Utility of demographic and clinical signs as diagnostic predictors for leptospiral uveitis: A retrospective study.

PURPOSE: Leptospirosis is a waterborne zoonotic disease prevalent in tropical regions, causing significant morbidity and mortality. It can involve any organ in its primary stage, and uveitis is its late complication. While advanced laboratory diagnosis is available only in tertiary care centers globally, a cost-effective bedside assessment of clinical signs and their scoring could offer a provisional diagnosis. AIM: To analyze the diagnostic potential of demographic and clinical signs in a large cohort of serologically confirmed leptospiral uveitis patients. METHODS: In this retrospective study, demographic and clinical parameters of 876 seropositive leptospiral uveitis patients and 1042 nonleptospiral uveitis controls were studied. Multivariable logistic regression analysis with bootstrap confidence interval (CI) characterized the diagnostic predictors. The performance of the model was evaluated using the area under the receiver operating curve (AUROC). RESULTS: Presence of nongranulomatous uveitis (odds ratio [OR] = 6.9), hypopyon (OR = 4.6), vitreous infiltration with membranous opacities (OR = 4.3), bilateral involvement (OR = 4), panuveitis (OR = 3.3), vasculitis (OR = 1.9), disc hyperemia (OR = 1.6), absence of retinochoroiditis (OR = 15), and absence of cystoid macular edema (OR = 8.9) emerged as predictive parameters. The AUROC value was 0.86 with 95% CI of 0.846-0.874. At a cut-off score of 40, the sensitivity and specificity were 79.5 and 78.4, respectively. CONCLUSION: The study demonstrates that ocular signs can serve as diagnostic predictors for leptospiral uveitis, enabling primary care ophthalmologists to make bedside diagnosis. This can be further confirmed by laboratory methods available at tertiary care centers.

Why do Doctors Miss the Diagnosis of Leptospiral Uveitis? Emergence of New Serovars and Challenges in Diagnosis.

PURPOSE: Leptospirosis is an endemic disease in India and uveitis is its late complication. Several Indian reports showed diversity of serovars, changing patterns and existence of new serovars. Failure to add new serovars in testing panel result in increased false-negativity in serology. AIM: To analyse seroprevalence, changing patterns and to discuss the resulting challenges in diagnosis. METHODS: In this retrospective study covering the period from 1994 to 2020, we analysed data from laboratory records of patients diagnosed with leptospiral uveitis in South India. Microscopic agglutination Test (MAT) and/or Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) were performed on clinically diagnosed leptospiral uveitis cases from our hospital, as well as on systemic leptospirosis patients from government and private hospitals. RESULTS: Out of a total of 87 216 new uveitis cases with varying causes over 27 years, 3,658 (4.1%) were clinically diagnosed as leptospiral uveitis. Among them, 1,268 (34.7%) patients were seropositive. In 1994, 92% of clinically diagnosed leptospirosis patients were seropositive in the MAT performed at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. However, the positivity rate gradually declined to 35% over the years. The predominant serovars identified were L. autumnalis, L. icterohaemorrhagiae, and L. australis. There were notable variations in the distribution of serovars over the years. CONCLUSIONS: The data suggest a declining sensitivity of MAT and ELISA, possibly due to the emergence of new serovars. Customizing the panel based on local isolates could enhance the performance of MAT. Critical need is the addition of advanced molecular techniques to improve the diagnosis.

Leptospiral uveitis- "Transition 'from epidemic to endemic form" difficulties in laboratory confirmations.

Purpose: Leptospirosis is a waterborne zoonotic disease that primarily causes systemic illness, followed by uveitis. After heavy flooding in Madurai district, an epidemic outbreak of systemic and ocular leptospirosis occurred in 1994. Our data shows a transition to endemicity after each epidemic. Aim: The aim of this study is to report the clinical signs, epidemic outbreaks, and persistent endemicity of leptospiral uveitis, as well as the diagnostic dilemmas associated with it. Methods: A retrospective analysis of clinical signs was conducted using medical records of leptospiral uveitis patients over a period of 27 years (1994-2020) in a tertiary care eye hospital. The clinical workup of uveitis included a detailed clinical history, systemic, and ophthalmic examination. Microagglutination tests (MATs) was done at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta and later in our regional laboratory. Serum samples were collected from human systemic leptospirosis cases and a small group of animals in and around Madurai. Results: The first epidemic outbreak resulted in 200 seropositive patients. Subsequent epidemic outbreaks occurred in 1997, 1998, 2001, 2005, and 2012, with Madurai experiencing multiple outbreaks. However, the disease remained endemic, with 25-50 patients being observed per year in between the peaks. Ocular examination revealed acute non-granulomatous uveitis (94.9%), pan uveitis (59.8%), vitreous inflammatory reaction (55.4%), retinal vasculitis (29.5%), disc hyperemia (20.9%), and hypopyon. (16.2%). New serovars emerged every year, resulting in decreased sensitivity of the MAT. Over time, the MAT started to miss diagnoses. Conclusion: The persistent endemicity of leptospiral uveitis emphasizes the need for accessible diagnostic tests. The low performance of the MAT can be attributable to the use of an older panel. The incorporation of new isolates in the MAT by a national laboratory will improve the accuracy of diagnosis.

Mean rate of progression of visual fields in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and ocular hypertension attending a tertiary care center in South India - A prospective cohort study using FORUM® Glaucoma Workplace software.

Purpose: To find out the mean rate of progression (MROP) of visual fields (VF) in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT) using FORUM® Glaucoma Workplace. Methods: Two hundred and one eyes of 105 patients were included in this prospective cohort study. Patients with POAG and OHT were recruited, and VF analysis with 24-2 and or 10-2 was done using SITA standard strategy in Zeiss Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer (HFA). All the previous VFs were identified from FORUM software, and the baseline indices were recorded from the first reliable VF analysis. The present VF analysis was compared to the previous one using FORUM software, and the rate of progression (ROP) in VF was obtained by Guided Progression Analysis. Results: MROP of VF in the POAG group was - 0.085 dB/year, ranging from -2.8 to 2.8 dB/year with a standard deviation (SD) of 0.69. In the OHT group, the MROP of VF was -0.003 dB/year, ranging from - 0.8 to 0.5 dB/year with an SD of 0.27. The MROP of VF in medically treated eyes with POAG was -0.14 dB/year with an SD of 0.61 and in surgically treated eyes was -0.02 dB/year with an SD of 0.78. The overall baseline mean VF index (VFI) was 83.19% and the final mean VFI was 79.80%. There was a statistically significant decrease in the mean VFI value from baseline to the final visit (P-value 0.0005). Conclusion: The mean ROP of VF in the POAG group was -0.085 dB/year and in the OHT group was - 0.003 dB/year.

An objective evaluation of simulated surgical outcomes among surgical trainees using manual small-incision cataract surgery virtual reality simulator.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate trainee performance across six modules of a virtual reality (VR) simulator. Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted on 10 manual small-incision cataract surgery (MSICS) trainees who practiced cataract surgery on an MSICS VR simulator for one month. They were assessed in six major steps which included scleral groove, tunnel dissection, keratome entry, capsulorhexis, nucleus delivery, and intraocular lens (IOL) insertion under a trainer's supervision. The information included in their score metrics was collected, and their overall performance was evaluated. Results: Thirty attempts were evaluated for scleral groove, tunnel dissection, and capsulorhexis and 15 attempts for keratome entry. Candidates had varied results in the dimensional aspects and their rates of complications with a mean satisfactory score of 3.1 ± 4.17, 6.8 ± 5.75, 5.8 ± 7.74, and 1.8 ± 2.57, respectively. Nucleus delivery (n = 5) had more of iris pull and IOL insertion (n = 5) had more of lost IOL as complications but both had a higher satisfactory outcome. Conclusion: A VR simulator is a useful tool for training surgeons before their entry into live surgery. It is an effective method for evaluating objectively the structural characteristics of each phase in MSICS and their associated complications, helping them anticipate it earlier during live surgery by giving them a near real world experience.

Retrospective analysis of the comparison between carbon dioxide laser-assisted deep sclerectomy combined with phacoemulsification and conventional trabeculectomy with phacoemulsification.

PURPOSE: To compare outcomes of laser assisted deep sclerectomy (LADS) and conventional trabeculectomy both combined with phacoemulsification. METHODS: We divided 36 eyes into 2 groups, one group with LADS and the other Trabeculectomy. Patients were measured post operatively at 1, 3, 6, 9 months, 1, 2, 3 years for intraocular pressure (IOP), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and number of medications. RESULTS: In the trabeculectomy group, after 3 year follow up, IOP was 14.67 ± 3.14, 15.27 ± 4.28 and 17.00 ± 7.79, BCVA improved to 0.17 ± 0.18, 0.24 ± 0.20 and 0.24 ± 0.27 and number of medications reduced to 0.6 ± 0.6, 1.1 ± 1.2, and 1.5 ± 1.5. Complete success rate after 3 years was 100%, 80.0% & 80.0% and Qualified success rate was 100%, 88.9% & 88.9%. In the LADS group, after 3 years follow up, IOP was 14.11 ± 3.91, 16.07 ± 5.51, 15.80 ± 6.07, BCVA improved to 0.13 ± 0.11, 0.10 ± 0.15, 0.11 ± 0.13 and medications reduced to 1 ± 1.1, 1.5 ± 1.0 and 1.8 ± 1.0. Complete success after 3 years was 85.7%, 57.1% & 57.1% whereas qualified success was 92.3%, 84.6% & 84.6%. CONCLUSION: Main limitations of our study were small sample size and lack of prospective comparison. However we were able to perfom the surgery comfortably due to the relatively shorter learning curve compared to conventional NPDS.