Correlation between clinical outcomes and patients' satisfaction using tarsoconjunctival - Hughes flap for the reconstruction of eyelid defects.

Aim To examine and quantify patients' satisfaction and correlate with the objective clinical presentation after the treatment and to present a comprehensive literature review on tarsoconjunctival/ Hughes flap technique. Methods A review of more than 159 peer-review articles and a combined retrospective-prospective two-centres case series of 17 patients who underwent a two-stage modified Hughes flap procedure (2019-2021) to repair a lower eyelid defect caused by epithelial cancer was conducted. All patients were followed up for a minimum of six months. Patient macroscopic evaluation of redness, lid position, retraction, trichiasis, conjunctival overgrowth, tissue inflammation/infection and hypertrophic scarring were obtained, and findings were graded on a scale of 1 to 5 or binary YES/NO scale. Patients' satisfaction using a Likert-type scale and correlation with the clinical presentation were analysed. Results Pearson correlation coefficient between patients' satisfaction and clinical presentation was 0.534. Out of 510 (the highest summed score for patients' satisfaction), the total score was 479 (93.9%); out of 187 (the highest summed score for clinical presentation), the total score was 162 (86.6%). Although both scores were high, a lower correlation coefficient and the higher satisfaction score can be explained by more realistic expectations in oncological patients compared to cosmetic ones. Conclusion Hughes flaps provide multiple benefits in the reconstruction of selected patients with large defects, especially when poor wound healing is expected, or when local advancement flaps do not provide tension-free reconstruction. The rate of complications is low and manageable, whereas additional therapy is usually observational or symptomatic.

EFFECT OF SUN EXPOSURE DURATION ON CYCLOOXYGENASE-2 EXPRESSION IN THE CONJUNCTIVA.

Pterygium is a multifactorial proliferative pathologic change of bulbar conjunctiva. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of the duration of exposure to solar radiation (expressed in years) on the incidence of positive cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) finding in conjunctival tissue in two groups of patients. Group 1 consisted of 68 patients with primary pterygium having undergone conjunctival autograft transplantation. Group 2 consisted of 43 patients with morphologically unchanged conjunctivae that were harvested during cataract surgery. All 111 specimens were submitted to immunohistochemical staining for monoclonal COX-2 antibody (1:100; M361701 MO A-HU, Dako, Santa Clara, California, USA). The immunostaining intensity in the surface epithelium was scored using the following grading system: 0 no immunostaining; + weak immunostaining (few cells being positive focally or scattered); ++ medium immunostaining; and +++ strong immunostaining (diffuse staining throughout the tissue). The analysis of COX-2 activity yielded 29 (42.6%) positive findings in group 1 and 27 (62.8%) positive findings in group 2. Group 2 consisted of statistically significantly older individuals with a history of considerably longer sun exposure. Statistical analysis proved the duration of exposure to solar radiation to be the most important factor in positive COX-2 findings.

Visual dysfunction in patients with Parkinson's disease and essential tremor.

The aim of this study was to determine the specificity and sensitivity of the Pelli-Robson and Ishihara diagnostic methods in differing Parkinson's disease from essential tremor compared to DaTSCAN (dopamine transporter scan) findings. The intention was to investigate whether visual dysfunction appears in the early state of Parkinson's disease. Therefore, we included patients with the symptomatology of parkinsonism lasting between 6 and 12 months. The study included 164 patients of which 59 (36.0%) suffered from Parkinson's disease, 51 (31.1%) from essential tremor, and 54 (32.9%) healthy patients which presented the control group. The specificity of Pelli-Robson test in confirming Parkinson's disease was 53% and the sensitivity 81.4%. The specificity of Ishihara test in confirming Parkinson's disease was 88.2%, and sensitivity 55.9%. We found that the colour and contrast dysfunction are present as the earliest symptoms of Parkinson's disease. In this study the Pelli-Robson test is highly sensitive and the Ishihara tables are highly specific in the differential diagnosis between Parkinson's disease and essential tremor, but neither of these methods fulfils the criteria for the validity of a test. We suggest performing both of these methods to evaluate which patients are indicated for DaTSCAN.