public health problem in China. The objective of the study was to explore the genetic influence on myopia in Mainland China school-aged children in Beijing. METHODS: In 2008, the data from 15,316 Chinese school students aged 6-18 years from 19 randomized schools in Beijing were analyzed to evaluate genetic influence on myopia in children. Heritability was calculated by mid-parent-offspring regression and parent-offspring regression...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the main clinical indications for surgical removal of the eye in rural areas in Cameroon. DESIGN: Retrospective non-comparative case series. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 253 patients presenting to the Manna eye clinic Nkongsamba who underwent destructive eye surgery (DES) between January 2006 and December 2010 were reviewed. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Age, gender, occupation, prior medication, visual acuity, operation indications, and type of operation...

AIMS: To assess the efficacy of topical dorzolamide for treating cystoid macular edema in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and minimize the secondary effects of maintenance therapy in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) who present with chronic microcystic macular edema. METHODS: To replace acetazolamide systemic treatment, with a topical treatment using 2% dorzolamide in three patients. The methods performed were OCT scan with a Spectralis HRA-OCT, for the measurement of macular thickness and morphology; best corrected visual acuity was assessed using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS), was assessed slit-lamp biomicroscopy, ocular tonometry, fundus biomiocrosopy, and color fundus photography...

PURPOSE: To determine whether prior instillation of amethocaine would increase the rate and magnitude of tropicamide-induced pupillary dilatation in darkly pigmented irides. METHOD: A total of 50 healthy Africans aged 18-40 years, with darkly pigmented irides, received a drop of amethocaine in one eye and a drop of placebo in the contralateral eye, followed by two drops of tropicamide in both eyes. Serial pupil diameters were measured using a monocular infrared video pupillometer...

In vitro cytotoxicity of tafluprost, which is the most recently developed anti-glaucoma prostaglandin (PG) analog, in ocular surface cells is addressed in comparison with other PG analogs. Irrespective of cell lines and models, the cytotoxicity of anti-glaucoma PG eyedrops was primarily related to the concentration of benzalkonium chloride (BAK) contained in the eyedrops as a preservative. Accordingly, preservative-free tafluprost was apparently less cytotoxic than BAK-preserved PG analogs. Furthermore, our study for cytotoxicity assays on ocular cells, conducted by comprehensive investigations covering a variety of concentrations and treatment times, which is termed the cell viability score (CVS) system, demonstrated that 0...

We conducted a cohort study to evaluate post-cataract surgery endophthalmitis rates in relation to prophylactic intracameral moxifloxacin administration. A total of 2332 patients (2674 eyes) who underwent phacoemulsification by a single surgeon from January 2007 through December 2012 were included in the study. A total of 1056 eyes did not receive intracameral prophylactic moxifloxacin and the antibiotic was injected in 1618 eyes. The incidence of presumed postoperative endophthalmitis in the 2 groups was calculated...

We assessed the outcomes of the use of anterior chamber foldable lens for unilateral aphakia correction at the University Teaching Hospital of Yaounde. In this retrospective, non-comparative, consecutive case series study, we reviewed the records of patients who underwent an operation for aphakia correction by the means of injection of an angular supported foldable lens between January 2009 and December 2011 in the University Teaching Hospital Yaounde. Student's paired t-test was carried out to compare pre-operative and post-operative visual acuity (VA) and intraocular pressure (IOP)...

We evaluated the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection before pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) on intravitreal hemorrhage (VH) during and after vitrectomy for postoperative the first day and the first month in pseudophakic patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). This retrospective study was performed on 44 eyes of 44 patients who underwent vitrectomy for PDR. Patients were divided into PPV (n = 22 eyes) and PPV + IVB (n = 22 eyes) groups. Injection of bevacizumab (1.25 mg/0.05 mL) was performed 3 days before vitrectomy...

Voclosporin is a relatively new calcineurin inhibitor that has been used successfully in humans for the treatment of plaque psoriasis. Available data indicate a good safety profile for this treatment and a significant increase in quality of life for psoriasis patients. More recently, voclosporin has been used to treat ophthalmic conditions such as uveitis. The limited data available indicate at least comparable results relative to current therapy with a better safety profile. Here, we analyze data from human and animal studies and the mode of action of voclosporin...

While conducting medical aid in Mozambique, a 41 year old African male presented to our eye clinic complaining of visual impairment. The male was found to have Peters' anomaly type 2, a rare congenital ocular malformation leading to sensory amblyopia and glaucoma.

Interleukin-4 (IL-4) and interleukin-10 (IL-10) are key cytokines whose increased production during systemic HIV infection has been associated with decreased cellular immunity during AIDS. We examined whether HIV-induced stimulation of IL-4 or IL-10 production leads to increased susceptibility to AIDS-related human cytomegalovirus retinitis. It was confirmed that there were increased amounts of IL-4 and IL-10 mRNA levels in mice with MAIDS of 10 weeks duration when most susceptible to MCMV retinitis. Surprisingly, however, MCMV-infected eyes of IL-4 -/- and IL-10 -/- mice with MAIDS of 8 weeks duration exhibited retinitis and infectious virus equivalent to that observed in MCMV-infected eyes of wild-type mice with MAIDS...

INTRODUCTION: Various aspects of management of traumatic hyphaema are enmeshed in controversy. Surgery is done to prevent complications: optic atrophy and corneal blood staining occurring if a high risk exists of either or both occurring. Circumstances considered high risk do not enjoy universal consensus. OBJECTIVES: To determine what Nigerian ophthalmologists consider absolute indications for surgical intervention by means of anterior chamber paracentesis and hyphaema washout in closed globe traumatic hyphaema, evaluate these absolute indications, and attempt to evolve a guideline for surgical intervention based on areas of consensus and disagreement...