Recurrent chalazia revealing an ocular rosacea in a child

Chalazion in childhood and early adolescence is a common condition frequently seen in ophthalmic practice

The diagnosis is usually straightforward and surgical treatment by incision and curettage is frequently advised. Emphasis on the cause of this common pathology is often overlooked

We present a case of recurrent chalazion in a 14-year-old female, which was associated with ocular rosacea

Ophthalmologic examination confirmed recurrence of chalazion, severe bilateral blepharitis and involvement of cornea with the presence of infiltration and neovascularization

The patient was treated with doxycycline 100 mg once a day and topical steroid treatment

The follow-up was marked by partial remission of the disease with frequent relapses

Topical azithromycin 1.5% was used and the ocular inflammation was quickly resolved. One year after discontinuation of local therapy with azithromycin, the patient remained recurrence free

Spiramycin: a safe and effective option for treatment of ocular toxoplasmosis

Ocular Toxoplasmosis is a non-curable infectious disease caused by Toxoplasma Gondii and is one of the leading causes of severe visual impairment due to the involvement of posterior segment of the eye. Involvement of posterior pole causes severe visual impairment in many patients

We report a case of ocular Toxoplasmosis in a 12-year-old female child. The child was clinically diagnosed as having ocular Toxoplasmosis involving the whole posterior pole of the left eye and few parafoveal lesions in the right eye. Follow-up visit revealed new chorioretinitis lesions in the left eye. The patient was treated with oral Spiramycin 1500 mg/day in two divided doses with prednisolone tablet [Img/kg body weight] for a period of 6 weeks. The chorioretinitis lesions regressed in 3 weeks and follow-up one year after cessation of treatment revealed no recurrence. Spiramycin proved to be effective, safe, economic and easy to administer as twice daily oral dose

Hereditary progressive cone dystrophy

Cone dystrophy is a rare hereditary eye disease involving retinal cone photoreceptors, which affects the central vision and color vision. Most patients present with defective color vision and significant photophobia. We present two rare cases of progressive cone dystrophy who presented to the Ophthalmology Clinic and were treated conservatively

Assessment of patient reported outcomes of cataract surgery using the first Arabic visual function assessment tool

The two aims of this study were to develop a vision related quality of life assessment tool for the Arabic speaking communities and to conduct a pilot study using this tool to assess preoperative visual function of cataract patients and evaluate patient reported outcomes of phacoemulsification and extracapsular cataract extraction. An Arabic structured questionnaire was developed to assess both distant and near with a scoring system designed to be comparable to the available instruments in other languages. The instrument was given the name Arabic visual Function Test [AVFT] and was submitted to MAP1 Research Institute for registration as the first Arabic vision related quality of life assessment tool. The instrument was then utilized to assess pre- and postoperative visual function of forty patients undergoing cataract extraction by either phacoemulsification or extracapsular extraction techniques. The results were compared to patients' performance on Snellen's visual acuity chart. The preoperative visual acuity and AVFT scores showed a positive linear relationship and a good level of agreement in both groups. Both preoperative and postoperative AVFT scores of most patients correlated well with their objective visual acuity measurements using the standard Snellen's chart. Although postoperative best corrected visual acuity was higher amongst the phacoemulsification group, there was no significant difference between postoperative AVFT scores of patients undergoing phacoemulsification and extracapsular cataract extraction one month after the operation. The study concluded that patient reported visual function questionnaires are useful adjuncts to standard visual acuity testing for both preoperative assessment of visual function and postoperative evaluation of clinical outcome of cataract surgery. Further research is needed to determine the test-retest reliability of the Arabic visual function test against other visual function questionnaires available in the western world