Excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy for myopia: six-month follow-up.

In this study, 108 eyes of 62 patients had photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) with a 193 nm excimer laser to correct myopia. The eyes were assigned to one of three groups: low, moderate, or high myopia. Six months after PRK, 88.9% of eyes in the low myopia group, 90.0% in the moderate myopia group, and 23.8% in the high myopia group achieved an uncorrected visual acuity of 20/40 or better. In the low myopia group, 88.9% were within +/- 1 diopter (D) of attempted correction, as were 70.0% in the moderate group and 18.8% in the high myopia group. There were no significant complications. We conclude that excimer laser PRK appears to be a safe and relatively accurate procedure to correct low to moderate myopia but not high myopia because of regression over time.

Penetration of nadolol into aqueous humour after a single oral dose.

Nadolol 20 mg was administered orally as a single-blind, single dose to nine patients about to undergo cataract extraction. Intraocular pressures fell by a mean of 24% 3 h after administration. During the operation, aqueous humour and serum samples were taken for measurement of nadolol concentrations. Aqueous nadolol concentrations ranged from 3.8 to 13.4 ng ml-1, and correlated with the serum drug concentrations (r = 0.84). The fall in intraocular pressure did not correlate with either the aqueous humour or plasma concentrations of nadolol.

Double-blind controlled trial to compare anti-inflammatory effects of tolmetin 2%, prednisolone 0.5%, and placebo in post-cataract extraction eyes.

This paper compares the efficacy of tolmetin, prednisolone, and placebo (vehicle only) in controlling post-cataract extraction inflammation in a double-blind trial involving 120 patients. Seventeen patients were excluded from analysis. The results of the 103 patients analysed showed that 94% of the prednisolone treated group was judged to have been successfully treated as compared with 53% of the tolmetin treated group and 46% of the vehicle treated group. The differences between the prednisolone treated group and the other two groups were statistically significant (p less than 0.001). No statistical significance was found between the tolmetin and vehicle groups.

Randomised double-blind trial of acyclovir (Zovirax) and adenine arabinoside in herpes simplex amoeboid corneal ulceration.

Fifty-one patients were treated in a dual-centre, double-blind comparison of acyclovir and adenine arabinoside in herpetic amoeboid (geographic) corneal ulceration. Twenty-four of the 25 patients receiving acyclovir healed in a mean time of 12.2 days, while 24 of the 26 patients treated with adenine arabinoside healed in a mean time of 11.0 days. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of healing. A second analysis, excluding any patients who had received antiviral treatment immediately prior to entry into the study, showed that 18 of the 19 who received acyclovir healed in an average of 11.7 days and 18 of the 19 recipients of adenine arabinoside healed in a mean time of 11.2 days. Again the difference was not statistically significant.

Role of sodium hyaluronate (Healonid) in triangular flap trabeculectomy.

The role of sodium hyaluronate (Healonid) in trabeculectomy to prevent a shallow or flat anterior chamber and hypotonia in the immediate postoperative period is reported. Twenty-nine eyes of 27 patients were included in a randomised controlled study. Thirteen eyes had trabeculectomy alone, and 16 eyes had trabeculectomy performed with Healonid injected into the anterior chamber. The results showed that shallowing of the anterior chamber and hypotonia occurred in both groups until day 21 postoperatively. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p greater than 0.05). Healonid has no significant value in maintaining anterior chamber depth and preventing hypotonia in the early postoperative period following trabeculectomy.

Eyeball injury due to fish hook.

A case of fish hook injury to the eye is described. The removal can be accomplished by rotating the hook and pushing the barb through another part of the eye as near the limbus as possible, which has the least damaging effect, the barb is snipped, and the hook can be removed with good recovery of vision.

Oral acyclovir in the management of dendritic herpetic corneal ulceration.

A controlled trial of oral acyclovir in herpetic dendritic corneal ulcers was carried out on 31 patients. All patients received minimal wiping debridement of the ulcer, following which they were randomly allocated to receive either oral acyclovir or placebo for 7 days. At the end of treatment 67% of dendritic ulcers in patients receiving acyclovir had healed compared with 43% in placebo recipients. The proportion of ulcers healed in the 2 groups at 7 days showed no significant difference (p = 0.18), but the rate of healing was significantly faster in acyclovir group (p = 0.03).

Ectodermal dysplasia associated with autoimmune disease.

A case is reported of hereditary ectodermal dysplasia with corneal involvement associated with polyendocrinopathy and pernicious anaemia. The presence of autoantibodies to various endocrine organs and ocular tissues is confirmed. This suggests that ectodermal dysplasia may be an autoimmune disease.

Pharmacokinetics of oral acyclovir (Zovirax) in the eye.

Patients due for cataract extraction received 5 doses of 400 mg acyclovir (Zovirax) orally during the 24 hours prior to surgery. Aqueous humour levels of acyclovir (mean 3.26 microM) were well above the normal ED50 range for herpes simplex virus type 1, and showed a significant correlation with plasma concentrations (mean 8.74 microM). There was also a correlation between the age of the patient and the concentration of acyclovir in the plasma. Oral acyclovir was well tolerated.

Acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy associated with transient hearing loss.

A case of acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy associated with low tone hearing loss is reported. Both, visual and hearing loss completely recovered. The pattern of low tone hearing loss is similar to that found in vascular lesions of the cochlea and may have the same aetiology as the acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy in this case.