[Treatment of a subretinal silicone oil bubble]. / Traitement du passage de l'huile de silicone sous la rétine.

The passage of a silicone oil bubble under the retina is a rare but severe complication of retinal detachment (RD) surgery. It may cause a permanent detachment and/or migrate with time, decreasing visual function. We present five cases in which the subretinal oil bubble was successfully extracted from the subretinal space by retinotomy. Two cases were rhegmatogenous RD with proliferative vitreoretinopathy, two were post-traumatic RD, and one was a traction detachment in proliferative diabetic retinopathy. The average follow-up was 17 months. In three cases, we were able to remove the silicone oil from the eye. In all cases, visual acuity was improved. Using retinotomy to extract the subretinal oil bubble seems a safe way to manage this complication.

[Trends in hospital admissions for pediatric asthma in childrenduring a period of eighteen years] / A tendência das hospitalizações por crises de asma em crianças em um período de dezoito anos.

OBJECTIVE: To study trends in hospital admissions for acute pediatric asthma in the Hospital da Santa Casa do Rio Grande during the period of 1979 to 1996. METHODS: This is a study of a series of cases. We reviewed all the discharge records of pediatric patients with diagnosis of acute asthma, pneumonia, and bronchiolitis within the period mentioned above. The main variable in this study was the percentage of admissions for acute asthma in relation to the total amount of hospital admissions. The percentages of admissions for bronchiolitis and pneumonia in relation to the total amount of hospital admissions were also calculated as reference values. RESULTS: There were 3,493 admissions for acute asthma in 3,122 patients during the studied period, with an average of 194 admissions per year. The percentage of admissions for acute asthma to total hospital admissions increased from 5,5% to 14,7% between 1983/84 and 1991/92. Half of this increase occurred during the period 1987-1992 in which hospitalizations for bronchiolitis and pneumonia were stable. This percentage decreased from 14,7% to 10,6% in the period of 1991/92 - 1995/96. CONCLUSIONS: There was a significant increase in hospital admissions for acute pediatric asthma in the Hospital da Santa Casa do Rio Grande during the period of 1983 - 1992. From then on, hospital admissions for asthma showed downward trends.