[ISO 9001-2000 certification for refractive laser treatment]. / Certification ISO 9001-2000 des traitements réfractifs par laser cornéen.

PURPOSE: To obtain ISO 9001-2000 certification for laser corneal refractive treatment, never before sought in Europe. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The consulting firm Veritas led the certification process with the clinic's staff manager. This ISO norm is dedicated to the implementation of a quality management system. We assessed and optimized all necessary resources, evaluating customer satisfaction using patient and referring-physician surveys. We started quality rounds including surgeons, nurses, and technicians. Based on this preparation, we redefined and explained all processes including staff responsibilities and necessary resources in the quality manual. The procedure lasted 14 months with substantial involvement on the part of the management. RESULTS: Unconditional ISO 9001-2000 certification was granted by the independent audit firm, BVQI, in december 2003 for refractive laser treatment. CONCLUSION: The 2000 version of the new ISO 9001-2000 seeks to meet the demand for improving health care delivery in this field, most particularly by establishing a clear procedural orientation. Such certification enhances team work, stabilizes methodologies, and reinforces cohesion and self-audit. Patients notice that the center follows a consistent quality policy and are assured that the clinic respects rules and regulations. Certification is an advantageous alternative when accreditation cannot be considered. Our article discusses the steps taken in upper management, quality management, procedural guidance, as well as customer and staff counselling. It also discusses the project's cost/benefit ratio for the organization.

Vitrectomy with endoscopy for management of retained lens fragments and/or posteriorly dislocated intraocular lens.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the advantages of vitrectomy combined with endoscopy for the management of retained lens fragments and/or posteriorly dislocated intraocular lens (IOL). METHODS: A consecutive series of 30 eyes with these complications treated by this technique was reviewed retrospectively. An endoscopic probe which incorporates a video channel, a fibreoptic light source, and a diode laser was used for visualization. Lens material or the IOL was extracted through the corneal wound in 18 eyes (60%). They were either aspired or grasped or lifted using perfluorocarbon liquids (PFCL), under endoscopic control. In 9 eyes (30%) pars plana phakoemulsification was performed. PFCL was used in 11 eyes (36.6%). In 16 eyes (53.3%) an IOL was sutured in the ciliary sulcus. RESULTS: Final visual acuity was > or = 20/40 in 19 eyes (63.3%), > or = 20/30 in 15 eyes (50%). Intraoperative breaks occurred early in the series in two eyes (in one case from use of the endoprobe, in the other from pars plana phakoemulsification). Poor final acuity was related to proliferative vitreoretinopathy, which developed in both cases with an intraoperative iatrogenic retinal break, senile macular degeneration, myopia and amblyopia, cystoid macular oedema, corneal oedema and high astigmatism. CONCLUSION: We found that endoscopy facilitated the management of these complications of cataract surgery once the peculiar difficulties of the technique (absence of stereoscopy, manipulation of the endoprobe, video monitor control) were mastered. Endoscopy facilitated and shortened localization of lens fragments embedded into the vitreous base for aspiration, grasping and phakoemulsification, enabled detection of small anterior retinal breaks, permitted resection of adhesions between anterior hyaloid, lens capsule and ciliary sulcus and facilitated PFCL manipulations, whatever the status of the anterior segment (corneal edema, myosis, synechiae, presence of IOL).

[Evaluating the results of surgery of choroidal neovessels]. / Evaluation des résultats de la chirurgie des néovaisseaux choroïdiens.

BACKGROUND: Subfoveal choroidal neovascularization has usually a poor visual prognosis. Submacular surgery has been advocated as an alternative treatment. Visual results of this recent surgical technique is under current clinical evaluation. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the charts of 16 eyes from 15 patients who underwent submacular surgery through a small retinotomy. Mean follow-up was 8 months (range from 5 to 88 weeks): group 1: submacular hemorrhages caused by age-related macular degeneration, 8 eyes; group 2: advanced subfoveal choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration, 3 eyes; group 3: young onset subfoveal choroidal neovascularization, 5 eyes. RESULTS: Group 1: mean preoperative visual acuity was 0.024. Postoperative visual acuity increased for 5 eyes (63%) and decreased for 3 eyes (37%) (mean follow-up: 33 weeks). Two eyes had recurrent neovascularization. Group 2: mean preoperative visual acuity was 0.083. Postoperative visual acuity decreased for both eyes (mean follow-up: 58 weeks). Two eyes had recurrent neovascularization. Group 3: mean preoperative visual acuity was 0.082. Postoperative visual acuity increased for both eyes (mean follow-up: 26 weeks). Two eyes had recurrent neovascularization. In both groups, recurrent neovascularization was managed by laser photocoagulation. CONCLUSIONS: Surgery of subfoveal choroidal neovascular membranes may stabilize or improve visual acuity in young patients. In subfoveal choroidal neovascularization due to age-related macular degeneration. this technique does not provide currently measurable visual improvement except in cases complicated by submacular hemorrhage. Results of future trials comparing surgery with spontaneous evolution or laser photocoagulation are necessary.

[Intrastromal thermokeratoplasty for correction of spherical hyperopia: a 1-year prospective study]. / Thermokératoplastie intrastromale pour la correction de l'hypermétropie sphérique: étude prospective à un an.

Thermokeratoplasty (TKP) is a new procedure for surgical correction of hyperopia. It uses controlled thermal burns of the peripheral cornea with a retractable cautery probe tip in a radial pattern up to a premarked optical central zone. The thermal effect shrinks the peripheral cornea and steepens the central cornea. In this report, we prospectively evaluated for one year, anatomical, functional and refractive results of a group of 18 eyes treated with TKP (14 patients). Mean preoperative spherical equivalent of +3.62 diopters (D) was +1.85 D at 12 months resulting in a mean refractive variation of -1.76 D. The refractive effect was significant at the first postoperative month, and subsequently regressed so that the average refractive correction was 55% at one year. We did not observe any severe anatomical or functional complications during the follow up period. Regression of the refractive effect after TKP seems to be related to the remodeling response of corneal stroma surrounding points of coagulation. Like other current techniques of surgical correction of hyperopia (hexagonal keratotomy, TKP using Holmium-YAG laser, Excimer laser), TKP is a procedure for which optical results at one year show poor predictability and stability. We suggest that adjustments to the surgical prediction software and long term studies would allow to improve our results.

[Conjunctival epidermoid carcinoma and human immunodeficiency virus]. / Carcinome épidermoïde conjonctival et virus de l'immunodéficience humaine.

We describe the clinical and histopathological findings of a conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma occurring in a patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). The excisional biopsy specimen disclosed a papillar, well differentiated and mature squamous cell carcinoma with microinvasion. The biopsy was studied for the presence of Human papilloma virus DNA by using in situ hybridization but no signal was demonstrated in any part of the tumour. Although Kaposi's sarcoma and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas are the most common malignancies reported in AIDS, squamous cell carcinomas may be encountered in the disease. Underlying infection with the human immunodeficiency virus should be considered when conjunctival localization of such malignancies is observed.