Ocular manifestations among Jordanians with inflammatory bowel disease. hospital-based study in asymptomatic patients

To study the ocular manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease and to investigate whether they are related to disease activity, site of occurrence, and presence of arthritis. A randomized controlled prospective study that was conducted at King Hussein Medical Center during the period between June 2008 and December 2008. One hundred and thirty patients attending inflammatory bowel disease clinic were enrolled in the study. First five patients attending the clinic were selected each week to ensure randomization. Data collected included type of disease, duration, treatment, presence of active disease, site of involvement and presence of arthritis. The randomly selected patients were referred to ophthalmology clinic where they had anterior and posterior segment examination by the same senior ophthalmologist. We investigated the relationship between ocular involvement and type of disease, site of involvement, presence of disease activity and presence of arthritis. Data was collected and compared with a control group of 130 normal subjects. Relatives of patients attending ophthalmology clinic for various reasons were randomly selected as a control group. P-value was calculated to see statistical significance. A total of 130 patients were studied. Mean age of patients was 46.8 years [range 16.2 to 82.2 years] with a male to female ratio of 1.1:1. Seventy patients had ulcerative colitis and 60 patients had crohn's disease. Episcleritis was seen in 12 patients, dry eyes in 9 patients and iritis in 8 patients. One patient was found to have uveitic glaucoma. None of the patients had corneal involvement, scleritis, or retinal vascular involvement. Fifty patients had active disease and 80 were in remission. All patients with episcleritis and iritis had active bowel disease. Tortuous episcleral vessels were seen in 16 patients; the majority of them had inactive disease. Patients with history of arthritis or colonic involvement had more risk of ocular involvemt. The results of our study showed that ocular manifestations of inflammatory bowel disease are related to disease activity, site of involvement and presence of arthritis

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus patients

To determine the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus. This study was conducted at Royal Medical Services hospitals between March 200 1 and March 2004. A total of 583 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus were referred to ophthalmology clinics by their treating physicians for ophthalmologic assessment. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy was 22.6%. The commonest presenting diabetic retinopathy was mild non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy [3 1 .5%], and the least common was severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy [17.3%].Diabetic retinopathy is a common finding in patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus. Being a preventable and treatable complication if diagnosed and treated at earlier stages, a national strategy should be implemented to achieve this goal