Propranolol and periocular capillary hemangiomas: assessment of refractive effect.

PURPOSE: To assess the effects of systemic propranolol on refractive error in infants with periocular capillary hemangiomas. METHODS: A single-center study of consecutive patients with capillary hemangiomas treated with systemic propranolol. Refractive data were analyzed using Long's matrix formalism and the methods of Harris and Kaye. RESULTS: Seventeen patients were included. At 6 months postoperatively, hemangioma size reduced from 3,214 to 1,806 mm(3) (standard deviation: 4,122 to 2,441). Mean refractive error in the affected eye significantly reduced: -1.25/0.38 × 36 (95% confidence intervals: -5.08/1.20 × 90 to 1.64/1.43 × 180, P = .048) with a smaller change (P = .06) in the unaffected eye of -1.01/+0.31 × 3.16 (95% confidence intervals: -4.02/+1.12 × 180 to +1.49/+0.51 × 90). CONCLUSIONS: Propranolol produced a clinically significant reduction in the infants' refractive error and anisometropia. The reduction in the total refractive error and anisometropia has not been evident in previous analyses, which have concentrated on the change in the "cylinder" as the principal outcome measure.

Rat bite fever: a misnomer?

We report a case of rat bite fever (Streptobacillus moniliformis) in a young man who presented generally unwell with pyrexia, vomiting, arthralgia and deranged liver function. Two weeks before his illness he had disposed of a dead rat but was not bitten by it. This zoonotic infection was treated with broad spectrum antibiotics and he made a complete recovery. It is a rarely diagnosed but likely common infection given the frequent contact between humans and rodents. In the past, confirmation of the organism has been difficult due its dislike of culture mediums, but the advent of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing has allowed reliable isolation. Appropriate treatment is important because there is an associated mortality from secondary endocarditis.