A rare case of ocular onchocerciasis in India.

Onchocerca volvulus is a spirurid nematode that mainly affects the rural poor of Sub-Saharan Africa, Yemen and parts of Central and South Africa. River blindness, caused by Onchocerca volvulus, is considered to be the second commonest infectious cause of blindness worldwide. We report a rare case of ocular onchocerciasis where a live adult worm was extracted from the eye of a patient from a nonendemic region. The worm was identified as Onchocerca volvulus based on morphological features. The patient was treated with Ivermectin (0.2 mg/kg). At six months follow-up she had complete remission of symptoms.

Effect of mitomycin C on ostium in dacryocystorhinostomy.

BACKGROUND: To observe the effect of intraoperative mitomycin C of varying concentration on postoperative ostium size after external dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR). METHODS: In this prospective controlled study, 60 cases of DCR were taken up irrespective of age and sex. Cases were divided into three groups. Group 1 was taken as a control group and operated without mitomycin C; in experimental group 2 and group 3, mitomycin C at a concentration of 0.05 mg/mL and 0.4 mg/mL was applied, respectively, for 2 min. Each group consisted of 20 cases. Half of the cases in each group underwent single-flap DCR (SFDCR) and half underwent double-flap DCR (DFDCR) surgery. Nasal endoscopic evaluation was performed on the first postoperative day, at 2 weeks and at 6 months after surgery. A Student's t-test was used to compare the osteotomy size of each group. RESULTS: At the end of the final follow up, average size of the ostium in group 1 was 3.6+/-2.36 mm2 in SFDCR and 4.5+/-3.59 mm2 in DFDCR, in group 2 was 4.8+/-4.82 mm2 in SFDCR and 4.9+/-4.12 mm2 in DFDCR, and in group 3 was 16.6+/-6.80 mm2 in SFDCR and 17.5+/-9.07 mm2 in DFDCR. The ostium size in group 3 was found to be significantly bigger in comparison with group 1 (P=0.0001 in SFDCR, P=0.001 in DFDCR) and with group 2 (P=0.0009 in SFDCR, P=0.001 in DFDCR). No statistically significant difference of ostium size was found in SFDCR and DFDCR. CONCLUSION: Mitomycin C in appropriate dose minimizes postoperative fibrosis and granulations, thereby maintaining a bigger postoperative ostium throughout the postoperative observation period.