Intraocular pressure control with Ahmed glaucoma drainage device in patients with cicatricial ocular surface disease-associated or aniridia-related glaucoma.

To analyze the control of intraocular pressure (IOP) with an Ahmed glaucoma drainage device (AGDD) in two groups of glaucoma patients--one with cicatricial ocular surface disease (COSD) and one with aniridia. This is a retrospective comparative case series of nine patients (11 eyes) with COSD and six patients (8 eyes) with aniridia who underwent AGDD surgery to control IOP. The main outcome measure in both groups was stability of IOP between 6 and 21 mmHg. Mean IOP decreased significantly in both groups after AGDD surgery (29.6 ± 8.7 vs 14.7 ± 2.5, p = 0.008 in the COSD group; 26.3 ± 8.2 vs 15.3 ± 5.8, p = 0.008 in the aniridia group). Over a mean post-surgery follow-up of 37.1 months in the COSD group, we managed to control IOP in nine eyes; IOP control was successful in 87 % of eyes at 12 months and 58 % of eyes at 26 months. Over a mean post-surgery follow-up of 37.4 months in the aniridia group, we managed to control the IOP in seven eyes; IOP control was successful in 87 % of eyes at 12 months. AGDD surgery had no significant deleterious effect on visual acuity in either group. A severe complication occurred in one eye (1/8) in the aniridia group (lost vision due to retinal detachment) and in one eye (1/11) in the COSD group (tube exposure). AGDD surgery is effective in controlling IOP and has a low complication rate in COSD and aniridia patients; however, some of the complications are severe and prompt management is needed to prevent deleterious results.

Femtosecond laser-assisted lamellar keratoplasty (FSLK) for anterior corneal stromal diseases.

Our objective was to study the outcome of femtosecond-assisted lamellar keratoplasty (FSLK) in stromal corneal diseases. This is a retrospective chart review of 17 patients (20 eyes) who underwent FSLK for anterior corneal pathologies. Main outcome measures were refractive results following FSLK, complications, and graft survival. Mean follow-up time was 42 ± 15 (7-58) months. Preoperative best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) was ≤20/40 in 17 eyes. Postoperative BSCVA ≥ 20/40 was achieved in 12/14 at 12 months, 11/12 at 24 months, and 10/12 eyes at 36 months; postoperative BSCVA ≥ 20/25 was achieved in 8/14, 8/12, and 5/12 eyes at 12, 24, and 36 months, respectively. One eye had vertical gas break through the epithelium during the FSLK. One eye had postoperative epithelial rejection and two eyes had stromal rejection treated successfully with topical steroids. Another eye had epithelial ingrowth that was not progressive; however, the same eye developed bacterial keratitis and scarred graft 32 months post-FSLK. One eye had graft dehiscence and one eye developed excessive interface fibrosis. Five out of 20 grafts failed due to the recurrence of the original disease (3), corneal scarring (1), and excessive interface fibrosis (1). FSLK provides many advantages over conventional PK and DALK, with faster visual rehabilitation and emmetropization of the manifest refraction rather than inducing ametropia and irregular astigmatism.

Predictors for margin of resection >4 mm in the management of periocular basal cell carcinoma.

PURPOSE: To determine the margin of resection (MOR) for periocular basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and compare the outcomes of BCC treatment, namely Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) and wide excision with later reconstruction (WELR). METHODS: This is a retrospective, comparative, interventional study of patients who underwent surgical treatment of periocular BCC. One hundred forty-two patients were included. One hundred patients were treated with MMS and 42 with WELR. Inclusion criteria were primary periocular BCC with postoperative follow-up of ≥6 months, age more than 18-year-old. Exclusion criteria were, orbital extension, BCC origin outside the periocular area, or those associated with Gorling or nevoid BCC. The main outcome measure was variables associates with MOR >4 mm. RESULTS: There was a positive correlation between the preoperative tumor horizontal and vertical diameter with the corresponding MOR, of 0.27 (p = 0.01) and 0.28 (p = 0.007), respectively. Receiver operating characteristics suggest that a tumor with a horizontal diameter ≥5 mm or a vertical diameter of ≥6 mm, might need MOR >4 mm. One patient in the MMS group had BCC recurrence compared to none in the WELR group, and one patient in the WELR had a positive surgical margin, which was cleared during the reconstruction. CONCLUSIONS: BCC tumor margins may extend far beyond clinical margins and the MOR required is often more than 3-4 mm. MMS ensures clear tumor margins but is not practical for all patients. A stratification system could help divide patients between the treatment strategies.

Marginal zone B-cell orbital lymphoma with intracranial involvement.

A 40-year-old woman presented to the eye clinic with painless swelling of her right lower eyelid of 2 years' duration. Examination revealed severe loss of vision in the right eye with hypoglobus and exotropia. CT showed a diffuse right orbital infiltrative lesion with extension to the brain parenchyma. Histopathology confirmed the diagnosis of orbital marginal zone B-cell lymphoma, which is an indolent type of lymphoma that can be associated with systemic lymphoma, but the intracranial association has not been previously described.

Radiological signs of periorbital trauma - the Singapore experience.

PURPOSE: To describe the radiological signs and demographic characteristics of patients who suffered facial trauma in South-East Asia. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of a 399 patients who presented with facial trauma over a 2-year period in a tertiary referral centre in South-East Asia. Patients with available CT scan films were included. Demographics, bony and soft tissue radiology characteristics were analyzed. RESULTS: Male to female ratio was 320 (80%):79 (20%). Most of the facial trauma was due to Road Traffic Accident. Of 399 patients, 273 (68%) showed radiological signs of bone or soft tissue trauma. Of these 273 patients, left to right side involvement was 114 (41.7%) / 82 (30.03%), and 77 (28.2%) had bilateral involvement. Floor was the most involved wall (229[83.8%]) and the most involved rim was the inferior rim (164[60.07%]). There were 39 (14.2%) patients with blowout fracture. Bony nasolacrimal duct was broken in 56 (20.5%) patients. Optic canal fracture was found in 7 (2.5%) patients and it was associated with roof and superior rim fracture (P-values were 0.016, 0.046, respectively). Thirty-three (12.08%) patients had radiological signs of extraocular muscle involvement. Traumatic intracranial signs were associated with roof and superior rim fractures (P < 0.001 for both). CONCLUSION: Floor and inferior rim were the most affected orbital structures in facial trauma. We described radiological risk factors association with optic canal, NLD fracture and intracranial involvement. We described extraocular muscle morphological signs, which could alert to the possibility of orbital floor fracture in equivocal cases.

Kimura disease of the eyelid in an Indian man.

Kimura disease is a rare idiopathic chronic inflammatory disease, characterized by subcutaneous nodular lesions in the head and neck area. Ophthalmic manifestation of Kimura disease involves orbital and eyelid lesions mostly in Asian patients, but it has been described in White patients and Black Caribbean patients. Kimura disease is usually associated with eosinophilia and occasionally with renal disease. Here, we report a case of Kimura disease of the eyelid in a 50-year-old Indian man with eosinophilia. The main differential diagnosis was angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia. Histology is crucial to separate these two entities, and our case was shown to be Kimura disease by histology. To our knowledge, this is the first report of a person of Indian origin to develop Kimura disease involving the eyelid.

Optimizing muscle biopsy for the diagnosis of mitochondrial myopathy.

PURPOSE: To establish a reliable technique for harvesting the orbicularis oculi muscle to facilitate diagnosis of chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia, a mitochondrial myopathy. METHODS: In this retrospective observational case series, 10 patients clinically suspected to have chronic progressive external ophthalmoplegia underwent surgery for upper eyelid ptosis. A protocol for orbicularis biopsy was developed. Initial cases of levator muscle biopsy yielded inadequate, unorientated skeletal muscle with significant contraction artifact that prevented the study of morphologic features. To improve yield and quality, orbicularis oculi muscle biopsy was performed in the later patients following a standard muscle biopsy protocol used for limb muscles. This involved suturing a third of the muscle on a wooden stick, to keep it at isometric length. The specimen was sent fresh in saline-moistened gauze to the pathologist who then divided the muscle for various studies. RESULTS: The biopsies of orbicularis muscle performed using this protocol resulted in adequate skeletal muscle with an acceptable level of artifact. Mitochondrial myopathy was diagnosed in 9 of 10 cases. CONCLUSIONS: The orbicularis oculi muscle is a good source of skeletal muscle for investigating muscle disorders, and it is easily collected during blepharoplasty or ptosis surgery. This has avoided the need for a standard proximal limb muscle biopsy, thereby reducing morbidity and cost to the patients.

Browlift--a South East Asian experience.

BACKGROUND: To describe the indications, techniques and outcomes of various browlift procedures in a predominantly East-Asian community. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of patients who underwent browlift procedures performed by 2 oculoplastic surgeons or under their direct supervision, in a tertiary referral hospital in South East Asia from 2002 to 2007. RESULTS: Forty-six patients (30 female, 16 male) had browlift surgery for 89 sides from 2002 to 2007. Mean follow-up period was 10 months (6 to 44 months). 43 patients had bilateral browlift, 3 patients had unilateral browlift, 2 of whom had underlying facial nerve palsy and one had involutional brow ptosis. INDICATIONS: involutional brow ptosis (42), mitochondrial myopathy (2), and facial palsy (2). Ethnicity of patients: Chinese (40), Indian (4) and Malay (2). TECHNIQUES: direct browlift (18), transblepharoplasty browpexy (6), midforehead lift (3), coronal browlift (2) and pretrichial browlift (4), endoscopic browlift (7), limited incision nonendoscopic browlift (5) and temporal browlift (3). Adjuvant procedures included upper blepharoplasty (26), blepharoptosis correction (4), midface lift (2), upper eyelid entropion correction (1), lacrimal gland fixation (1), and upper lid gold implant (1). Encountered complications included: undercorrection 6 (12%), segmental facial nerve palsy 1(2%), visible scar 2 (5%), paraesthesia 2 (5%), suture granuloma 1 (2%). Overall 94% of our patients were satisfied. CONCLUSION: Browlift provides satisfactory results for both patient and surgeon. A comprehensive knowledge and proper surgical technique, along with a thorough discussion with patients about the pros and cons of each procedure are essential to obtain optimal outcomes.

Intraocular pressure control and corneal graft survival after implantation of Ahmed valve device in high-risk penetrating keratoplasty.

PURPOSE: To analyze the control of intraocular pressure (IOP) and corneal graft survival after implantation of Ahmed glaucoma device (AGD) in eyes that had high-risk penetrating keratoplasty (PK). METHODS: This is a retrospective noncomparative case series of 59 eyes that had high-risk PK and underwent AGD insertion. The primary outcome measures are the control of IOP between 6 and 21 mm Hg and corneal graft survival. The secondary outcome measures are risk factors associated with IOP control and corneal graft survival. RESULTS: The mean IOP reduced significantly after the AGD procedure (26.45 ± 6.8 mm Hg preoperatively vs. 16.85 ± 7.4 mm Hg, 16.95 ± 4.6 mm Hg, 17.97 ± 5.7 mm Hg, 15.78 ± 5.2 mm Hg, and 15.59 ± 5.5 mm Hg, at 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, and at the last follow-up postoperatively; P < 0.0001). Over a median follow-up of 78 months (range, 9-175 months) after AGD insertion, IOP control was successful in 44 eyes (75.8%). IOP control was successful in 96% of the eyes at 1 year, 87% at 2 years, 83% at 3 years, and 83% at 5 years. The percentage of clear corneal grafts after 1, 2, 3, and 5 years following the AGD insertion were 87%, 77%, 65%, and 47%, respectively. Further surgery after AGD insertion was associated with 1.79 times greater risk of failure of IOP control. CONCLUSIONS: AGD was effective in controlling the IOP associated with high-risk PK over a 5-year period. Postvalve surgery doubles the risk of failure of IOP control.

Conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma following psoriasis treatment.

BACKGROUND: Psoriasis is a relatively common inflammatory disease of the skin and joints. Moderate to severe psoriasis often necessitates lifelong alternating systemic therapies, many of which may increase the risk of nonmelanoma skin cancers and lymphoproliferative disorders. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 34-year-old male was diagnosed with squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) involving the right lower bulbar and palpebral conjunctiva with extension to the proximal lacrimal drainage system. The patient had suffered from severe psoriasis since childhood, for which he was on long-standing systemic cyclosporine, topical tacrolimus, and previous phototherapy. Margin-controlled excision of the lower half of the bulbar conjunctiva and lower eyelid with subsequent reconstruction was performed, followed by adjunctive topical mitomycin C 0.04% drops and local interferon injections. Cyclosporine was replaced with oral prednisolone. The patient was free of recurrence of SCC at 18 months. CONCLUSION: Although conjunctival SCC has been described following cyclosporine treatment for organ transplantation, this report describes a case of conjunctival SCC following lower-dose cyclosporine treatment for psoriasis in a patient who had previous psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) treatment. The conjunctival SCC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of new conjunctival lesions in such patients.

Acquired Epiblepharon Treated by Lateral Orbital and fat Decompression.

Conventional lid surgery of acquired epiblepharon secondary to increased orbital volume can be result of under correction of the epiblepharon, because the increased orbital volume remains unaddressed. In this case report, we present a case of acquired epiblepharon, secondary to increased orbital volume, treated with orbital decompression.

Acute orbital hemorrhage as a presentation of a lytic bony lesion.

A 61-year-old Chinese man presented to the emergency department with a 1-day history of painful swelling of the right eyelid with loss of vision. He had been treated earlier for an isolated pathological fracture of the T7 vertebra from plasmacytoma. Computed tomography was suggestive of superior orbital hematoma with bony erosion of the inner and outer tables of an isolated frontal cell, and urgent drainage of the hematoma resulted in relief of the pain and improvement of the vision. A formal orbitotomy was performed to evacuate the hematoma, followed by combined endoscopic sinus surgery and external anterior frontal table trephine to connect the isolated cell to the frontal sinus. The histology did not show evidence of myeloma, and the orbital hematoma was probably a result of an acute hemorrhage into the mucocele of an isolated cell in the frontal bone. However, in patients with a history of multiple myeloma, it is important to consider lytic bony involvement as the cause of an orbital hemorrhage.

Blowout fractures: surgical outcome in relation to age, time of intervention, and other preoperative risk factors.

We sought to describe outcome of surgical repair in patients presenting with orbital blowout fractures. This noncomparative, retrospective, consecutive case series reviewed the case notes of 63 consecutive patients who underwent surgery for a blowout fracture between November 1992 and March 2005. Risk factors for motility outcome as well as presence of enophthalmos after surgery were analyzed. Children had earlier surgery than adults (p < 001) and tended to have better motility outcome than adults. Surgery performed within the first week showed a trend for better outcome, but this was not statistically significant (p = 0.231). Assault had the best motility outcome, compared with other modes of trauma. Patients with worse preoperative motility had better outcome (p < 0.001). Enophthalmos improved significantly after surgery (p < 001). Children as compared with adults and surgery performed within the first week tended to have better motility outcome, but this was not statistically significant.