Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Compliance With Contact Lens Wear and Care Among Contact Lens Users at a University Hospital in Turkey.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the level of compliance with contact lens (CL) care habits among CL wearers of different age and occupation groups. METHODS: This survey study included 205 CL wearers followed in the tertiary reference center between 2016 and 2022. The survey was employed to probe each user's demographic data and noncompliant behaviors. To this end, the study compared CL compliance levels of patients in different age and occupation groups. RESULTS: There were 85 (41.5%) patients in the good compliant group, 72 (35.1%) in the average compliant group, and 48 (23.4%) in the poor compliant group. The most common noncompliant behavior was disruption of aftercare visits. Except for two noncompliant behaviors (storage of fresh lens solution and exceeding the recommended lens case replacement time), other noncompliant behaviors were found more frequently in the ≤25 age group. The differences between the age groups were significant in hand washing and water activities ( P =0.004 and P =0.023, respectively). Exceeding lens replacement time and sleeping with lenses criteria were found to be significantly noncompliant in health care workers compared to non-health care workers ( P =0.006 and P =0.001, respectively). The level of compliance was found to be lower in users with 6 to 7 days of CL use per week than in those with fewer days ( P =0.006). CONCLUSION: We found that the compliance rate was lower in younger patients and health care workers. We also observed that long-term use of CL reduces the level of compliance. Therefore, it might be necessary to focus on modifiable risk factors in these patient groups.

A nomogram predicting testicular sperm extraction success in men with non-obstructive azoospermia: A multi-center study.

OBJECTIVES: To develop an efficient and easy-to-use nomogram which can predict testicular sperm extraction(TESE) success in men with non-obstructive azoospermia(NOA) by using pre-operative parameters. MATERIALS AND METODS: Data of 3093 men who underwent TESE for NOA were included in this study. Demographic data, testis volumes, presence of varicocele, length of infertility, history of previous surgeries, history of genitourinary infections, smoking status, chromosome abnormalities, presence of Y-chromosome microdeletion, family history of infertility, testis biopsy, surgical data, sperm retrieval rate, final pathology obtained at testicular sperm extraction, follicle stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone, testosterone levels were recorded. The primary outcome was to develop an efficient nomogram which can predict the TESE success in men with NOA. The secondary outcomes were identifying the significant pre-operative parameters which are associated with success in TESE. RESULTS: Sperm retrieval rate was 50.2%(1553/3093). Testis volume, history of varicocelectomy, chromosome abnormalities, presence of Y-chromosome microdeletion were shown to affect sperm retrieval rate significantly(p<0.05). Sperm retrieval success was higher in men with older age, higher testis volume(>10mL), lower follicle stimulating hormone level(≤ 12.92mIU/mL), lower luteinizing hormone level, and higher testosterone level(p<0.05). Only testis volume and patient's age were associated with succesful sperm retrieval in multivariate logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: In men with NOA, high testis volume, old age, low follicle stimulating hormone level, low luteinizing hormone level, and high testosterone level are advantageous for successful sperm retrieval in TESE. Herein we present a nomogram which can predict the outcome of TESE in men with NOA with adequate success.

Refractive change in pediatric patients with intermittent exotropia.

PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between intermittent exotropia (IXT) and refractive change and the effects of the methods applied in IXT follow-up on refractive change. METHOD: The medical records of 228 patients with IXT (group 1) and 110 patients without strabismus (group 2) who were followed between 2008 and 2022 were analyzed retrospectively. Group 1 was divided into three subgroups: overminus correction (group 1A), patients who underwent surgery (group 1B), and patients who were observed (group 1C). RESULTS: Annual myopic progression was -0.21 ± 0.32 D (range, -1.26 to +1.92) in group 1 and -0.07 ± 0.30 D (range, -1.13 to +1.00) in group 2 (P < 0.001). Annual myopic progression was -0.26 ± 0.29 D (range, -1.26 D to +0.12 D) in group 1A, -0.25 ± 0.35 D (range, -1.15 D to +0.25 D) in group 1B, and -0.19 ± 0.33 D (range, -1.12 D to +1.92 D) in group 1C. There was no difference in annual myopic progression between the subgroups (P = 0.670). The annual change in myopic refraction between each of the group 1 subgroups and group 2 was statistically significantly different (P < 0.001, P = 0.023, P < 0.001, resp.). CONCLUSIONS: Myopia progression was significantly greater in children with IXT than in the normal population. Myopia progression did not vary with exotropia treatment.

The influence of different sugammadex doses on neural tube development in early-stage chick embryos.

BACKGROUND: Sugammadex is a modified gamma-cyclodextrin that has been developed with the goal of reversing the steroidal neuromuscular blocking agents. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of different sugammadex doses on embryologic and neural tube development in an early-stage chick embryo model. METHODS: A total of 100 specific pathogen-free, fertilized domestic chicken eggs were randomly divided into five groups (n = 20, each), and placed in an automatic cycle incubator. The eggs in the "control (C)" group were incubated without administration of any drug till the end of the experiment. Sub-blastodermic administration of 0.9% NaCl as vehicle control (VC) and different doses of sugammadex solutions prepared with the latter [2 mg/mL (LD), 4 mg/mL (MD), 16 mg/mL (HD)] were performed at 30 hr of incubation. All embryos were removed from the eggs at 72 hr when they were expected to reach Hamburger-Hamilton (HH) stages 19-20, then they were fixed, and evaluated histo-morphologically. RESULTS: Embryonic development was not observed in 11 eggs (1 in C, 1 in VC; 3 in LD, 3 in MD, and 3 in HD). All the developed embryos were compatible with the HH stages 19-20. A neural tube closure defect was detected in one embryo in the HD group. No statistically significant difference was found between the groups in terms of embryonic and neural tube developments. CONCLUSIONS: No significant association was found between the drug and adverse outcomes; however, a trend with dosing was seen. Further studies are required before conclude on safety and extrapolate these results to human beings.