Recommendations for ophthalmologic practice during the easing of COVID-19 control measures.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this paper provides recommendations for medical eye care during the easing of control measures after lockdown. The guidelines presented are based on a literature review and consensus among all Spanish Ophthalmology Societies regarding protection measures recommended for the ophthalmologic care of patients with or without confirmed COVID-19 in outpatient, inpatient, emergency and surgery settings. We recommend that all measures be adapted to the circumstances and availability of personal protective equipment at each centre and also highlight the need to periodically update recommendations as we may need to readopt more restrictive measures depending on the local epidemiology of the virus. These guidelines are designed to avoid the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 among both patients and healthcare staff as we gradually return to normal medical practice, to prevent postoperative complications and try to reduce possible deficiencies in the diagnosis, treatment and follow-up of the ophthalmic diseases. With this update (5th ) the Spanish Society of Ophthalmology is placed as one of the major ophthalmology societies providing periodic and systematized recommendations for ophthalmic care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Incidencia de la queratitis infecciosa y resultados de 351 712 procedimientos de cirugía refractiva con láser excimer / Infectious keratitis incidence and outcomes for 351 712 laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis surgical procedures with excimer laser

Estudiar la incidencia de queratitis infecciosas (QI) tras la cirugía refractiva con láser excimer (laser assisted in situ keratomileusis [LASIK] y ablación de superficie [AS]: LASEK y PRK) el diagnóstico, la actitud terapéutica adoptada, el manejo y los resultados. Material y método: Hemos realizado un estudio retrospectivo multicéntrico en 351 712 ojos intervenidos consecutivamente, de todos aquellos casos susceptibles de ser diagnosticados como QI por la clínica o los hallazgos biológicos. Resultado: Se recolectó un total de 147 casos de QI (lo que supone una incidencia del 0.0417%) ; en 100 casos lo fueron tras la LASIK (0.0307%) y 47 tras la AS (0.176%). La infección corneal se presentó en el 57.8% en el ojo derecho y en el 42.2% en el ojo izquierdo; en 12 pacientes la presentación fue bilateral. El tiempo transcurrido desde la cirugía LASIK hasta el comienzo de los síntomas fue de 16 ± 32 días, fue temprano en el 62%; tras la AS, fue a los 13 ± 26 días (rango: 1 a 160), el 71.79% se presentó en la primera semana. En 23 casos, tras la LASIK, de los 74 en los que se tomaron muestras, el resultado del cultivo fue positivo. Se tomaron muestras en 33 casos de la serie de AS, 15 de los cuales fueron positivos. En el grupo de LASIK, el 22% de los ojos perdió una o más líneas de su agudeza visual lejana corregida (CDVA), mientras que en el 53% de los ojos la visión final fue de 20/20 y en el 95% lo fue de 20/40 o mejor. En 31 ojos (66%) del grupo de AS se mantiene la CDVA; la visión final fue de 20/20 en el 54.7% y de 20/40 en el 93.6% de los ojos. Conclusiones: La incidencia de infección después de la LASIK es baja, pero la tasa de infección después de la AS es estadísticamente más elevada. La aparición de esta complicación en pacientes asintomáticos subraya la necesidad de revisiones posoperatorias. No hemos encontrado diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la agudeza visual final tras infecciones después de AS y de LASIK...

Laser in situ keratomileusis in patients with a history of ocular herpes.

PURPOSE: To report the outcomes of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) in patients with a history of ocular herpes simplex virus (HSV) or herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO). SETTING: Clínica Baviera, Instituto Oftalmológico Europeo, Madrid, Spain. METHODS: In this retrospective case series, the records of eyes with a history of ocular herpes that had LASIK from 2003 through 2005 were reviewed. The main outcome measure was postoperative recurrence of ocular herpes. RESULTS: Forty-nine eyes (48 patients) with a history of ocular herpes (HSV keratitis, 28 eyes; HSV eyelid lesions, 17 eyes; HZO, 4 eyes) were identified. All LASIK procedures were uneventful. Herpetic disease was inactive at the time of surgery in all eyes and for more than 1 year in 31 eyes. Perioperative antiviral systemic prophylaxis was used in 13 patients with a history of HSV keratitis. No eye developed reactivation of herpetic keratitis during the follow-up (range 1 to 28 months). CONCLUSIONS: Laser in situ keratomileusis was safe in patients with a history of ocular herpes; no recurrences occurred during the follow-up period. However, candidates should be selected with caution and surgery performed only in eyes in which the herpes has been inactive for 1 year before surgery, without stromal disease, and with regular topography and pachymetry maps and normal corneal sensitivity. The most reasonable clinical strategy is perioperative systemic antiviral prophylaxis.

Confocal microscopy in late-onset diffuse lamellar keratitis after laser in situ keratomileusis.

This article reports a case of diffuse lamellar keratitis, without exposure of the flap interface, that developed in a patient who underwent intraepithelial photorefractive keratectomy 1 year after bilateral LASIK. Confocal microscopy was performed in both eyes at the onset of the diffuse lamellar keratitis and after its resolution. In the eye with diffuse lamellar keratitis, abundant round structures (inflammatory cells) were present at the interface; these structures disappeared after the keratitis resolved and were not present in the contralateral eye at any time. These confocal microscopic findings further support the hypothesis that diffuse lamellar keratitis is a nonspecific inflammatory response in corneas with a lamellar interface.