Pseudomonas aeruginosa outbreak linked to mineral water bottles in a neonatal intensive care unit: fast typing by use of high-resolution melting analysis of a variable-number tandem-repeat locus.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes nosocomial infections in intensive care units. Determining a system of typing that is discriminatory is essential for epidemiological surveillance of P. aeruginosa. We developed a method for the typing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, namely, multiple-locus variable-number tandem-repeat (VNTR) typing with high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA). The technology was used to genotype a collection of 43 environmental and clinical strains isolated during an outbreak in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) that we report. Nineteen strains isolated in other departments or outside the hospital were also tested. The genetic diversity of this collection was determined using VNTR-HRMA, with amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis as a reference. Twenty-five and 28 genotypes were identified, respectively, and both techniques produced congruent data. VNTR-HRMA established clonal relationships between the strains of P. aeruginosa isolated during the outbreak in the NICU and proved, for the first time, the role of mineral water as the inoculum source. VNTR typing with one primer pair in association with HRMA is highly reproducible and discriminative, easily portable among laboratories, fast, and inexpensive, and it demonstrated excellent typeability in this study. VNTR-HRMA represents a promising tool for the molecular surveillance of P. aeruginosa and perhaps for molecular epidemiologic analysis of other hospital infections.

[Comparison of anatomic and functional results between Z6 femtosecond laser assisted and manual trephination in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for advanced keratoconus [French version]]. / Comparaison des résultats anatomiques et fonctionnels à 12 mois d'une série de kératoplasties lamellaires profondes assistées au laser femtoseconde Z6 versus trépanation manuelle pour kératocônes sévères.

The management of severe keratoconus requires corneal transplantation, for which the gold standard is deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), preserving the healthy Descemet's membrane and endothelium. The safety and reproducibility of corneal cuts have been improved by the evolution of femtosecond lasers in refractive surgery, and femtosecond laser in DALK would seem to provide the same advantages over the manual method. In our retrospective study, we compare functional and anatomical results of femtosecond assisted DALK versus manual trephination DALK in patients with keratoconus in stage 4 of the Krumeich classification. It is a retrospective study including all patients with stage 4 keratoconus who underwent femtosecond laser assisted DALK between November 2012 and November 2015 in Nantes hospital. We compared those patients to a group of patients who underwent manual DALK in the same period, paired by age and maximal keratometry. We assessed visual acuity, pachymetry, endothelial cell density (specular microscopy), and keratometry before surgery and at 4, 8 and 12 months of follow-up. Laser settings and intraoperative complications were recorded. Nineteen patients underwent surgery by femtosecond assisted DALK, 6 women and 12 men with average age 30.2±10.8 years at transplantation. They were paired with a group of 17 patients who underwent manual DALK in order to compare results. Before surgery, mean visual acuity in the femtosecond group was 0.90 logMAR versus 0.89 logMAR in the manual group, showing no statistically significant difference (P=0.96). Both groups were similar in terms of preoperative age, mean keratometry, pachymetry and endothelial cell density. Average visual acuity post-surgery was 0.27, 0.26; and 0.14 logMAR for femtosecond DALK versus 0.27, 0.17 et 0.25 for manual DALK at 4, 8 and 12 months follow-up, respectively showing no statistically significant difference. After surgery, at 4, 8 and 12 months, mean pachymetry was similar in both groups, and average endothelial cell density was 2390 cells/mm2 in femtoDALK versus 2531 cells/mm2 in manual DALK at 12 months of follow-up, showing no statistically significant difference (P=0.5726). The rate of Descemet's membrane microperforations during the procedure was low and similar for both groups. Our study allows for a 12 month follow-up, with assessment of visual recovery, anatomical result and endothelial safety in a sample of 19 femtosecond laser assisted DALK with no statistical significant difference versus the manual trephination group. Femtosecond laser allows for increased reproducibility of the DALK procedure without reducing adverse effects during surgery. Femtosecond laser seems to improve the technique of the DALK procedure, and future developments could improve the reproducibility of DALK even further. A medical economics study would be necessary to determine the cost effectiveness of femtosecond laser assisted DALK.

Comparison of 12-month anatomic and functional results between Z6 femtosecond laser-assisted and manual trephination in deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty for advanced keratoconus.

The management of severe keratoconus requires corneal transplantation, for which the gold standard is deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK), preserving the healthy Descemet's membrane and endothelium. The safety and reproducibility of corneal cuts have been improved by the evolution of femtosecond lasers in refractive surgery, and femtosecond laser in DALK would seem to provide the same advantages over the manual method. In our retrospective study, we compare functional and anatomical results of femtosecond-assisted DALK versus manual trephination DALK in patients with keratoconus in stage 4 of the Krumeich classification. It is a retrospective study including all patients with stage 4 keratoconus who underwent femtosecond laser-assisted DALK between November 2012 and November 2015 in Nantes university medical center. We compared those patients to a group of patients who underwent manual DALK in the same period, paired by age and maximal keratometry. We assessed visual acuity, pachymetry, endothelial cell density (specular microscopy), and keratometry before surgery and at 4, 8 and 12 months of follow-up. Laser settings and intraoperative complications were recorded. Nineteen patients underwent surgery by femtosecond-assisted DALK, 6 women and 12 men with average age 30.2±10.8 years at transplantation. They were paired with a group of 17 patients who underwent manual DALK in order to compare results. Before surgery, mean visual acuity in the femtosecond group was 0.90 logMAR versus 0.89 logMAR in the manual group, showing no statistically significant difference (P=0.96). Both groups were similar in terms of preoperative age, mean keratometry, pachymetry and endothelial cell density. Average visual acuity post-surgery was 0.27; 0.26; and 0.14 logMAR for femtosecond DALK versus 0.27; 0.17 et 0.25 for manual DALK at 4, 8 and 12 months follow-up respectively, showing no statistically significant difference. After surgery, at 4, 8 and 12 months, mean pachymetry was similar in both groups, and average endothelial cell density was 2390 cells/mm2 for femto DALK versus 2531 cells/mm2 for manual DALK at 12 months of follow-up, showing no statistically significant difference (P=0.5726). The rate of Descemet's membrane microperforations during the procedure was low and similar for both groups. Our study allows for a 12-month follow-up, with assessment of visual recovery, anatomic result and endothelial safety in a series of 19 femtosecond laser-assisted DALK with no statistical significant difference versus the manual trephination group. Femtosecond laser allows for increased reproducibility of the DALK procedure without reducing adverse effects during surgery. Femtosecond laser seems to improve the technique of the DALK procedure, and future developments could improve the reproducibility of DALK even further. A medical economics study would be necessary to determine the cost-effectiveness of femtosecond laser-assisted DALK.

[Treatment of macular edema: Comparison of efficacy and tolerability of subconjunctival triamcinolone injections, sub-tenon's triamcinolone injections and intravitreal dexamethasone implant]. / Traitement des œdèmes maculaires : comparaison de l'efficacité et de la tolérance des injections sous-conjonctivales de triamcinolone, des injections sous-ténoniennes de triamcinolone et des injections intra-vitréennes de l'implant de dexaméthasone.

The area of uveitis is related to numerous pathological entities. One of the main causes of decreased visual acuity in these patients is macular edema. One aspect of the treatment includes cortosteroids used peri- and intra-ocularly. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The goal of our work was to estimate the criteria of efficacy (on improvement in visual acuity and macular edema, as well as time to recurrence) and safety (on intraocular pressure and cataract) of these various routes of administration of corticosteroid after a single injection. We compared patients treated with Ozurdex® versus subconjonctival triamcinolone versus sub-tenon's triamcinolone. This is a retrospective study conducted in 2 tertiary centers, the university medical center of Nantes and La Pitié-Salpêtrière hospital from November, 2011 to November, 2013. RESULTS: At presentation, 25 % of the patients displayed VA better than 5/10. During follow-up, this proportion increased to 45 % at M1, 50 % at M3, 49 % at M6 and 48 % at the end of follow-up. There was no significant difference between the groups with respect to VA gain. The reductions in mean CMT compared with D0 were all statistically significant (improvement of one line in log-OCT). We observed an improvement in macular thickness of 88 % at M1, 86 % at M3, 61 % at M6 and 60 % at the end of follow-up, significant at each time, with no significant difference between the three groups. A comparison of time to anatomic vs. functional recurrence was performed, showing no difference. The largest increase in IOP was observed at M1, statistically different from the other time points. DISCUSSION: Intra- and periocular injections should be considered as an adjuvant therapy, since the majority of the conditions in question require systemic treatment. They allow for increased intravitreal concentrations with fewer systemic effects. CONCLUSION: We demonstrated neither any true superiority of any of the 3 treatments nor any difference in tolerability between the 3 groups.

[Safety and efficacy of subconjunctival triamcinolone injections in the management of uveitic macular edema: retrospective study of thirty-one cases]. / Efficacité et tolérance des injections sous-conjonctivales de triamcinolone dans la prise en charge des œdèmes maculaires uvéitiques : étude rétrospective sur trente et un cas.

Triamcinolone acetonide (Kenacort) is a corticosteroid that can be administrated by subconjunctival injection, with an extended release for up to three months. Our retrospective study aims to analyze safety and efficacy of subconjunctival triamcinolone injections in the treatment of uveitic macular edema. We included 31 eyes of 30 patients, who had one or several injections. We studied the progression of visual acuity, central macular thickness by optical coherence tomography (OCT), intraocular pressure, and presence or absence of cataract, on the day of injection (T0), and at 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after injection. Twenty-one patients had only one injection; 10 patients had 2. The 12-month follow-up showed an improvement in visual acuity with an initial mean of 0.36 ± 0.27 logMAR to 0.23 ± 0.33 logMAR at 3 months of follow-up (P<0.0004), and to 0.24 ± 0.21 logMAR at 12 months (P=0.0371), for a two-line improvement. A decrease in mean central macular thickness was measured by OCT, from a mean of 444 ± 112 µm (0.24 ± 0.11 logSD-OCT) at T0 to 355 ± 103 µm (0.14 $ ± 0.10 logSD-OCT) at 3 months (P=0.0002). We did not find a significant increase in intraocular pressure, and we diagnosed one cataract during follow-up but this occurred in the uninjected eye as well. Subconjunctival injection of triamcinolone acetonide is a safe and effective treatment of macular edema related to uveitis. Initial clinical monitoring is necessary to detect iatrogenic events.