Successful treatment of severe recalcitrant vernal keratoconjunctivitis and atopic dermatitis associated with elevated IgE levels with omalizumab.

We report the clinical case of an atopic patient with important manifestations impacting the quality of life at the cutaneous and ocular site. The condition resisted conventional treatments, and omalizumab had to be used to treat the disease successfully.

Visual recognition time in strabismus: small-angle versus large-angle deviation.

PURPOSE: To measure the possible differences in monocular detection time of a threshold visual acuity stimulus (recognition time [RT]) between patients with small-angle and large-angle strabismus. METHODS: Ten patients with free alternating esotropia were tested (10 to 18 years old): five with small-angle esotropia (< or = 7 degrees), five with large-angle esotropia (15 degrees to 20 degrees). Six age-matched normal subjects served as controls. The RT of the threshold stimulus was measured in both eyes sequentially for stimuli presented in the center of a computer monitor (RT 1). Moreover, we measured the time necessary for identifying the same threshold visual acuity stimulus generated on the computer screen in the moment in which fixation is taken up by one eye after occlusion of the second eye (RT 2). Using the same setting, RT was also measured monocularly in all strabismic and normal subjects who were originally looking at a luminous fixation point positioned horizontally at 6.5 and 15 degrees from the center of the monitor (RT 3). RESULTS: The multivariate analysis of variance for repeated measures indicated that there was no statistical difference in RT 1 between groups. The mean RT 2 was significantly longer (p<0.001) in large-angle strabismic eyes when compared with that of normal control eyes. The mean RT 2 in small-angle strabismic eyes did not differ significantly from that of normal eyes. Finally, RT 3 (both at 6.5 degrees and 15 degrees of eccentricity) did not show any significant difference in the three different study groups. CONCLUSIONS: The authors hypothesized that alternating strabismus patients may have a significant advantage in maintaining a small-angle deviation, as a large-angle deviation would require longer RT in the moment the deviated eye takes up fixation. It can be speculated that the extension of re-fixation movement, obviously shorter in small-angle strabismus patients, is the main factor responsible for longer RT occurring in large-angle strabismus patients.

Surgical management of anomalous head posture because of horizontal gaze palsy or acquired vertical nystagmus.

PURPOSE: To confirm the effectiveness of the Kestenbaum-Anderson principle in the surgical management of compensatory head posture because of horizontal gaze palsy and acquired vertical nystagmus. METHODS: Nine patients with anomalous head posture because of horizontal gaze palsy, and four patients with acquired vertical nystagmus and oscillopsia and compensatory torticollis underwent surgery according to the Kestenbaum-Anderson principle. As in the treatment of congenital nystagmus, the eyes have to be shifted in the orbits, in the direction of anomalous head posture. Homonymously based prisms were used preoperatively to assess the potential benefit of surgery. At the time of surgery, the clinical conditions of the patients had been stable for at least 1 year. RESULTS: After surgery, compensatory head posture and visual performances improved in all cases and the results remained stable for at least 2 years. CONCLUSIONS: Contrary to what is generally believed, the ocular condition of the patients with compensatory head posture secondary to neurological causes can be often improved with surgery. The aim of surgery is obviously not to modify ocular motility, but rather to improve the head position.

Bilateral Parry-Romberg syndrome associated with retinal vasculitis.

PURPOSE: To describe an unusual case of bilateral progressive facial hemiatrophy (Parry-Romberg syndrome (PRS)) associated with retinal vasculitis. METHODS: In a 37-year-old man with bilateral PRS, retinal vasculitis of the right eye was evident on fundus examination and fluorescein angiography. Right temporalis muscle biopsy and needle electromyography of the masseter muscles were performed. The patient underwent immunosuppressive therapy and retinal laser photocoagulation. RESULTS: Biopsy specimens showed large fibrosis with focal lymphohistiocytic infiltration of the muscle fibers. Electromyographic findings are consistent with a primary muscle disease. Visual acuity improved from 20/25 to 20/20 in the right eye with a follow-up of one year. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence of retinal vasculitis and the histologic findings of facial changes observed in this PRS case could support the pathogenetic model of a chronic inflammatory process as a plausible explanation for progressive facial hemiatrophy.

Paralytic strabismus.

During the past year, many papers described new surgical approaches to correct extraocular muscles paralysis. New advances have been made in the knowledge of ptosis and superior oblique muscle myochymia. Moreover, the author reports sensory problems concerning subjective cyclorotation and binocularity that arise with macular translocation.

Critical age of botulinum toxin treatment in essential infantile esotropia.

PURPOSE: To assess the results of botulinum toxin treatment in 60 consecutive children with essential infantile esotropia. METHODS: Bilateral simultaneous injection of botulinum toxin into the medial rectus muscle was performed in 60 patients under direct visualization with an "open sky" technique. Fluothane/sevoflurane insufflation anesthesia was used. Each patient underwent a single bilateral botulinum toxin injection. Patient age at the time of injection ranged from 5-8 months. RESULTS: Mean patient age at the time of treatment for the 88% of patients who gained a good alignment (within +10 prism diopters [delta] of residual esotropia) was 6.5 months, while mean patient age at time of injection for the 12% of patients who were undercorrected or the deviation relapsed was 7.8 months. Follow-up averaged 5.2 years (range: 2-9 years, SD 2). No variation of the angle of strabismus was observed after 6 months from injection. In some patients with hyperopic refraction, plus lens corrections were prescribed during follow-up to stabilize the alignment. CONCLUSION: Botulinum toxin can be effective in essential infantile esotropia when children are treated by age 7 months.

Up-shoot in adduction has no prognostic value for decompensation in refractive accommodative esotropia.

PURPOSE: To assess whether up-shoot (elevation) in adduction has any prognostic value for the functional outcome of binocular vision in fully refractive accommodative esotropia (RAET). METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on 58 patients initially diagnosed with RAET who were followed for at least 4 years. RESULTS: Without glasses, up-shoot in adduction with or without a V pattern was detected in 22 of 51 patients who maintained normal binocular alignment during the whole follow-up and in 3 of 7 patients who lost normal binocular vision and showed a manifest esotropia despite glasses at any time of the follow-up. Up-shoot in adduction was still present through glasses only in 3 patients among these 25 cases. Two of these remained fully compensated with glasses during the considered period. The third case developed up-shoot in adduction after decompensation of a previously compensated strabismus. CONCLUSIONS: Up-shoot in adduction is not a common sign in RAET. When present, it does not necessarily represent a negative prognostic sign for preservation of normal binocular vision through glasses in this condition. Up-shoot in adduction can develop after the loss of alignment in some decompensated patients. There is therefore no evidence in favour of a cause-effect relationship between up-shoot in adduction and loss of binocularity in RAET.

Induced astigmatism after near-clear hinge incision.

PURPOSE: To evaluate astigmatism induced by the near-clear hinge incision. SETTING: Casa di Cura Villa Toniolo, Bologna, and Day Hospital Nuova Ricerca, Rimini, Italy. METHODS: The results in 100 eyes having phacoemulsification with a 3.2 or 4.1 mm temporal near-clear hinge incision were evaluated for a maximum of 6 months. Corneal curvature was measured using computerized videokeratography, and surgically induced astigmatism was computed by vector analysis. Surgically induced corneal topographic changes were also evaluated. RESULTS: Mean induced cylinder in the 3.2 mm incision group was 0.4 diopter (D) +/- 0.2 (SD) 6 months after surgery; there was no significant difference in the values at 4 days and 6 months. Mean induced cylinder in the 4.1 mm incision group was similar at 1 and 6 months (0.47 and 0.45 D, respectively). However, it was significantly higher at 4 days (0.56 D). Vector decomposition analysis showed that the with-the-rule component was prevalent and remained constant over 6 months. Topographic analysis showed localized wound-related flattening with minimal central corneal changes. CONCLUSION: The near-clear hinge incision was almost astigmatically neutral and resulted in self-sealing incisions that did not leak.