RESUMEN
INTRODUCTION: This was a prospective study to investigate the antimicrobial efficacy of a novel ophthalmic solution comprising ozonated sunflower oil in liposomes plus hypromellose in conjunction with liposomal foam (BlefOX), in patients undergoing intravitreal injection, in comparison to povidone iodine 5%. METHODS: The study employed a paired-eye design with n = 195 patients and a total of n = 390 eyes divided into two groups. Conjunctival swabs were collected from both eyes of each patient at baseline (T0-3 days before the injection). The study group underwent home therapy, which included instilling two drops of an isotonic ophthalmic solution containing 0.5% ozonated sunflower oil in liposomes plus hypromellose (Ozodrop) four times daily and applying liposomal foam twice daily to the eye undergoing intravitreal injections. In contrast, the control group (contralateral eyes) received treatment with povidone iodine 5%. This treatment regimen was maintained for 3 days. At T1 (10 min before injection), all patients instilled one drop of a topical solution of povidone iodine 5% into the conjunctival sac of both eyes. After 30 seconds had elapsed, a conjunctival swab was obtained for each eye in both study groups. RESULTS: The results, derived from conjunctival swabs, exhibited a significant reduction in the microbial load of the study group on both chocolate agar and blood agar (p ≤ 0.007). The study demonstrated that the combination of povidone iodine 5% + Ozodrop + BlefOX provides a greater reduction in microbial load than povidone iodine 5% alone on both chocolate agar (141 [72.31%] vs. 98 [50.26%], p < 0.0001) and blood agar (130 [66.67%] vs. 97 [49.74%], p = 0.0007). The combination of povidone iodine 5% + Ozodrop + BlefOX resulted in the killing of approximately 41% to 49% of bacteria compared to povidone iodine 5% alone on the chocolate agar and blood agar, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Liposomal ozonated oil treatment, coupled with liposomal foam, in patients undergoing intravitreal injection led to a substantial reduction in conjunctival microbial load compared to eyes treated solely with povidone iodine 5%.
RESUMEN
Scientists are interested in determining age in subadults for several forensic purposes. High- resolution instrumental techniques are being increasingly used for age estimation, driven by the need to minimize errors; in this context, several studies have focused on the knee joint, recognized as a potential site for age examination in late adolescence. We analyzed 200 CT scans performed on Russian subjects (106 males and 94 females) between 13 and 20 years, without growth diseases, endocrine disorders, or osteodystrophy. Each subject underwent two scans, one for each leg. Two indicators were measured for each bone (femur, tibia and fibula): the entire length of the epiphyseal scar and the length of the part/s that is/are fused with metaphysis. Intra class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) was performed to evaluate the intra-operator reproducibility. The ratio between the two lengths was calculated for each bone (FemurR, TibiaR and FibulaR). The first aim was to evaluate a correlation between the ratios of the three bones and the three bones treated as a single parameter (given by the sum of the ratios) versus age. The results showed good correlations in both cases (τ a = 0.74, 0.64, 0.57 and 0.67). The second aim was to estimate the cut-offs derived from the sum of the three ratios respect to four age classes (14-15 years: cut-off ≤ 0.63, 15-16 years: cut-off ≤ 1.19, 16-17 years: cut-off ≥ 0.68 and 17-18 years: cut-off ≥ 1.49. The results from this research encourage further studies of the knee joint as an indicator of legal adult age.
