Changing patterns in treatment of angle closure glaucoma.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: Angle closure glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness globally and trends of how best to treat this disease are evolving. The advent of anterior segment imaging aids our understanding of pathogenesis and allows more robust and objective measurement of treatment modalities. We will also review recent literature regarding the role of laser and surgical interventions for the treatment of primary angle closure disease. RECENT FINDINGS: Recent studies evaluating the efficacy of laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI) in primary angle closure suspects (PACs) show that while it is a safe intervention and initially anterior chamber angle widens following the laser treatment, the effect is lost with time. Only a small minority of PACs patients develop primary angle closure (PAC) or primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG). Trials evaluating argon laser peripheral iridoplasty (ALPI) have failed to show a substantial clinical benefit. In patients with early or moderate PACG and those with PAC with IOP over 30 mmHg, clear lens extraction is associated with better clinical and quality of life outcomes than LPI. SUMMARY: Recent evidence supports initial clear lens extraction in the context of PACG or primary angle closure with IOP more than 30 mmHg.

Congenital Nasolacrimal Duct Obstruction: Comparison of Two Different Treatment Algorithms.

PURPOSE: To clarify the most appropriate treatment regimen for congenital nasolacrimal duct obstruction (CNLDO). METHODS: A retrospective observational analysis was performed of patients undergoing probing with or without intubation to treat CNLDO in a single institution (Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast) from 2006 to 2011. RESULTS: Based on exclusion criteria, 246 eyes of 177 patients (aged 0 to 9.8 years with a mean age of 2.1 years) were included in this study: 187 (76%) eyes had successful outcome at first intervention with primary probing, whereas 56 (23%) eyes underwent secondary intervention. There were no significant differences by gender, age, or obstruction complexity between the successful and unsuccessful patients with first intervention. For those patients requiring secondary intervention, 16 of 24 (67%) eyes had successful probing, whereas 22 of 24 (92%) had successful intubation. Patients with intubation as a secondary procedure were significantly more likely to have a successful outcome (P = .037). Statistical analysis was performed using the Fisher's exact test and Barnard's exact test. CONCLUSIONS: Primary probing for CNLDO has a high success rate that is not adversely affected by increasing age. This study also indicates that if initial probing is unsuccessful, nasolacrimal intubation rather than repeat probing yields a significantly higher success rate. [J Pediatr Ophthalmol Strabismus. 2016;53(5):285-291.].

Mutational Analysis of the Rhodopsin Gene in Sector Retinitis Pigmentosa.

BACKGROUND: To determine the role of rhodopsin (RHO) gene mutations in patients with sector retinitis pigmentosa (RP) from Northern Ireland. DESIGN: A case series of sector RP in a tertiary ocular genetics clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Four patients with sector RP were recruited from the Royal Victoria Hospital (Belfast, Northern Ireland) and Altnagelvin Hospital (Londonderry, Northern Ireland) following informed consent. METHODS: The diagnosis of sector RP was based on clinical examination, International Society for Clinical Electrophysiology of Vision (ISCEV) standard electrophysiology, and visual field analysis. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leucocytes and the coding regions and adjacent flanking intronic sequences of the RHO gene were polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplified and cycle sequenced. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Rhodopsin mutational status. RESULTS: A heterozygous missense mutation in RHO (c.173C > T) resulting in a non-conservative substitution of threonine to methionine (p. Thr58Met) was identified in one patient and was absent from 360 control individuals. This non-conservative substitution (p.Thr58Met) replaces a highly evolutionary conserved polar hydrophilic threonine residue with a non-polar hydrophobic methionine residue at position 58 near the cytoplasmic border of helix A of RHO. CONCLUSIONS: The study identified a RHO gene mutation (p.Thr58Met) not previously reported in RP in a patient with sector RP. These findings outline the phenotypic variability associated with RHO mutations. It has been proposed that the regional effects of RHO mutations are likely to result from interplay between mutant alleles and other genetic, epigenetic and environmental factors.