The opportunistic screening of refractive errors in school-going children by pediatrician using enhanced Brückner test.

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the results of enhanced Brückner test (EBT) performed by a pediatrician and an experienced pediatric ophthalmologist. Subjects and Methods: In this prospective double‑masked cohort study, a pediatrician and a pediatric ophthalmologist performed the EBT in a classroom of a school in semi‑dark lighting condition using a direct ophthalmoscope. The results of the test were compared using 2 × 2 Bayesian table and kappa statistics. The findings of the pediatric ophthalmologists were considered gold standard. Results: Two hundred and thirty‑six eyes of 118 subjects, mean age 6.8 ± 0.5 years (range, 5.4–7.8 years), were examined. The time taken to complete this test was <10 s per subject. The ophthalmologist identified 59 eyes as ametropic (12 hyperopic and 47 myopic eyes) and 177 as emmetropic compared to 61 eyes as ametropic and 175 emmetropic by pediatrician. The prevalence of the test positive was 25.9%. The sensitivity of the pediatrician was 90.2%, specificity was 97.7%, predictive value of the positive test was 93.2%, and predictive value of the negative test was 96.6%. The clinical agreement (kappa) between the pediatric ophthalmologist and the pediatrician was 0.9. Conclusion: The results of the EBT performed by pediatrician were comparable to that of an experienced pediatric ophthalmologist. Opportunistic screening of refractive errors using EBT by a pediatrician can be an important approach in the detection of ametropia in children.

Comparison of lea gratings with cardiff acuity cards for vision testing of preverbal children.

Aims: To create a normative data for lea grating (LG) in the Indian population and to compare LG with Cardiff Acuity Card (CAC). Settings and Design: Normative Data was acquired from normal children between 6 months-3 years coming to the ‘Immunisation Clinic’ and ‘Well-Baby Clinic’ at a Civil Hospital. To compare LG with CAC, normal and amblyopic children between 6 months-3 years were evaluated, Materials and Methods: Monocular and binocular visual acuity (VA) was measured using LG and then CAC. VA and time taken to perform the test were compared. Statistical Analysis Used: Pearson's Correlation Coefficient to compare VA and Student paired t-test (significance P<0.005) to compare time. Results: Two standard deviations of VA of 100 normal children overlapped with that published by Lea. Of the 30 amblyopic children aged 18.32 ± 10.5 months (2-36), 18 were females. VA was 0.95 ± 0.3 logMAR (0.7–1.2) and 1.0 ± 0.6 logMAR (0.5–2.1) binocularly and 1.32 ± 0.08 logMAR (0.2-0.6) and 1.15 ± 0.15 logMAR (0.88-1.48) monocularly on CAC and LG respectively. Pearson's correlation coefficient was 0.98 and 0.63 for binocular and monocular assessment respectively. Time taken to perform LG monocularly and binocularly was significantly less (P<0.001) than CAC. Conclusion: Normative data acquired in Indian pre-verbal children is similar to that published by Lea. Though VA by CAC is better than LG, the two tests are comparable.

Can the Bruckner test be used as a rapid screening test to detect significant refractive errors in children?

PURPOSE: To assess the suitability of Brückner test as a screening test to detect significant refractive errors in children. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A pediatric ophthalmologist prospectively observed the size and location of pupillary crescent on Brückner test as hyperopic, myopic or astigmatic. This was compared with the cycloplegic refraction. Detailed ophthalmic examination was done for all. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of Brückner test were determined for the defined cutoff levels of ametropia. RESULTS: Ninety-six subjects were examined. Mean age was 8.6 years (range 1 to 16 years). Brückner test could be completed for all; the time taken to complete this test was 10 seconds per subject. The ophthalmologist identified 131 eyes as ametropic, 61 as emmetropic. The Brückner test had sensitivity 91%, specificity 72.8%, positive predictive value 85.5% and negative predictive value 83.6%. Of 10 false negatives four had compound hypermetropic astigmatism and three had myopia. CONCLUSIONS: Brückner test can be used to rapidly screen the children for significant refractive errors. The potential benefits from such use may be maximized if programs use the test with lower crescent measurement cutoffs, a crescent measurement ruler and a distance fixation target.

Giant inclusion cyst of the cornea following filtering surgery.

Various trans-conjunctival ophthalmic procedures are reported to cause inclusion cyst of conjunctiva, due to the accidental inclusion of viable conjunctival epithelium, under intact conjunctiva. We report a case of histopathologically confirmed inclusion cyst of the cornea following filtering surgery. There was no recurrence in 24 months of postoperative period.

Can ocular torsion be measured using the slitlamp biomicroscope?

PURPOSE: To evaluate and compare a stereo-biomicroscopic technique of ocular torsion measurement with fundus photographic technique. METHODS: This prospective masked observational study included 72 eyes of 36 consecutive subjects with normal ocular motility. The disc-foveal angle was measured by two masked investigators using a slitlamp stereo-biomicroscopic and fundus photographic technique. RESULTS: The mean age was 13.7 years (6 - 44 years), and 15 (41.6%) were males. The average torsion using the slitlamp technique was 5.5 +/- 3.3 degrees and 6.1 +/- 4.3 degrees with fundus photographic technique. Clinical agreement between the two techniques for 5 degree and 6 degree torsion was 81% and 90% respectively. The average difference between the two techniques was 3.0 +/- 2.6 degrees . The mean inter-ocular difference was 3.3 +/- 2.7 degrees (SD, 2.77) and 5.5 +/- 4.6 degrees using the slitlamp and fundus photographic technique respectively. The Pearson correlation coefficient (r2) was 0.5. CONCLUSION: The fundus photographic technique remains the gold standard test for the measurement of ocular torsion. The slitlamp biomicroscopic method can be useful where a fundus camera is unavailable. Further studies are required to test the repeatability of these tests.