External diathermy treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy with vitreous haemorrhage.

Sixty-six cases of advanced proliferative diabetic retinopathy were treated by external diathermy. The eyes had extensive fibrovascular proliferations growing into the vitreous. All had some blood, recent and old, in the vitreous. The vitreous was extremely degenerated and retracted. All the patients had inadequate diabetic control. More than half were hypertensive, with reasonable medical control, while a few had some degree of renal failure, with lower limb oedema. None of the cases were suitable for photocoagulation. Thirty-two control eyes were followed up together with the treated eyes for one to eight years. Of 53 eyes of patients with maturity onset diabetes 28 improved, 12 remained unchanged, and 13 deteriorated. Only two eyes developed neovascular glaucoma, while eight of 13 eyes of patients with juvenile diabetes improved. Of the control eyes, one regressed spontaneously, six remained unchanged, and 25 deteriorated. Of these 25 eyes eight developed traction detachment, 10 suffered relentless attacks of vitreous haemorrhage, and seven developed neovascular glaucoma. External diathermy appears to be a logical approach to cases which could not be treated by either photocoagulation or vitrectomy.

Rift Valley fever ocular manifestations: observations during the 1977 epidemic in Egypt.

Ocular manifestations resulting from Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus infection were studied during an extensive RVF epidemic in Egypt during 1977. Colour photography and fluorescein angiography of 7 serologically diagnosed patients showed the commonest manifestations to be macular, paramacular, and/or extramacular retinal lesions, often occurring bilaterally. Haemorrhage and oedema were frequently associated with the lesions, and vasculitis, retinitis, and vascular occlusion were also observed. Patients were monitored during a 6-month convalescence, and, though resorption of the lesions occurred, approximately half the patients experienced permanent loss of visual acuity. Ocular disease was one form of the clinical spectrum of RVF; acute febrile, encephalitic, and fatal haemorrhagic RVF illnesses were also observed during the epidemic.

Ocular disease resulting from infection with Rift Valley fever virus.

The demonstration of serological conversion to Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus in paired acute and convalescent sera established RVF as the cause of two cases of retinitis seen during the 1977 RVF epidemic in Egypt. Colour photography of the retina revealed macular, paramacular and extramacular exudate-like lesions with associated haemorrage and oedema. One patient has not recovered central vision during a six-month convalescence. An ongoing study of a larger group of RVF patients with ocular disease revealed that the findings presented for these two cases represented the types of lesions most frequently encountered during the epidemic.