case of submacular cysticercosis treated by pars plana vitrectomy in Kuwait

We report a case of submacular cysticercosis in the left eye of an Indian patient living in Kuwait. Though he was systemically asymptomatic, his magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple cysts in the brain. The patient underwent pars plana vitrectomy [PPV], and the cyst was removed in total through a retinotomy over the cyst. He had another small cyst in the periphery that was also removed. He was treated with oral albendazole and systemic steroids after the surgery to treat his neurocysticercosis. He developed rhegmatogenous retinal detachment after the surgery, and the retina was successfully reattached with sclera buckling and PPV procedure. His final best corrected visual acuity improved from counting fingers at 1/2 m at presentation to 20/400. This case report shows that the ocular cysticercosis may be seen among expatriates working in the Middle East. It is important to rule out the presence of neurocysticercosis in such patients as well as multiple cysts in the affected eye. However, the functional outcome of surgical treatment of submacular cysticercosis can be disappointing

Type I retinopathy of prematurity in infants with birth weight less than 1251 g: incidence and risk factors for its development in a nursery in Kuwait

To report the rate of acute retinopathy of prematurity [ROP] and Type I ROP among infants with birth weight [BW] <1251 g and identify the risk factors for the development of Type I ROP. A retrospective review of ROP records of infants with BW <1251 g was performed to identify infants with acute ROP and Type I ROP. Infants with Type I ROP were compared with those without Type I ROP to assess the risk factors for the development of Type I ROP. P < 0.05 was statistically significant. Multivariate analysis was performed and odds ratio [OR] and 95% confidence intervals [CI] were calculated. Among the 207 infants with BW <1251 g, acute ROP occurred in 154 infants [74.4%] and Type I ROP in 95 eyes of 50 infants [24.4%]. The numbers of infants with BW <750 g and BW <1000 g were 19.3% and 58.4%, respectively, and the incidences of Type I ROP were 50% and 36.4%, respectively, among them. Forty-four [46.3%] eyes were treated at stage 2+ ROP in zone I or II. All the eyes treated for Type I ROP showed complete regression. Gestational age at birth [OR 0.657, 95% CI: 0.521-0.827; P< 0.000l] and number of ventilated days [OR 1.017, 95% CI: 1.005-1.029; P= 0.006] were identified as independent risk factors for the development of Type I ROP. The rate of Type I ROP in this study is higher than that in previous studies due to the higher number of infants with BW <1000 g in our cohort and the treatment of more eyes with stage 2+ ROP. However, all the treated eyes had a favorable outcome. Gestational age at birth and number of ventilated days were independent risk factors for the development of Type I ROP

Retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus

To study the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and its association with risk factors in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients in two primary care diabetic clinics in Kuwait. All newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending Ferdous and Yarmouk Health Care Diabetic Clinics in Farwaniya and Asma Health Areas, respectively, during the period of January 2002 to July 2004 were examined for the presence of diabetic retinopathy by color fundus photographs. Risk factors such as sex, age, hypertension, nephropathy, hyperglycemia, level of glycated hemoglobin, microalbuminuria and hyperlipidemia were evaluated by statistical analysis for their possible association with the presence of diabetic retinopathy at the time of diagnosis of diabetes. Of the 92 newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients studied, diabetic retinopathy was present in 7 [7.6%] patients. Two of the 7 patients had maculopathy that needed treatment by photocoagulation. High glycated hemoglobin in 51 patients [55.4%], microalbuminuria in 25 [27.2%], hypertension in 29 [315%], hyperlipidemia in 69 [75%], obesity in 45 [48.9%] and overweight in 37[40.2%] were noted in the study population. Microalbuminuria was weakly associated with the presence of retinopathy [p = 0.08] at the time of diagnosis of diabetes mellitus, but other risk factors were not statistically significant. Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 7.6% among the study population. Maculopathy was present in 2 of the 7 patients needing photocoagulation