[Bacterial contamination of the anterior chamber and cataract surgery]. / Contamination bactérienne de la chambre antérieure et chirurgie de la cataracte.

The authors report the results of bacteriologic cultures of the anterior chamber aspirate after cataract surgery. The results were positive for 15 cases (24%). Nine cultures were positive for 27 eyes operated by phacoemulsification and 6 cultures were positive for 35 eyes operated by extracapsular cataract extraction. The origin of these organisms is the normal bacterial flora of the conjunctiva and the inoculum size is very small. The most commonly identified organisms are coagulase-negative staphylococcus and propionibacterium acnes.

[When should eye infection be suspected?]. / Quand suspecter un oeil infecté?

During simple inspection of an inflamed eye it is often difficult to diagnose an infection. However, infection must be suspected, notably in cases with facilitating factors. Eye infection requires management by specialists to prevent complications which might endanger vision.

[Endothelial effects of the ZB anterior chamber myopic implant during the first year. Prospective study with statistical analysis]. / Répercussions endothéliales de l'implant myopique de chambre antérieure ZB au cours de la première année. Etude prospective avec analyse statistique.

We conducted a prospective study of the corneal endothelium of 31 severely myopic eyes (17 patients) corrected by phakic anterior chamber intraocular lens. Patients were examined 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after surgical operation. In the center of the cornea, we noted a mean cell loss of 5.3% (p = 0.03) at 3 months, 8.2% (p less than 0.001) at 6 months and 15.5% at 12 months. The maximal cell loss was 21.6% at 3 months, 29% at 6 months and 58% at 12 months. The loss between 6 and 12 months was significant (p 0.01). In the periphery, the endothelial density was slightly lower than the central density (mean: 3.2%). In some cases, we saw areas of cellular denuding. It appeared that endothelial cell loss can be very different in the two eyes of the same patient, as well as between two different patients. Our study showed that the reduction of endothelial cell density was progressive with time. Intermittent contact between the implant and corneal endothelium was highly suspected, but this mechanism may not be the only one involved. The future integrity of these corneas is at stake and the problem of explantation of some implants is beginning to be a real one.

[Reoperation after radial keratotomy. When is it indicated?]. / Réintervention après kératotomie radiaire. Quand la faire?

In a series of 719 patients who underwent radial kératotomies, the authors report the results of pericentral deepenings 1 month and 1 year postoperatively because of undercorrection postoperatively. The improvement of residual myopia was 68.6% in the first group and 64.8% in the second group. There was no statistically difference between these two results. The dioptric improvement did not exceed 1.5 dioptre in all cases.