Combined corneal wavefront-guided transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy and accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking following intracorneal ring segment implantation in management of moderate keratoconus.

PURPOSE: Keratoconus (KC) leads to gradual progressive loss of vision in young and adult patients. For the purpose of visual rehabilitation and for hindering KC progression in patients, we designed this study. The main aim of this study is to help the KC patients to improve and stabilize their vision. METHODS: This prospective consecutive uncontrolled study includes 36 eyes of 36 patients with moderate degree of KC. All patients underwent combined wavefront-guided transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy (TPRK) and accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking (ACXL) after intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation. Different measures will be evaluated at baseline, after ICRS implantation, and at one, 3, 6, and 12 months after combined (TPRK and ACXL). These measurements are uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA), corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), manifest refraction spherical equivalent (MRSE), corneal indices based on Scheimpflug tomography, and higher-order aberrations (HOAs) based on (Sirius, Schwind) tomography. RESULTS: There were significant improvements in logMAR (UDVA and CDVA) and reduction in sphere, manifest cylinder, MRSE, maximal keratometry, and mean keratometry after ICRS implantation in the first stage. After TPRK and ACXL as the second stage, there were significant improvements in visual acuity of both logMAR UDVA and CDVA. Reduction in refractive outcomes, including MRSE, sphere, and manifest cylinder. All corneal indices including steep, flat, mean, and maximal keratometries had been decreased. Furthermore, there were significant improvements in the final root mean square, HOAs, and coma aberrations from baseline. CONCLUSION: In moderate KC, triple therapy of ICRS implantation followed by combined TPRK and ACXL appears to be a safe and effective approach. This approach provides an improvement in visual acuity, refraction, corneal indices, and HOAs. These improvements were maintained for 1 year postoperatively. It also halts KC progression.

Conjunctival Pediatric Follicular Lymphoma: Case Report and Literature Review.

Follicular lymphoma (FL) is the second most commonly reported B-cell lymphoma and accounts for 6% of all orbital lymphomas. FL presentation in the pediatric population is rare. This study reported an 18-year-old male with a pink elevated lesion in the conjunctiva of the left eye and normal ocular parameters. Following a complete excisional biopsy, the lesion was oval and smooth grossly and showed dense proliferation with a high nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio microscopically. Immunohistochemical studies revealed positive CD20 and bcl-6 while bcl-2 was negative, which is a common feature for pediatric FL in contrast to bcl-2 positivity found by immunohistochemistry in FL occurring in adult patient population. No signs of recurrence were observed over 2 years of follow-up. This study adds a new case to the existing few reports. Interestingly, all reported cases were males including the patient, mean duration of onset was 5 months, and mean duration of follow-up was 18.4 months. The authors emphasize that total surgical excision with close monitoring is reasonable management of such clinical entity.Follicular lymphoma (FL) is a rare entity in pediatric patients. Six cases have been reported with conjunctival FL in the literature (age between 6 and 21 years). Interestingly, all of them were male including the patient.

Triaging self-referred patients attending ophthalmic emergency room.

OBJECTIVES: To introduce an effective and safe ophthalmic triaging system to be used by non-ophthalmologists.   METHODS: A modified scoring triage system with more relevant clinical symptoms and signs from a previously published Rome Eye Scoring System for Urgency and Emergency (RESCUE) was evaluated over a 2-month period. The study was conducted following a prospective cohort design between March and September 2014 at King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Only self-referred patients were included. Its reliability in differentiating urgent and semi-urgent conditions from non-urgent conditions, identifying patients who need immediate intervention, and decreasing the waiting time were tested using Mann Whitney U test.   RESULTS: A total of 531 patients were included in the validation phase to evaluate the triaging system reliability, and 824 patients were included in the implementation phase (applying the system in the ophthalmology emergency room). The sensitivity to differentiate urgent and semi-urgent conditions from non-urgent conditions improved from 90.7 to 98.7%, while the specificity decreased from 97.2 to 87% compared with RESCUE. The sensitivity in differentiating urgent conditions from semi-urgent and non-urgent conditions was 99%, and the specificity was 90%. Mean waiting time reduced from 58.23 minutes to 46 minutes (p=0.014), and the median waiting time reduced from 46 minutes to 33 minutes (p=0.009).   CONCLUSION: This triage system appears to be safe and effective in recognizing the urgency of different ophthalmic conditions, reducing unnecessary ophthalmic emergency load and waiting time significantly.