Recurrence of gigantic overhanging bleb post excision: a case report.

Purpose: To report the case of an extremely large overhanging bleb, extending from superior fornix to limbus, in a 57-year-old poorly controlled diabetic, six years after trabeculectomy for an uncontrolled primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) with recurrence, months after complete excision. Methods: An overhanging bleb is defined as a filtering cicatrix which has been massaged downward over the cornea by eyelid action. It has been linked to anti-metabolite use during glaucoma filtering surgery. Despite being functional, these blebs result in patient discomfort ranging from foreign body sensation and lacrimation to dysphotopsia. A 57-year-old male presented with complaints of reduced vision, foreign body sensation, watering, and difficulty in eye closure in the left eye (OS) for past 6 months. He had undergone trabeculectomy with mitomycin C 6 years ago for advanced primary open-angle glaucoma with no follow-up beyond the initial one 4 weeks post-surgery. Results: At presentation, he had a giant multi-loculated, cystic filtering bleb (15 mm x 8 mm x 4-5 mm), which was carefully excised. Amniotic membrane was used as an anti-fibrotic as well to cover the defect. Seven months after surgery, there was recurrence of this overhanging cystic bleb when it was again excised with debulking of the conjunctiva done and cryotherapy applied to its margins. Conclusion: Although multiloculated cystic overhanging blebs have been documented before, such a large (posterior extent till fornix), thick-walled multiloculated bleb with histopathological evidence of chronic inflammatory process has not been reported prior.

An atypical presentation of sympathetic ophthalmia following chemical ocular burns.

BACKGROUND: Sympathetic ophthalmia is a rare disease that can present as bilateral granulomatous uveitis after a penetrating trauma or surgery in one eye. FINDINGS: We report a case of a 47-year-old male with history of decreased vision in the right eye, six months after sustaining severe chemical injury in the left eye. He was diagnosed with sympathetic ophthalmia and was treated with corticosteroids and long-term immunosuppressive therapy, leading to complete resolution of intraocular inflammation. Final visual acuity was 20/30 at one year of follow up. CONCLUSIONS: Sympathetic Ophthalmia following chemical ocular burns is extremely uncommon. It can present as a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. It warrants early diagnosis and management.

Clinically relevant colour album test for the colour defective medical student.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of color vision deficiency (CVD) in medical undergraduates by a more clinically applicable test. Methods: Cross-sectional study of 31 students with CVD (Ishihara diagnosed) asked to identify subject-specific signs/tests requiring color identification on a customized medical multispecialty designed color album test (CAT). They were further subjected to Farnsworth D-15 testing. Results: The error score of CVD students (4 ± 3.2) on 39 plates of color album test was highly significant as compared to the error score of color normal (0.3 ± 0.6). The CAT depicted linear correlation with Farnsworth D-15 and emerged as a valid tool of assessment. Ishihara interpretation did not correlate with the clinical impact of CVD. Nature of error suggests that CVD students can anticipate problems in dermatology, pathology, hematology, microbiology, and biochemistry. Conclusion: Color album test is a more clinically relevant test for CVD doctors to identify specialties where they can anticipate difficulties.

Immunocytochemistry of the ocular surface after different techniques of limbal stem cell transplantation for chronic chemical burns.

AIM: To compare the immunocytochemistry (ICC) on impression cytology of corneal surface epithelium after simple limbal epithelial transplantation (SLET) and conjunctival-limbal autograft (CLAU). METHODS: A prospective study of 20 patients above 1 year of age with chronic chemical burns, who underwent limbal stem cell transplantation (LSCT). They were divided equally in group A (SLET) and group B (CLAU). ICC was done for cytokeratin 3 (CK3) and cytokeratin 19 (CK19), preoperatively and postoperatively at 6 months. RESULTS: Four cases were excluded due to inadequate cellularity in preoperative or postoperative samples. On ICC analysis, in the remaining 16 patients mean CK3 and CK19 positivity changed from 2.06%±1.73% and 83.56%±8.69% preoperatively to 70.62%±13.2% (p<0.0001) and 5.93%±4.17% (p<0.0001), respectively, at 6 months post LSCT. In group A (8 patients) mean CK3 and CK19 positivity of 2%±1.8% and 84.5%±8.4% preoperatively changed to 70%±13.8% (p<0.0001) and 6.25%±5.1% (p<0.0001) at 6 months respectively. While in group B (8 patients), it was 2.12%±1.7% and 82.62%±9.4% preoperatively and 71.25%±013.5% (p<0.0001) and 5.62%±3.2% (p<0.0001) at 6 months. There was no significant difference in expression of CK3 (p=0.084) and CK19 (p=0.744) post SLET or CLAU.Three patients with complete reversion had clear corneas at 6 months. CONCLUSION: Reversion of the epithelium to corneal phenotype was documented post LSCT with no difference in expression of CK3 between the two procedures (SLET/CLAU).

Congenital ectropion uveae (CEU) with refractory glaucoma: Early trabeculectomy saves vision.

We report the case of congenital ectropion uveae in a 10-year-old boy with intractable unilateral glaucoma but no systemic association. Glaucoma in congenital ectropion uveae is often poorly responsive to medial therapy and requires surgical intervention. Satisfactory results are possible if diagnosis is established early and timely surgery performed, as was the case in our patient.

Role of Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction in Cornea Donors During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report the analysis of reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of nasopharyngeal (NP) samples of cornea donors dying because of causes unrelated to severe acute respiratory coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). METHODS: A retrospective analysis of all cornea donors dying from causes other than SARS-CoV-2 between August 2020 and December 2020 was performed. Informed consent was obtained from the next of kin of the deceased for RT-PCR testing from NP swabs. Rapid antigen testing from all the deceased was performed before in situ cornea excision. In addition, NP samples in viral transport media for RT-PCR were also collected for SARS-CoV-2 analysis. Corneas were released from the eye bank only after a negative RT-PCR report. RESULT: One hundred eighteen corneas from 59 donors were obtained by the eye bank. Eleven donors (18.64%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR testing. Six of these 11 donors had a Ct value of E gene less than 25. CONCLUSIONS: NP samples of cornea donors dying due to causes other than coronavirus disease-19 were positive for SARS-CoV-2 on RT-PCR. This implicates that donors could be having asymptomatic/undetected coronavirus disease infection. We recommend adding the routine testing of NP samples of all cornea donors in the eye banking protocol in this ongoing SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

Orthokeratology in Moderate Myopia: A Study of Predictability and Safety.

PURPOSE: Literature is relatively silent on safety profile and predictability of orthokeratology lenses in terms of myopia correction and prevention of further progression, especially in semi-tropical countries; this study was designed to fill this gap. METHODS: This prospective, intervention case series enrolled 30 eyes of 30 patients with myopia up to -5.5 diopters (D). Patients were randomized into two groups of 15 each; the study group was prescribed overnight orthokeratology (OK) lenses, while the control group used daily wear conventional soft contact lenses. Follow-up examinations were performed after 1 h and 6 h, and then at 1, 7, 15, 30 days, and 4 months post lens wear. Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), contrast sensitivity, keratometry, central corneal thickness (CCT), and tear film break up time (TBUT) were evaluated at each follow-up examination. RESULTS: All patients attained a visual acuity of 0.00 Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (logMAR) after one week of lens use, which was maintained throughout the study period. While patients allotted to the study group had a gain of 8.1 Snellen lines (UCVA), those in the control group gained 8.9 lines (BCVA) at the end of follow-up period. In the OK group, cornea showed a flattening of 0.8 D (mean keratometry) after single overnight usage of OK lens and overall flattening of 1.2 D compared to baseline, at the end of four months. The change in contrast sensitivity, corneal endothelial specular count, axial length and tear film status was not significant in either group. CONCLUSION: Orthokeratology is an effective and safe modality to correct moderate myopia in motivated young adults. No side effects were encountered after a short-term follow-up in participants who resided in semi-tropical environments.