Lesiones dentales por el uso de cocaína / Dental lesions due to the use of cocaine

El consumo, abuso y adicción de sustancias ilícitas, como por ejemplo la cocaína, es uno de los problemas de salud pública más preocupante en nuestro país, con diferentes índices en el conurbano. El uso de cocaína en estos medios produce daños en distintos órganos, entre los cuales podemos mencionar, corazón, cerebro, riñón y también en tejidos duros como los dientes, daños y lesiones a las que haremos referencia en este artículo. El caso presentado en este trabajo es el de un paciente de 21 años, que ingresa a la guardia por traumatismo de cráneo moderado producido por una colisión moto-autobús. Sus familiares no refieren antecedentes de enfermedades previas. Se interna en la Unidad de terapia intensiva; y llama la atención, al realizar el examen físico, las lesiones observadas en los dientes incisivos y premolares de la arcada dentaria superior.

The consumption, abuse, and addiction of illicit substances, such as cocaine, is one of the most worrying public health problems in our country, with different indices in the conurbano. The use of cocaine in these media produces damage to different organs, among which we can mention, heart, brain, kidney and also in hard tissues such as teeth, damage and injuries to which we will refer to this article. The case presented in this work is that of a 21-year-old patient, who enters the guard for moderate skull trauma produced by a motorcycle-autobus collision. His relatives do not refer to a history of previous diseases. It goes into the Intensive Therapy Unit; And it attracts attention, when performing the physical exam, the lesions observed in the incisive and premolars of the upper dental arcade

Photodynamic therapy and subthreshold micropulse laser treatment - A novel combined approach for the treatment of serous retinal detachment in dome-shaped macula.

Dome-shaped macula (DSM) is characterized by an inward convexity of the macula in myopic eyes, as visualized on optical coherence tomography (OCT). Serous retinal detachment (SRD) is a common complication of DSM, leading to a deterioration of visual acuity, in association with retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) atrophic changes. Many different therapeutic approaches to SRD secondary to DSM have been attempted, with variable results. We report our experience (11 treatment-naïve patients) with a combined new treatment approach, using half-fluence and half-dose photodynamic therapy (PDT) followed by subthreshold 577 nm micropulse laser treatment (STLT), for SRD related to DSM after a 6-month follow-up. Central foveal thickness was significantly decreased at the end of the follow-up. SRD diminished in all cases, and 5 eyes (45.4 %) registered complete resolution at the end of the 6-month follow-up, while 6 eyes (54.5 %) experienced two lines of improvement in BCVA at the end of the follow-up. No case showed postoperative complications. Therefore, this represents the first study evaluating the visual and anatomical outcomes of a safe and effective combined treatment of SRD in DSM.

The Eye as a Window to Systemic Infectious Diseases: Old Enemies, New Imaging.

BACKGROUND: Syphilis, tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis are major infectious diseases worldwide; all of them are multisystem pathologies and share a possible ocular involvement. In this context, a fundamental help for the definitive diagnosis is provided by the ophthalmologist, through clinical evaluation and with the aid of a multimodal imaging examination. METHODS: We hereby describe selected cases who came to our attention and were visited in our eye clinic. In all clinics, the use of retinal and optic disc multimodal imaging during ophthalmological evaluation allowed to make a diagnosis of an infectious disease. RESULTS: In our tertiary referral center more than 60 patients with syphilis, tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis have been evaluated in the last two years: In 60% of cases the ophthalmological evaluation was secondary to a previous diagnosis of an infectious disease, while in the remaining cases the ophthalmologist, with the help of a multimodal imaging examination and clinical evaluation, represented the physician who leads to the diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Our results confirm how in these life-threatening pathologies a prompt diagnosis is mandatory and may benefit from a multidisciplinary and multimodal imaging approach, especially during ophthalmological evaluation.

Multimodal Imaging Analysis of Acute Syphilitic Posterior Placoid Chorioretinitis: A Case Report.

The authors report a multimodal imaging analysis of a case of acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) occurring in a 51-year-old man. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.5 and 0.8 in the right and left eyes, respectively. The authors performed spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, fundus autofluorescence, fluorescein angiography, and indocyanine green angiography. All of the examinations were suggestive of the diagnosis of ASPPC, a rare manifestation of syphilis that has distinctive anatomical characteristics that are detectable early on with multimodal imaging. Moreover, serological tests were positive for syphilis infection, so the patient received intravenous penicillin G for 14 days. Final BCVA was 1.0 in the right eye and 0.9 in the left eye. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:e179-e184.].

Flare changes after intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin in symptomatic vitreomacular traction syndrome.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the changes in anterior chamber flare after a single intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin (125 µg), in patients with symptomatic vitreomacular traction syndrome (VMT). STUDY DESIGN: An institutional review board-approved single-center not randomized prospective study. METHODS: Fifteen eyes of fifteen patients (9 women, 6 men) underwent intravitreal injection with ocriplasmin for symptomatic VMT (width of attachment ≤ 1500 µm). Anterior segment flare was measured with a laser flare meter (Kowa) before intravitreal injection and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month after injection. The changes in flare were analyzed; the resolution of VMT was evaluated with spectral-domain OCT. RESULTS: The mean anterior chamber flare was 10.5 ± 1.9 photons per millisecond (photons/ms) before the injection. After 1 day it increased to 13.6 ± 2.7 photons/ms (p = 0.027) and after 1 week to 14.4 ± 2.5 photons/ms (p = 0.005); after 1 month it decreased to 12.3 ± 2.3 photons/ms (p = 0.123). At 1 day and 1 week after injection, mean anterior chamber flare of fellow eyes was significantly lower than study eyes, while at 1 month this difference was not significant (12.3 ± 2.3 vs. 10.5 ± 1.8 photons/ms, p = 0.124, for study and fellow eyes). There was no statistically significant difference in the changes in flare between women and men or between phakic (N = 10) and pseudophakic (N = 5) eyes. No eye demonstrated intraretinal damage at any time-point. Also, 9 eyes showed resolution of VMT while 6 eyes demonstrated persistence of VMT. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin can be a safe and effective approach to treat symptomatic VMT syndrome in selected patients.

Acute macular neuroretinopathy associated with subclinical cytomegalovirus infection.

PURPOSE: To report a case of bilateral acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN) occurring in a 32-year-old woman, analyzed using the multimodal imaging technique. CASE REPORT: A 32-year-old Caucasian woman presented with 20 days history of acute onset of blurred vision in the right eye. The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.8 and 1.0 in the right and left eyes, respectively. She reported a lower urinary tract infection associated with fever, 7 days before the onset of the ocular symptoms. Serological tests demonstrated the presence of IgM specific for cytomegalovirus (CMV), while all the other laboratory tests were negative. SD-OCT exhibited the disruption of the inner segment-outer segment junction, associated with hyper-reflectivity of a thickened outer plexiform layer overlying such area associated with thinning of the outer nuclear layer. The patient was diagnosed with AMN and received a corticosteroid treatment. During all the follow-up, OCT features did not change, although BCVA improved. Four months after the first visit, we found also in the left eye a subfoveal IS/OS disruption but differently from the right eye, in which the abnormalities persisted during all the follow-up visits, in the left one they disappeared only after a month. The IgM specific for the CMV remained positive during the whole follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first patient reported with a diagnosis of AMN associated with persisting presence of IgM specific for CMV.

Evaluation of the efficacy and safety of the ophthalmic insert Mydriasert in patients undergoing retinal angiography.

PURPOSE: To verify the efficacy to obtain mydriasis and cardiovascular safety of Mydriasert (ophthalmic insert containing tropicamide and phenylephrine) in diabetic and nondiabetic patients undergoing retinal angiography by comparing it with usually administered eyedrops (tropicamide 1% and phenylephrine 10%). METHODS: This was a prospective randomized study. A total of 154 eyes of 77 patients were randomly divided into 2 groups: group 1 consisted of 78 eyes, group 2 consisted of 76 eyes, and the patients were monitored for pupillary dilation, blood pressure, heart rate, and possible adverse effects at 0, 20, 40, 60, and 90 minutes. RESULTS: No severe adverse effects were observed in either group. In the entire sample studied, the mean pupillary diameter was greater in the eyedrops group after 20 and 40 minutes, while mydriasis was similar in the 2 groups after 60 minutes. The diabetic patients treated with Mydriasert had less mydriasis than those treated with eyedrops after 20 and 40 minutes, and diabetic patients showed less mydriasis than the nondiabetic patients after 60 and 90 minutes. There was no significant between-group difference in mean heart rate or systolic and diastolic blood pressure at any of the time points. CONCLUSIONS: Mydriasert assures an adequate degree of mydriasis for retinal angiography in both diabetic and nondiabetic patients. There are no differences in efficacy or safety between the insert and the usually administered eyedrops, but the low total drug dose administered with the insert reduces the risk of cardiovascular side effects.