ABSTRACT
Background: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is increasing in incidence in developing nations, including Egypt. Secondary prevention requires timely detection through the development of regional screening guidelines, which should be preceded by large-scale studies to characterize the population at risk. Methods: A prospective, multicentric exploratory study that included five large tertiary institutions in an urban Egyptian setting. All infants born with gestational age (GA) < 37 weeks and/or birth weight (BW) ≤ 2000 grams were screened. More mature and heavier infants with unstable clinical course were also included. The primary outcome measure was the rate of ROP and high-risk disease occurrence in relation to underlying risk factors. Results: Of the 768 eyes (384 screened infants), 347 eyes (45.2%) had stage 1 or higher disease, and 43 eyes (5.6%) had high-risk disease. Eyes with stage 1 or higher ROP and treatment-requiring ROP had a mean (± SD) GA of 33.4 (± 2.6) weeks and 32.8 (± 3.2) weeks, and BW of 1842.3 (± 570.1) grams and 1747.6 ± (676.2) grams, respectively. Treatment-requiring eyes belonged to infants that had significantly lower GA and significantly higher prevalence of co-morbidities than non-treatment-requiring eyes. Conclusion: The incidence of ROP and high-risk disease in an urban Egyptian setting are similar to those in comparable settings elsewhere and locally. This exploratory study supports tailoring local screening criteria for ROP, and may aid the future development of national guidelines.
ABSTRACT
Purpose: To compare equal concentrations (0.5%) of moxifloxacin and gatifloxacin ophthalmic solutions with regard to conjunctival bacterial reduction as well as anterior chamber penetration. Methods: One hundred patients were divided into 2 groups. Group A received moxifloxacin 0.5% ophthalmic solution and group B received gatifloxacin 0.5% ophthalmic solution 4 times a day for 3 days before surgery and 5 times with 30 min intervals on the day of surgery. Two conjunctival swabs were obtained: one before instillation of antibiotic and the second 30 min after instillation of the last antibiotic drop. Specimens were sent for culture and susceptibility testing. At the time of surgery, 0.1 mL of aqueous fluid was aspired, and aqueous concentration of fluoroquinolones was identified using reverse-phase high-pressure liquid chromatography assay technique. Results: The most common flora isolated was coagulase-negative Staphylococcus (32.9%), followed by Staphylococcus aureus (24.8%) and Corynebacterium diphtheria (19.1%). Moxifloxacin aqueous concentration was higher compared with gatifloxacin [1.75 ± 0.98 standard deviation (SD) and 0.75 ± 0.22 SD, respectively]. This 2.3-fold difference in aqueous humor antibiotic concentrations was statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001). There was significant difference between the means of conjunctival colony-forming unit after antibiotic administration in both the study groups (2.17 ± 1.54 SD in group A and 1.56 ± 1.09 SD in group B). Conclusions: Moxifloxacin 0.5% was found to penetrate anterior chamber more than gatifloxacin 0.5%, enforcing its use for prophylaxis before intraocular surgeries. However, gatifloxacin 0.5% eye drops were able to reduce conjunctival bacterial load, more supporting its use before extraocular and refractive surgeries.
