Child With Red Eye and Blurry Vision.

Point-of-care ocular ultrasound can provide the clinician with more information about potential intraorbital and extraocular pathology, especially in cases when direct visualization of the eye is limited. This case report describes the findings in a pediatric patient who presented with a 1-month history of eye injection and worsening blurry vision. After point-of-care ultrasound demonstrated abnormal debris in the posterior vitreous cavity, subsequent evaluation revealed a diagnosis of pars planitis.

Grading of pars planitis by ultrasound biomicroscopy--echographic and clinical study.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the value of high frequency ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) in the assessment of pars planitis, and in particular to correlate UBM findings and ophthalmoscopy findings. METHODS: All patients with pars planitis were identified from the uveitis database of the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Aberdeen. Fifteen consecutive patients (age 14-52 years) underwent complete ophthalmological examination. UBM was performed at a sound frequency of 50 MHz on 17 eyes of 10 patients to determine the extent of disease. UBM findings were evaluated by two investigators in a blinded fashion and graded from 0 to 3 according to the following grading criteria: 0=no cells, 1=mild cells, 2=marked cells, 3=organization of cells. Opthalmoscopy findings were also graded using the same criteria. UBM and ophthalmoscopy findings were independently graded and compared. RESULTS: We found a good inter-observer correlation for the UBM grading of pars planitis (rho=0.86). There was no significant difference in the grading of pars planitis by indirect ophthalmoscopy as compared to grading by UBM (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: UBM appears to be a valuable and reliable diagnostic technique for the evaluation of patients with pars planitis and may be useful especially in patients with media opacities to diagnose and/or monitor efficacy of treatment.

Value of high-frequency ultrasound biomicroscopy in uveitis.

PURPOSE: To determine the use of high-frequency ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) in the assessment of inflammatory lesions of the iris, ciliary body, pars plana and peripheral vitreous, and in particular to determine the proportion of cases for which UBM contributed significant additional, hitherto inaccessible, information. METHODS: Charts of patients seen in the uveitis clinic at University Eye Hospital from November 1994 to September 1999 for whom a UBM investigation had been performed were analysed. UBM was performed in a standard manner, using a Humphrey UBM 840 system. The clinical relevance of the UBM findings was determined for the whole series and for the following six subgroups of patients arbitrarily established according to the type and location of pathology: hypotony, pseudophakic uveitis, iris and ciliary body pathology excluding hypotony, pars plana pathology, scleritis and Toxocara uveitis. Findings were classified as positive when they confirmed a suspected diagnosis of lesional process or when they gave essential information. Findings were classified as essential when they led to the diagnosis or when they modified therapeutic intervention. RESULTS: During the study period 111 eyes of 77 patients were included. UBM findings contributed essential information that allowed a diagnosis to be reached or that influenced treatment in 43% of cases. It yielded positive findings in 91% of cases, enabling assessment of morphological changes in the iris, ciliary body, and retroiridal and peripheral vitreous induced by intraocular inflammatory or pseudo-inflammatory disorders. Specific UBM signs, present in all patients, were identified in Toxocara uveitis. The groups of patients that benefited most from UBM examination were those with hypotony (83% essential findings) and opaque media (100% essential findings). CONCLUSION: For uveitis patients with an inflammatory process situated in the iris/ciliary body/pars plana/retroiridal vitreous areas, UBM was of great clinical value and improved the management in a significant manner.

Ultrasound biomicroscopy in the diagnosis and management of pars planitis caused by caterpillar hairs.

PURPOSE: To report the use of ultrasound biomicroscopy in the detection of caterpillar hairs in the pars plana in a patient with unilateral pars planitis. METHOD: Ultrasound biomicroscopic imaging of the anterior segment of the eye. RESULTS: Ultrasound biomicroscopy located a hair in the posterior chamber at the first visit and five more in the pars plana 1 month later. This finding was confirmed intraoperatively. CONCLUSION: Ultrasound biomicroscopy is useful in the diagnosis and management of unilateral pars planitis of uncertain cause.

Ultrasound biomicroscopic imaging in intermediate uveitis.

BACKGROUND: Clinical examination of the region of the eye mainly affected in patients with intermediate uveitis is difficult and often hampered by media opacities. In that perspective ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) promises to be a valuable additional diagnostic tool. METHODS: UBM was performed at a sound frequency of 50 MHz on 26 eyes of 13 patients with intermediate uveitis in order to determine configuration of pars plana, peripheral retina, and vitreous. Findings of ophthalmoscopy with scleral indentation and UBM were compared. RESULTS: In 18 of 26 eyes pathological structures such as membraneous or fluffy vitreous condensations were identified by UBM. Among these UBM revealed pathological findings which were not visible on funduscopy in nine eyes. Most importantly, vitreoretinal adhesions with traction on the retina were imaged in four eyes. However, in three eyes vitreous opacities being visible on funduscopy were not identified by UBM. CONCLUSION: UBM seems to be a valuable diagnostic technique for the evaluation of patients with intermediate uveitis. Longitudinal studies will have to determine the relevance of UBM findings for the individual clinical course and their influence on therapeutic decisions.

Ultrasound biomicroscopy in pars planitis.

PURPOSE: To report the diagnosis of pars planitis on the basis of ultrasound biomicroscopy images. METHODS: The Humphrey ultrasound biomicroscope was used for examination of the right eye of a 17-year-old boy, referred to our clinic because of blurred vision. The lens showed a posterior subcapsular cataract precluding fundus visualization. RESULTS: Ultrasound biomicroscopy showed a homogeneous mass of medium reflectivity over the pars plana. Lensectomy and vitrectomy confirmed the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: This brief case report points out the utility of ultrasound biomicroscopy in diagnosing pars planitis in cases of media opacities.