ABSTRACT
Objective: to study whether there is an increase in the frequency of sensorineural hearing loss among patients suffering from primary open angle glaucoma, pseudoexfoliation syndrome and pseudoexfoliative glaucoma
Methods: this is a cross-sectional study conducted at the ophthalmology and ENT clinic of prince Ali Bin Al-Hussein military hospital between Jan.2012 and Aug 2013. All patients who attended to the ophthalmology clinic and found to have primary open angle glaucoma, pseudoexfoliation syndrome or pseudoexfoliative glaucoma were referred to the ENT clinic for hearing assessment after performing detailed ophthalmological -examination. Those results were compared with that of a control group
Results: sensorineural hearing loss was found in 6% of patients in the control group and in 9.7% [p value > 0.05] of patients with primary open angle glaucoma. On the other hand it was found in 34.3 %[ p value < 0.05] and 30.3 %[ p value < 0.05] among patients with pseudoexfoliative glaucoma and pseudoexfoliation syndrome respectively
Conclusion: this study provides evidence regarding the effect of pseudoexfoliation of the eye and its severity on the frequency of sensorineural hearing loss which in turn suggests that pseudoexfoliation syndrome is a systemic disease which may have otological involvement manifested as sensorineural hearing loss
ABSTRACT
To evaluate and present the results using phototherapeutic keratectomy for treatment of corneal diseases at King Hussein Medical Center. This was a retrospective study conducted at the Laser Refractive Unit in King Hussein Medical Center between October 2011 and May 2013. All patients who were scheduled for phototherapeutic keratectomy for various corneal conditions were included in the study. Patients with any systemic disease that would affect epithelial healing such as diabetes or systemic lupus were excluded from the study. Data was collected including patient's age, gender, visual acuity, primary diagnosis, refraction, corneal thickness using Pentacam [Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany] and presence of any systemic disease. All patients were followed after one week of treatment. Bandage contact lens was removed and the cornea checked for epithelial healing and the patients were followed up for at least 6 months after treatment. One hundred and forty-six eyes of 146 patients with a mean age of 57 years [range 7 to 74 years] were enrolled in the study, 87 of them were males. The most common type of corneal pathology found was band keratopathy [37%] followed by old superficial corneal scars [22%], other pathologies found included: Salzmann nodules [12%], bullous keratopathy [9%], spheroidal degeneration [6%], keratoconus with nebula [6%], granular dystrophy [3%], Reis Buckler dystrophy [3%] and recurrent corneal erosions syndrome [3%]. Ninety percent of patients experienced improvement in their vision. All patients showed satisfactory improvement in either visual acuity or symptoms of pain and discomfort in the immediate post operative period. Phototherapeutic keratectomy is a safe and very effective procedure to be used for treatment of various surface corneal lesions