Two-stage intra-tenon injection versus sponge-applied mitomycin C-augmented trabeculectomy: a one-year study.

PURPOSE: Mitomycin C (MMC) is normally used to avoid scar formation in trabeculectomy. There has been a shift from conventional delivery via soaked sponges to preoperative injection of MMC. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of a modified two-stage low-dose intra-Tenon injection with soaked sponges of MMC for trabeculectomy over a 1-year follow-up period. METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled patients with glaucoma undergoing modified trabeculectomy with a two-stage intra-Tenon injection (0.01%, 0.1 mL) or soaked sponges (0.02%) of MMC. In the former group, patients received intra-Tenon injection of MMC (the first stage) at least 4 h before trabeculectomy (the second stage). Patient characteristics, preoperative and postoperative intraocular pressure, antiglaucoma medication use, complications, and post-trabeculectomy surgical interventions were recorded during a 1-year follow-up period. RESULTS: There were 36 and 35 eyes in the injection and sponge groups, respectively, in 58 patients. The injection group showed significantly lower intraocular pressure (p < 0.05) at every time point except on postoperative day 1 and week 1, fewer medications at the 1-year follow-up (p = 0.018), and a higher complete success rate (p = 0.011) than the sponge group. Both techniques showed a significant reduction in intraocular pressure and medication use at the 1-year follow-up. There were no significant differences in complications between both groups. CONCLUSION: Our two-stage intra-Tenon MMC injection technique resulted in lower postoperative intraocular pressure, less antiglaucoma medication use, and fewer needling revisions compared to the sponge technique.

Differences in characteristics, aetiologies, isolated pathogens, and the efficacy of antibiotics in adult patients with preseptal cellulitis and orbital cellulitis between 2000-2009 and 2010-2019.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To understand whether the epidemiology, aetiologies, common pathogens and the antibiotic efficacy against the identified bacteria of periorbital cellulitis in adults have changed recently (2010-2019) compared with the past decade (2000-2009). METHODS: Adult patients (n=224) diagnosed with preseptal cellulitis and orbital cellulitis admitted to Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital during 2000-2019 were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic and clinical characteristics, isolated pathogens and antibiotic susceptibility tests against the commonly cultured bacteria were analysed. RESULTS: Preseptal cellulitis showed a tendency of female predominance. Patients in their 60s showed an incidence peak; more cases were observed during winter. The most common predisposing factor was dacryocystitis (15.5%-30.5%), followed by hordeolum (15.5%-24.8%). Aetiology of sinusitis (p=0.001) decreased and that of conjunctivitis (p=0.007) increased significantly with time. Culture results of nasopharyngeal swabs and local abscess showed higher positivity rate than conjunctival swab. The most common isolates were methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus, methicillin-resistant S. aureus, coagulase-negative staphylococci and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Antibiotics including fluoroquinolones and vancomycin were effective; in contrast, ampicillin/sulbactam and oxacillin showed decreasing efficacy against gram-positive bacteria. For antibiotic treatment against P. aeruginosa, fluoroquinolones, ceftazidime, piperacillin and imipenem were ideal choices. CONCLUSION: In isolated pathogens, the increasing trend of methicillin-resistant S. aureus detection was compatible with reducing oxacillin efficacy against periorbital infection. In our study, the report of antibiotic efficacy against the most common identified bacteria offered empirical choices for hospitalised patients with periorbital infection before obtaining culture results.

The Association between Elevated Hematocrit and Retinal Artery Occlusion in Adult Patients.

Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is most commonly caused by embolism. Evidence showed that hematocrit (Hct) levels are often associated with embolic events. In this study, we aim to investigate the relationship between Hct levels and RAO. This retrospective study enrolled RAO patients between January 2011 and March 2020, who were 1:4 matched by age, gender, index date, and relevant comorbidities with the non-RAO group. Patient characteristics and laboratory data were collected. Univariate conditional logistic regression was applied by estimating crude matched odds ratios to determine the relevant factors for the occurrence of RAO. Furthermore, a narrative review of the relevant study was conducted to explore the association between Hct levels and embolism. Between January 2011 to March 2020, 82 RAO patients and 328 non-RAO patients matched with age, gender, index date, comorbidities of hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, chronic kidney disease, stroke, and atrial fibrillation were enrolled after excluding ineligible individuals. Conditional logistic regression analysis showed that Hct level ≥ 40% was associated with developing RAO. A forest plot showed a trend of a non-linear dose-response association between Hct levels and ischemic vascular events in male patients. Hct levels ≥ 40% in patients older than 65 years with at least six comorbidities could be associated with RAO. We suggest that older patients who have multiple comorbidities, combined with elevated Hct levels, should be informed of the possible occurrence of RAO.

Antibiotic Choices for Pediatric Periorbital Cellulitis-A 20-Year Retrospective Study from Taiwan.

The delayed treatment of pediatric periorbital cellulitis may have severe consequences. In addition, the antibiotic efficacy against causative bacteria may change over time, and it is important to understand the appropriate antibiotic options for effective treatment in pediatric patients. We compared the changes in cultured bacteria and drug susceptibility tests between two decades, 2010-2019 and 2000-2009, to establish antibiotics for empirical use. The patient characteristics, etiologies, culture sites, and isolated bacteria, and the antibiotic susceptibility tests of the admitted pediatric patients (n = 207) diagnosed with preseptal and orbital cellulitis during 2000 to 2019, were recorded. Insect/animal bites (p = 0.084) showed an increasing trend, and sinusitis (p = 0.016) showed a significant decrease in the past decades. The most common bacteria were Staphylococcus aureus, and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) infections increased in recent decades (p = 0.01). Moreover, we found that vancomycin was ideal for MRSA infections. The decreasing efficacy of oxacillin correlates with the increasing proportion of MRSA in pediatric periorbital cellulitis. Our study thus offers antibiotic choices against the most common isolates that can be administered before culture results are available.

Treating refractory corneal hydrops in a male patient with vernal keratoconjunctivitis and mental retardation: a case report.

BACKGROUND: Keratoconus is the most common noninflammatory bilateral corneal ectasia. Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and eye rubbing may be associated with keratoconus in children and young adults. Timely management of advanced keratoconus is important to improve visual quality. In addition, it is challenging to carry out VKC treatment with an intent to avoid the occurrence of punctate epithelial keratitis, ulceration, or corneal neovascularization on corneal grafts. CASE PRESENTATION: We report the case of an 18-year-old male patient with a long-term history of mental retardation due to megalencephaly presenting with acute onset of corneal hydrops with prominent bulging and refractory steroid-induced glaucoma of the right eye. The topography of the right eye was unavailable due to advanced ectasia, and that of the left eye revealed central steepening with inferior-superior dioptric asymmetry. According to the clinical findings, the patient was diagnosed with keratoconus. Because of progressive corneal opacity and neovascularization, the patient underwent penetrating keratoplasty (PK) with combination of interrupted and intrastromal running suturing after receiving a preoperative subconjunctival injection of bevacizumab in his right eye, followed by lower eyelid correction. After surgery, the patient was treated with 0.1% tacrolimus dermatological ointment, 0.1% cyclosporine eye drops, artificial tears, and 0.5% loteprednol for keratoplasty and VKC. Repeated education on avoiding eye rubbing was offered to the patient. Two years after PK treatment, his best-corrected visual acuity of the right eye successfully improved from hand motion at 10 cm preoperatively to 6/20 postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: Large-diameter PK with intrastromal suturing technique for advanced keratoconus could achieve better visual outcomes and avoid suture-related complications. In addition, tacrolimus dermatological ointment rather than tacrolimus topical eye drops or ointment showed satisfactory efficacy when combined with topical cyclosporine and steroid that no significant VKC reactivation were noted after PK.

Effect of vitamin D on cognitive function and white matter hyperintensity in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.

AIM: To examine the effect of vitamin D level on cognitive function and white matter hyperintensity (WMH) in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease (AD). METHODS: We recruited patients with mild AD, and carried out clinical interviews, neuropsychological assessments, laboratory tests and brain magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS: In total, 146 patients with mild AD (68 men, 78 women; mean age 79.1 ± 7.0 years; mean education 10.2 ± 4.3 years) were enlisted. The mean Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score was 21.0 ± 3.8. The 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25[OH]D) level was correlated negatively with the WMH volume (ß = -0.219, P = 0.004) after adjusting for age, sex, years of education, apolipoprotein ε4 allele status, seasons of blood sampling, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, coronary heart disease and total brain volume. The 25(OH)D level was correlated positively with the MMSE score (ß = 0.309, P < 0.001) after adjusting for the same covariates. Multivariate regression analysis with the MMSE score serving as the dependent variable and adjustment for covariates showed that the 25(OH)D level was an independent predictor of the MMSE score (ß = 0.322, P < 0.001), but the WMH volume was not (ß = 0.056, P = 0.587). These findings suggest that WMH has no mediation effect between the 25(OH)D level and the MMSE score. CONCLUSIONS: Reduced plasma 25(OH)D levels were associated with low MMSE scores in patients with mild AD, but the underlying mechanism is not attributable to WMH. Thus, it suggested that the presence of another pathomechanism exists. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2020; 20: 52-58.

Synchronous hepatocellular carcinoma and lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma arising from 2 different sites of the liver: A case report.

RATIONALE: Most cases of primary liver cancer involve hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Lymphoepithelioma-like carcinoma (LELC) is defined as a tumor composed of undifferentiated epithelial cells with a prominent lymphoid infiltrate, which is rarely reported. Lymphoepithelioma-like HCC (LEL-HCC) is an uncommon variant of HCC, having an unclear process of development. Here, we report the first case involving simultaneous HCC and LEL-HCC. PATIENT CONCERNS: A 77-year-old female was accidentally found to have a hypoechoic hepatic nodule via an abdominal ultrasound during a health examination. Abdominal computed tomography scan revealed 2 hepatic nodules with arterial phase enhancement and washout in the late phase. DIAGNOSES: We diagnosed the case with 2 distinct liver nodules, HCC and LEL-HCC. INTERVENTIONS: With suspicion of HCC, tumor resection (liver segments 4 and 5) was then performed. Histopathological examination of tumor 1 showed a moderately differentiated HCC and tumor 2 demonstrated a LEL-HCC. Immunohistochemically, the cells of tumor 2 were immunoreactive for cytokeratin (CK), CK7, and CK19. Epstein-Barr virus encoding small RNA (EBER) in situ hybridization results were negative. OUTCOMES: Six months after resection, intrahepatic tumor recurrence was noted. Radiofrequency ablation was conducted. LESSONS: This is an interesting case providing circumstantial evidence of simultaneous development of HCC and LEL-HCC in distinct nodules of the liver with a background of chronic hepatitis B virus infection.