Power Plug of a Mobile Phone Charger in the Orbit: A Case Report of a Domestic Injury.

Background: This is the case of a girl who sustained orbital injury while playing with a mobile phone charger. Case Report: The patient presented to the tertiary hospital 5 h after she sustained a penetrating injury with the power plug of a mobile phone charger to the right upper lid. There was associated headache, tearing, bleeding, discharge, and inability to open the right eye. On Examination: She was ill-looking and anxious, not febrile or pale. Systemic examination did not reveal any abnormality. Unaided visual acuity in the right eye (OD) could not be tested, left eye (OS)-6/9. The right eyelid was completely closed with a penetrating power plug of the phone charger in the supero-lateral aspect of the upper eyelid. A diagnosis of penetrating power plug of a charger in the right upper lid and orbit was made. Computed tomography scan showed the power plug of the charger in the right orbit with a little blood collection in the right maxillary sinus. She underwent examination under anaesthesia, foreign body removal, and repair of the lid penetration. The findings were right upper lid penetration with ptosis, corneal epithelial erosion, phone charger power plug in the medial orbital wall, and cataract. The foreign body was removed, and lid and conjunctival lacerations repaired. Eight weeks post-operatively, ptosis had resolved, leaving the anterior polar cataract (<3 mm) and a best corrected visual acuity of (OD) 6/6 and (OS) 6/5. About 6 months afterwards, the cataract matured with a visual acuity of 6/60 for which she had right phacoemulsification with posterior chamber intra-ocular lens implant insertion. Conclusion: Prompt presentation and management lead to good visual outcomes in this patient.

Comparative outcome of overhead and total body phototherapy for treatment of severe neonatal jaundice in Nigeria.

Background: In Nigeria, neonatal jaundice is commonly treated by overhead phototherapy with neonates lying supine, often with effective exposure of less than one half of the body surface. Total body exposure in phototherapy has been in use for less than 2 years in Nigeria, but is available in only five neonatal centres.Aim: To compare the effectiveness of total body exposure (TBPE) with the conventional partial exposure (COPT) for treatment of hyperbilirubinaemia.Methods: Eleven datasets from 10 neonatal units across Nigeria were retrieved. They included neonates with severe hyperbilirubinaemia treated with TBPE using the Firefly® device (MTTS Asia) as a test group. The remainder of the patients, the controls, were treated with COPT. Any requirement for exchange blood transfusion (EBT) in either group was documented. Total serum bilirubin (TSB) >213.8 µmol/L (12.5 mg/dL) was treated as severe hyperbilirubinaemia. The efficiency of the intervention was determined according to the time taken for a severe case to be downgraded to mild at ≤213.8 µmol/L.Results: A total of 486 patients were studied, 343 controls and 143 cases. Mean (SD) postnatal age was 6 days (0.7) for cases and 5 (0.9) for controls, for gestational age (GA) in completed weeks was 36 (0.5) for cases and 37 (0.7) for controls and for birthweight was 2.7 kg (0.25) for cases and 2.7 (0.22) for controls. Mean (SD) pre-intervention TSB was 299.3 (35.7) µmol/L for cases and 327.3 (13.9) for controls. Severity downgrade day was Day 2 (0.4) for cases and Day 5 (1.1) for controls. Overall relative EBT rate was 6% for cases and 55% for controls (p= 0.0001), and early preterm relative EBT rate was 0% for cases and 68% for controls (p < 0.01).Conclusion: TBPE was quicker and safer for reduction of hyperbilirubinaemia and patients rarely required EBT. TBPE is recommended for rapid reduction of serum bilirubin levels and the reduction of treatment costs, morbidity and mortality in low- and middle-income countries.Abbreviations: EBT, exchange blood transfusion; TBPE, total body exposure technique; COPT, conventional partial exposure; TSB, total serum bilirubin; SB, serum bilirubin; NNJ, neonatal jaundice; SCNU, special care neonatal unit; LMIC, low- and middle-income countries; HIC, high-income countries; LED, light-emitting diode.

Pre- and intraoperative mitomycin C for recurrent pterygium associated with symblepharon.

BACKGROUND: Treatment of recurrent pterygium associated with symblepharon usually involves the use of tissue grafting and/or the intraoperative application of mitomycin C (MMC). For the graft, a conjunctival/limbal autograft and/or amniotic membrane may be used. This generally requires extra technical skills and assistance, an increase in the cost and duration of surgery, and a more extensive anesthesia (a complete eye block or general anesthesia). Although widely used, safety concerns have been raised over MMC in the treatment of pterygia. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this case report is to report the successful use of preoperative subconjunctival injection of low-dose (0.02%) MMC one month before bare sclera excision of a multirecurrent pterygium, as well as the concomitant intraoperative application of MMC to the conjunctival fornix of the same eye after the excision of an associated symblepharon. CASE REPORT: A 31-year-old man from Kano, Northern Nigeria, presented to the eye clinic with a recurrent pterygium associated with an upper lid symblepharon in his right eye. He has had five previous pterygium excisions, with the last surgery involving conjunctival autografting and subconjunctival steroid injection. He was subsequently given 0.1 mL of 0.02% MMC as a subpterygial injection; one month later he had an alcohol-assisted bare sclera pterygium excision and a symblepharolysis with the intraoperative application of 0.02% MMC for 1 minute to the upper conjunctival fornix. Except for a Tenon granuloma that was simply excised, there has been no recurrence or other complications up to a year after surgery. CONCLUSION: As a cheaper and technically easier treatment option, a preoperative subconjunctival MMC injection followed by bare sclera pterygium excision was found to be effective in this patient with a recurrent pterygium. As at one-year follow-up, low-dose preoperative MMC a month prior to surgery also appeared safe and effective when combined with its intraoperative application to the conjunctival fornix for the treatment of associated symblepharon.

Treatment of pterygium.

The treatment of ocular pterygium has been subjected to the development and application of various new strategies in the last few years. The worrisome problem of recurrence seems to have been significantly reduced with the newer methods of treatment. The field is however, still evolving. This review sets out to examine the various newer approaches to treating pterygium and in spite of the recent developments, to highlight the remaining challenges thereby suggesting the possible direction of future research. Also, to suggest treatment options for Ophthalmologists working in environments with limited resources. A library search and Internet search of PubMed and Google was conducted in 2010. Search terms included "pterygium in combination with surgery", "radiotherapy", "chemotherapy", "graft", and "recurrence." Abstracts were reviewed and relevant articles especially those published from the year 2000 to date were given more attention and when possible, reviewed in full. The relevant references in such articles were also reviewed. In conclusion, excision and adjunctive treatment with mitomycin C or conjunctival autograft is the most acceptable and most popular mode of treating both primary and recurrent pterygium. Outcomes seem to have been further improved with adjuvant combination therapy and the introduction of newer approaches to treatment.