Management of postkeratoplasty astigmatism by paired arcuate incisions with compression sutures.

PURPOSE: To analyse the efficacy of paired arcuate incisions and compression sutures technique in the management of post penetrating keratoplasty (PK) astigmatism. METHODS: A paired arcuate incision with compression sutures procedure was used to treat 26 eyes with post-PK astigmatism ranging from 6.00 to 16.50 dioptres (D). The incisions were placed at the 7.0 mm optical zone inside the graft-host junction at a depth of 80% of corneal thickness. A 45° paired arc length was planned for eyes with preoperative astigmatism between 6D and 9D, and a 60° paired arc length was planned for eyes with preoperative astigmatism of >9D. At 3 months, corneal topography and refraction was performed and suture(s) removed if indicated. Net and vector astigmatism changes were calculated to determine the efficacy of the procedure. The indications for PK included keratoconus, Fuch's endothelial dystrophy, pseudophakic bullous keratopathy and corneal scar. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant reduction in the mean magnitude of astigmatism from 9.66 ± 2.90D preoperatively to 4.37 ± 2.53D postoperatively in the whole group. The mean decrease in the astigmatism was 4.37 ± 2.05D (58.4%) and 6.23 ± 3.63D (52.6%) in patients with 6-9D and >9D, respectively. Vector power calculations also showed a significant astigmatism reduction in all groups. The safety and efficacy indices were 1.40 and 0.28, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Manual astigmatic keratotomy is a viable technique with relatively good safety and efficacy outcomes. Based on the results we propose that increasing the arc length to a minimum of 60° for astigmatism of 6-9D, and to 75° for astigmatism >9D, is likely to have a greater beneficial effect.

To posture or not to posture after macular hole surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the anatomic and functional success of phacovitrectomy and intraocular gas tamponade for macular hole surgery with only first night face down posturing. METHODS: This was a nonrandomized observational prospective trial over 9 months, with data collection on 28 eyes of 26 consecutive patients who underwent phacovitrectomy, internal limiting membrane peel, and intraocular gas tamponade (C2F6) for stage 2, 3, and 4 macular holes. Data included sex, age, hole latency and Gass stage, preoperative and postoperative visual acuity and ocular coherence tomography, refractive outcome, ocular comorbidity, first postoperative day gas fill, and intraocular pressure. Postoperatively, all patients were postured face down overnight. Thereafter, patients with more than 70% gas fill (beyond the inferior retinal vascular arcade) were asked to stop posturing, although they were advised not to lie flat on their backs at night for 10 days. RESULTS: The sample was divided into patients who did and did not need to posture postoperatively, depending on first day gas fill. Twenty patients did not need posturing and 8 patients needed postoperative posturing for 10 days. The mean macular hole duration was 10.5 months. A total of 87.5% compared to 100% achieved hole closure in the posture and nonposture group, respectively. The mean postoperative visual acuity was 0.5 +/- 0.25 LogMAR. Statistical analysis revealed no significant difference in age, hole duration, preoperative and postoperative visual acuities, intraocular pressure measured 24 hours postoperatively, or refractive error between the two samples. CONCLUSION: Phacovitrectomy for macular hole surgery without postoperative face down posture is a reasonable approach, as long as the eye has more than 70% gas fill (beyond the inferior retinal vascular arcade) on the first postoperative day. This study showed no statistically significant difference between patients who postured and those who did not posture. The combination of phacoemulsification, pars plana vitrectomy, internal limiting membrane, and gas tamponade in macular hole surgery reduces the difficulty of posturing in elderly patients. This technique saves the patient from exposure to a second intraocular intervention to remove a cataract which will commonly develop after vitrectomy and gas tamponade alone.

Small choroidal melanocytic lesions: features predictive of growth.

PURPOSE: To evaluate clinical features at presentation of small choroidal melanocytic lesions that were predictive of growth. DESIGN: Retrospective observational case series. PARTICIPANTS: A cohort of 240 patients with a presumptive diagnosis of small choroidal melanocytic lesions who were observed to document growth before treatment. METHODS: Data regarding size, location, diagnostic features, and growth were collected. To evaluate the diagnostic features at presentation, Barnard and Fisher exact tests were performed for categorical variables, and the Wilcoxon rank sum test was used for continuous factors. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Documented growth. RESULTS: Eleven patients with small choroidal melanocytic lesions (4.6%) demonstrated growth within 50 months of follow-up. Lesions that demonstrated growth were significantly thicker (> or =2.0 mm; P<0.001) and closer to the foveola (<3.0 mm; P = 0.002). Significant increases in the risk of growth also were observed for gender (male), presence of symptoms, and orange pigment. CONCLUSIONS: Significant clinical features of small choroidal melanocytic lesions predictive of growth are greater thickness (> or =2.0 mm), location closer to the foveola (<3.0 mm), and presence of symptoms and orange pigment.