Krill's disease: a newer management option

Purpose: To report a case of a young female who presented with scotoma in the right eye for few days. Case Report: Krill's disease or acute retinal pigment epithelitis (ARPE) is a self-limiting retinal disease with no specific treatment. Typical clinical and imaging features helped us to diagnose her with ARPE. Intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), which gives a rapid anti-inflammatory response, was advised. An SD-OCT scan post-injection showed a reduction in hyperreflectivity and height of lesion at day 3 and near total resolution by day 5. Conclusion: This case suggests rapid resolution of ARPE with the use of IVMP.

Analysis of clinical and imaging characteristics of radiation-induced optic neuritis / 中华眼底病杂志

Objective:To observe the clinical and imaging characteristics of radiation optic neuropathy (RION).Methods:A retrospective clinical study. A total of 43 patients (69 eyes) who were diagnosed with RION at the Chinese PLA General Hospital from 2010 to 2021 were included in this study. There were 23 males (36 eyes) and 20 females (33 eyes). The age of patients at the time of radiation therapy was 49.54±13.14 years. The main dose of radiotherapy for lesions was 59.83±14.12 Gy. Sixteen patients were treated with combined chemotherapeutic agents. The clinical details of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and color photography of the fundus were collected. Forty-six eyes underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT), visual field were examined in 30 eyes, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were performed in 40 eyes. The BCVA examination was performed using Snellen visual acuity chart, which was converted to minimum resolution angle logarithm (logMAR) visual acuity during recording. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) was performed in 10 patients (13 eyes), 9 patients (12 eyes) were treated with intravenous methylprednisolone (IVMP), 12 patients (23 eyes) were treated with HBOT combined with IVMP and control group of 12 patients (21 eyes) were only treated with basal treatment. And grouped accordingly. To observe the changes in onset, recovery, and final BCVA of the affected eye as well as thickness changes of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) of the optic disc and inner limiting membrane-retinal pigment epithelium (ILM-RPE) layer of the macular area, and final outcome of BCVA with different treatment modalities in affected eyes. The RNFL and ILM-RPE layer thicknesses were compared between patients with different disease duration as well as between treatment regimens using independent samples t-test. Results:Of the 43 cases, vision loss was monocular in 17 patients (39.53%, 17/43) and binocular in 26 patients (60.47%, 26/43). The latency from radiotherapy to onset of visual loss was 36.33±30.48 months. The duration of RION ranged from 1 week to 10 years, in which the disease duration of 37 eyes ≤2 months. Subacute visual acuity loss was present in 41 eyes. logMAR BCVA<1.0, 1.0-0.3, >0.3 were 45, 15, and 9 eyes, respectively. Optic disc pallor and optic disc edema were found in 10 (27.03%, 10/37), 3 (8.11%, 3/37) eyes, respectively, within 2 months. The superior RNFL [95% confidence interval ( CI) 2.08-66.56, P=0.038] and the outer circle of the inner limiting membrane to retinal pigment epithelium (ILM-RPE) (95% CI 4.37-45.39, P=0.021) layer thinned significantly during the first month. The center of the ILM-RPE layer thickened (95% CI-32.95--4.20, P=0.015) significantly during the first two months. The inner circle temporal quadrant of the ILM-RPE layer thickened (95% CI -42.22--3.83, P=0.022) significantly from the third to sixth month, and the RNFL except for the temporal quadrants and the average RNFL, inner circle superior quadrant and outer circle of the ILM-RPE layer thinned significantly after 6 months ( P<0.05). Among the 40 eyes that underwent MRI examination, 33 eyes (82.50%, 33/40) were affected by T1 enhancement of optic nerve, including 23 eyes (69.70%, 23/33) in intracranial segment; 12 eyes with thickening and long T2 signal (36.36%, 12/33). After treatment, BCVA was restored in 17 eyes (24.6%, 17/69) and final BCVA improved in 9 eyes (13.0%, 9/69). There was no significant difference between HBOT, IVMP and HBOT combined with IVMP therapy in improving BCVA recovery or final BCVA compared with the control group, respectively ( t=-1.04, 0.61, 1.31,-1.47, -0.42, 0.46; P>0.05). Conclusions:The structural damage of the RNFL and ILM-RPE layer occurred during the first month, the RNFL showed progressive thinning during the follow-up period, while the ILM-RPE layer showed thinning-thickening-thinning. MRI shows T1 enhancement of the optic chiasma and segments of the optic nerve, and the enhanced segments are usually accompanied by thickening and long T2. HBOT and IVMP have no obvious effect on RION.

History and Future of Treatment for Acute Stage Kawasaki Disease

Kawasaki disease is a form of vasculitis, mainly in small and medium arteries of unknown origin, occurring frequently in childhood. It is the leading form of childhood-onset acquired heart disease in developed countries and leads to complications of coronary artery aneurysms in approximately 25% of cases if left untreated. Although more than half a century has passed since Professor Tomisaku Kawasaki's first report in 1957, the cause is not yet clear. Currently, intravenous immunoglobulin therapy has been established as the standard treatment for Kawasaki disease. Various treatment strategies are still being studied under the slogan, “Ending powerful inflammation in the acute phase as early as possible and minimizing the incidence of coronary artery lesions,” as the goal of acute phase treatments for Kawasaki disease. Currently, in addition to immunoglobulin therapy, steroid therapy, therapy using infliximab, biological products, suppression of elastase secretion inside and outside the neutrophils, inactivated ulinastatin therapy and cyclosporine therapy, plasma exchange, etc. are performed. This chapter outlines the history and transition of the acute phase treatment for Kawasaki disease.