Current Practice: Rationale for Screening Children with Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia for Brain Vascular Malformations.

BACKGROUND: Hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia is an autosomal dominant vascular dysplasia characterized by mucocutaneous telangiectasias, recurrent epistaxis, and organ vascular malformations including in the brain, which occur in about 10% of patients. These brain vascular malformations include high-flow AVMs and AVFs as well as low-flow capillary malformations. High-flow lesions can rupture, causing neurologic morbidity and mortality. STATE OF PRACTICE: International guidelines for the diagnosis and management of hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia recommend screening children for brain vascular malformations with contrast enhanced MR imaging at hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia diagnosis. Screening has not been uniformly adopted by some practitioners who contend that screening is not justified. Arguments against screening include application of short-term data from the adult A Randomized Trial of Unruptured Brain Arteriovenous Malformations (ARUBA) trial of unruptured sporadic brain AVMs to children with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia as well as concerns about administration of sedation or IV contrast and causing patients or families increased anxiety. ANALYSIS: In this article, a multidisciplinary group of experts on hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia reviewed data that support screening guidelines and counter arguments against screening. Children with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia have a preponderance of high-flow lesions including AVFs, which have the highest rupture risk. The rupture risk among children is estimated at about 0.7% per lesion per year and is additive across lesions and during a lifetime. ARUBA, an adult clinical trial of expectant medical management versus treatment of unruptured brain AVMs, favored medical management at 5 years but is not applicable to pediatric patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia given the life expectancy of a child. Additionally, interventional, radiosurgical, and surgical techniques have improved with time. Experienced neurovascular experts can prospectively determine the best treatment for each child on the basis of local resources. The "watch and wait" approach to imaging means that children with brain vascular malformations will not be identified until a potentially life-threatening and deficit-producing intracerebral hemorrhage occurs. This expert group does not deem this to be an acceptable trade-off.

An international survey to evaluate systemic bevacizumab for chronic bleeding in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia.

INTRODUCTION: Systemic bevacizumab is a novel targeted therapy for severe epistaxis and chronic gastrointestinal bleeding in hereditary haemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT), but published data are very limited. AIM: We conducted a survey-based study to characterize current treatment practices and physician-reported safety and effectiveness of systemic bevacizumab for bleeding in (HHT). METHODS: A 27-item survey was sent to physician centre directors of 31 International HHT Centers of Excellence. RESULTS: Response rate was 84%. Approximately half of centres had treated >10 HHT patients with systemic bevacizumab for chronic bleeding for a total of 291 patients treated. All centres utilize a 5 mg/kg dose for induction treatment and most administer six doses (range, 4-8) every 2 weeks. However, maintenance regimens varied considerably between centres. Bevacizumab was highly effective, with 86% reporting significant (>50%) improvement in GI bleeding and/or epistaxis and haemoglobin rise in most patients treated with bevacizumab; 52% reported haemoglobin normalization in most patients. All centres reported adverse event rates <30% and two-thirds of centres reported adverse event rates <10%. Discontinuation for adverse events or inefficacy was rare. Bleeding severity thresholds for initiation of bevacizumab were highly variable, and it is typically administered by haematologists (76% of centres). Two-thirds of centres reported obtaining insurance approval for bevacizumab for most or all patients but 48% reported difficulty in obtaining coverage. CONCLUSION: Systemic bevacizumab is widely used to treat bleeding in HHT with excellent physician-reported effectiveness and safety. There is considerable variation in maintenance treatment practices and thresholds for initiation of bevacizumab among HHT centres.

Systemic bevacizumab for high-output cardiac failure in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia: an international survey of HHT centers.

BACKGROUND: Systemic bevacizumab is a novel targeted anti-angiogenic therapy for high-output cardiac failure (HOCF) in hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT) but published data is limited. This survey-based study measured physician-reported safety, effectiveness and current treatment practices for systemic bevacizumab in HHT-HOCF. METHODS: A 27-item survey was sent to center directors of 31 international HHT Centers of Excellence. RESULTS: Response rate was 74% with centers reporting 150 total patients receiving systemic bevacizumab for HHT-HOCF. Approximately two-thirds of centers had treated ≥5 patients. All centers utilize a 5 mg/kg dose for induction treatment and most administer 6 doses (range, 4-6) every 2 weeks, although maintenance regimens varied considerably. Center directors reported bevacizumab to be effective, with 55% reporting significant improvement in cardiac index and HOCF symptoms in most patients treated with bevacizumab, although normalization of cardiac parameters was uncommon. Adverse events were uncommon with three-quarters of centers reporting adverse event rates < 10%. Discontinuation for adverse events or ineffectiveness was rare. Bevacizumab was typically administered by hematologists and pulmonologists (50 and 39% of centers, respectively), with highly variable thresholds for initiation. Although half the centers reported difficulty with the insurance approval process, 70% of centers were ultimately able to obtain coverage for most or all of their patients. CONCLUSIONS: Systemic bevacizumab is a widely-used therapy for HHT-HOCF with reasonable safety and effectiveness. HHT centers appear to vary considerably in maintenance treatment practices and disease severity thresholds for initiation of bevacizumab in HHT-related HOCF.

High AC/A Ratio Esotropia: Do We Really Need to Be Using Bifocals?

INTRODUCTION AND PURPOSE: Most strabismus specialists use bifocals for patients with convergence excess esotropia whose distance deviation is small. While this is a popular treatment modality, there is actually no good data to indicate that this should be considered a standard of care. PATIENTS AND METHODS: In patients for whom the distance deviation is small enough to allow for the development of binocular vision, my preference is to simply observe these patients. Most will improve with time. For those who do not, or who decompensate, surgery may be indicated. RESULTS: A careful review of the literature shows a lack of evidence to suggest that bifocals provide an effective treatment for this problem. Some data and theoretical concern may raise a concern over their use. Time and observation may be all that is necessary. There may be a role for surgical correction in these patients as well. CONCLUSION: While there are theoretical advantages to the use of bifocals in patients with convergence excess esotropia, current data does not support the actual need for active treatment of these patients.

Effect of Topical Intranasal Therapy on Epistaxis Frequency in Patients With Hereditary Hemorrhagic Telangiectasia: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

IMPORTANCE: Epistaxis is a major factor negatively affecting quality of life in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT; also known as Osler-Weber-Rendu disease). Optimal treatment for HHT-related epistaxis is uncertain. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether topical therapy with any of 3 drugs with differing mechanisms of action is effective in reducing HHT-related epistaxis. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: The North American Study of Epistaxis in HHT was a double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial performed at 6 HHT centers of excellence. From August 2011 through March 2014, there were 121 adult patients who met the clinical criteria for HHT and had experienced HHT-related epistaxis with an Epistaxis Severity Score of at least 3.0. Follow-up was completed in September 2014. INTERVENTIONS: Patients received twice-daily nose sprays for 12 weeks with either bevacizumab 1% (4 mg/d), estriol 0.1% (0.4 mg/d), tranexamic acid 10% (40 mg/d), or placebo (0.9% saline). MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: The primary outcome was median weekly epistaxis frequency during weeks 5 through 12. Secondary outcomes included median duration of epistaxis during weeks 5 through 12, Epistaxis Severity Score, level of hemoglobin, level of ferritin, need for transfusion, emergency department visits, and treatment failure. RESULTS: Among the 121 patients who were randomized (mean age, 52.8 years [SD, 12.9 years]; 44% women with a median of 7.0 weekly episodes of epistaxis [interquartile range {IQR}, 3.0-14.0]), 106 patients completed the study duration for the primary outcome measure (43 were women [41%]). Drug therapy did not significantly reduce epistaxis frequency (P = .97). After 12 weeks of treatment, the median weekly number of bleeding episodes was 7.0 (IQR, 4.5-10.5) for patients in the bevacizumab group, 8.0 (IQR, 4.0-12.0) for the estriol group, 7.5 (IQR, 3.0-11.0) for the tranexamic acid group, and 8.0 (IQR, 3.0-14.0) for the placebo group. No drug treatment was significantly different from placebo for epistaxis duration. All groups had a significant improvement in Epistaxis Severity Score at weeks 12 and 24. There were no significant differences between groups for hemoglobin level, ferritin level, treatment failure, need for transfusion, or emergency department visits. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Among patients with HHT, there were no significant between-group differences in the use of topical intranasal treatment with bevacizumab vs estriol vs tranexamic acid vs placebo and epistaxis frequency. TRIAL REGISTRATION: clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT01408030.

Validity of ophthalmology surgical competency assessment rubric for strabismus surgery in resident training.

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires US residency programs to assess ophthalmology residents for competency in 6 core areas. Ophthalmic surgical skills are currently part of the ACGME "Patient Care" competency, although some have advocated for a seventh competency, "Surgical Skills." The Ophthalmology Surgical Competency Assessment Rubric for Strabismus Surgery in Resident Training ( OSCAR: Strabismus) tool was designed to aid in the assessment of surgical skills using procedure specific behavioral anchors. The present study evaluated inter-rater agreement of the OSCAR: Strabismus tool in the assessment of resident performance. OSCAR: Strabismus evaluations of resident surgical strabismus cases were performed by a multinational group of faculty strabismus surgeons. Cronbach α statistical analysis of the completed evaluations revealed high inter-rater agreement, indicating the OSCAR: Strabismus is a reliable tool to facilitate assessment of resident strabismus surgical skills.

Comparison of the Icare rebound tonometry with the Goldmann applanation tonometry in a pediatric population.

We report the results of a comparative study at a single center on 214 eyes of 109 pediatric patients in whom IOP was measured using the Icare rebound tonometer and Goldmann applanation tonometry. Measurements from the two modalities demonstrated a correlation coefficient of 0.83 (P < 0.001), with Icare measuring on average 1.38 mm Hg higher. Compared to Goldmann, the Icare was more easily tolerated in the children studied. In 37 eyes that tolerated pachymetry, central corneal thickness was positively correlated with Icare measurements.

Complications of Strabismus Surgery.

All surgeries carry risks of complications, and there is no way to avoid ever having a complication. Strabismus surgery is no different in this regard. There are methods to reduce the risk of a complication during or after surgery, and these steps should always be taken. When a complication occurs, it is important to first recognize it and then manage it appropriately to allow for the best outcome possible. This article will discuss some of the more common and/or most devastating complications that can occur during or after strabismus surgery as well as thoughts on how to avoid them and manage them should they happen.

Ocular problems in low-income and minority children.

PURPOSE: To report the prevalence rates of screen failures for uncorrected refractive error, abnormal or excessive levels of hyperopia, problems in binocular vision, and deficiency of near point acuity as related to age and ethnicity in children. METHODS: Vision screening tests were administered to 9,743 African-American, Hispanic, and white children aged 6 to 11 years in the Kansas City (United States) metropolitan area. Screening was performed by health professions students using HOTV charts for refractive errors, hyperopia, and near point acuity and a Random Dot E test for binocular vision. Children were screened in their elementary schools, located in primarily poor, urban neighborhoods. The main outcome measure was pass/fail outcomes from screenings, with confirmation of screen fails by licensed health care professionals. RESULTS: For African-American children, 14.1% failed one or more vision screening tests. The corresponding screen failure rates for Hispanic and white children were 14.2% and 11.0%, respectively. There were significant differences in screening failure rates as a function of age and ethnicity, depending on the specific test. The highest rates of screen failures occurred in the 9 to 11 year old age range. CONCLUSIONS: Vision screening failures were frequently associated with age and ethnicity. Screening performed by health professions students can successfully identify potential visual problems at rates similar to those reported in studies using more complex, sophisticated testing performed by specially trained individuals.

The use of the iCare tonometer reduced the need for anesthesia to measure intraocular pressure in children.

PURPOSE: To determine whether the introduction of iCare rebound tonometry in a pediatric ophthalmology clinic resulted in fewer examinations under anesthesia to evaluate children with glaucoma. METHODS: The medical records of consecutive glaucoma patients were retrospectively reviewed. The numbers of examinations under anesthesia (EUAs) and office visits that included measurement of intraocular pressure (IOP) were compared for three periods relative to introduction of the Icare (Icare Finland Oy, Helsinki, Finland) rebound tonometer into our clinical practice: before device introduction, learning/transition period, and routine use. RESULTS: A total of 87 subjects were included: 48 subjects met inclusion criteria for the first period; 58 patients met inclusion criteria for the third period (some subjects straddled all three periods). The average patient age for the first period was 4.2 years and 4.9 years (P = 0.3) for the third period. The number of EUAs performed before the introduction of the Icare was 55 and after the introduction of the Icare was 18 (P < 0.001). The number of office visits at which IOP was measured increased from 34 to 151 (P < 0.001). Data from the transition period suggest a trend and a short learning period. CONCLUSIONS: The use of Icare tonometry decreased the need for EUAs to evaluate children with glaucoma and significantly increased successful IOP measurement in clinic.