Quality of life following LASIK surgery at a tertiary center in North India.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Laser-assisted in situ keratomileuses (LASIK) refractive surgery is a cutting-edge and developing area of ophthalmology. Reshaping the cornea during refractive surgery helps patients become less dependent on glasses or contact lenses. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the visual outcome, quality of life, and patient satisfaction following LASIK surgery at a tertiary care center in North India using the National Eye Institute Refractive Error Quality of Life (NEIRQL-42) questionnaire. METHODS: NEI-RQL, a 42-item measure with 13 subscales. The questionnaire was administered to a sample size of 71 patients who underwent LASIK Surgery at a tertiary center in North India. Data were collected pre- and post-surgery (1,3,6 month post-LASIK) for myopic or hyperopic refractive error. Statistical analysis was done using the Friedman test and Wilcoxon signed-rank test. RESULTS: In myopic patients, the mean preoperative spherical equivalent (SE) was -4.19 ± 2.28D in the right eye and -4.26 ± 2.28D in the left eye and post-op SE -0.06±0.29 (p=0.00). The largest improvements (>25 points) on the 0 to 100 possible score range, were seen in activity limitations, dependence on correction, appearance, and satisfaction with correction subscales. The subscale glare showed a statistically significant difference (worsening) whereas a non-significant change (P> 0.05) was recorded only in the sub-optimal correction sub-scale. CONCLUSIONS: The NEIRQL-42 is a responsive tool to evaluate vision-related changes in quality of life after LASIK surgery in the Indian population. The best surgical expectancy and QoL can be expected at 6 months following surgery.

Management of multi-surface ocular burns caused by molten iron.

Ocular thermal burns are medical emergencies that require immediate intervention before the standard management protocol, which involves obtaining a detailed history and performing an ophthalmic examination. In this case report, we report the clinical manifestations of ocular burns caused by molten iron and the steps taken for good clinical outcomes. The patient presented with an inferior epithelial defect and limbal and lower lid ischemia at four hours post-injury. Over the course of treatment, due to non-resolving epithelial defect and increased superior lid notching, amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) and lid repair by pentagon wedge excision were performed. Following AMT, the corneal surface completely healed with residual opacity and neovascularization. Additionally, limbal ischemia was significantly reduced with the restoration of normal lid anatomy. Corneal burns initiate a cascade of inflammatory reactions disrupting the balance between pro- and anti-angiogenic factors, leading to corneal neovascularization. The eyelid damage can lead to necrosis of tissues with eschar formation and eventually quantitative tissue loss. Therefore, timely intervention is the key to the successful management of ocular burns.

Herpes Zoster Ophthalmicus After COVID-19 Vaccination: Chance Occurrence or More?

ABSTRACT: As the understanding of COVID-19 infection becomes better, it is being recognized as a complex multisystem pathology rather than just affecting the lungs. Several ocular findings have been documented by researchers in individuals infected with COVID-19, and ocular symptoms may even be the first presenting feature of COVID-19 infection in 2.26% individuals. Several countries have started vaccination with inactivated or live vaccines to combat this pandemic, and varied side effects have been reported after vaccination. Few cases of herpes zoster have previously been reported in elderly patients with comorbidities after receiving COVID-19 vaccines. In this article, the authors described 2 interesting cases of herpes zoster ophthalmicus (HZO) after receiving a live COVID-19 vaccine. The first case was a 35-year-old immunocompetent man who developed HZO 3 days postvaccine. The second case was a 40-year-old immunocompetent man who developed HZO 28 days postvaccine. To the best of our knowledge, no literature to date has described HZO after live vaccine.