A case of submacular cysticercosis treated by pars plana vitrectomy in Kuwait.

We report a case of submacular cysticercosis in the left eye of an Indian patient living in Kuwait. Though he was systemically asymptomatic, his magnetic resonance imaging showed multiple cysts in the brain. The patient underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), and the cyst was removed in total through a retinotomy over the cyst. He had another small cyst in the periphery that was also removed. He was treated with oral albendazole and systemic steroids after the surgery to treat his neurocysticercosis. He developed rhegmatogenous retinal detachment after the surgery, and the retina was successfully reattached with scleral buckling and PPV procedure. His final best corrected visual acuity improved from counting fingers at 1/2 m at presentation to 20/400. This case report shows that the ocular cysticercosis may be seen among expatriates working in the Middle East. It is important to rule out the presence of neurocysticercosis in such patients as well as multiple cysts in the affected eye. However, the functional outcome of surgical treatment of submacular cysticercosis can be disappointing.

Type I retinopathy of prematurity in infants with birth weight less than 1251 g: incidence and risk factors for its development in a nursery in Kuwait.

PURPOSE: To report the rate of acute retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and Type I ROP among infants with birth weight (BW) <1251 g and identify the risk factors for the development of Type I ROP. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective review of ROP records of infants with BW <1251 g was performed to identify infants with acute ROP and Type I ROP. Infants with Type I ROP were compared with those without Type I ROP to assess the risk factors for the development of Type I ROP. P < 0.05 was statistically significant. Multivariate analysis was performed and odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. RESULTS: Among the 207 infants with BW <1251 g, acute ROP occurred in 154 infants (74.4%) and Type I ROP in 95 eyes of 50 infants (24.4%). The numbers of infants with BW <750 g and BW <1000 g were 19.3% and 58.4%, respectively, and the incidences of Type I ROP were 50% and 36.4%, respectively, among them. Forty-four (46.3%) eyes were treated at stage 2+ ROP in zone I or II. All the eyes treated for Type I ROP showed complete regression. Gestational age at birth (OR 0.657, 95% CI: 0.521-0.827; P < 0.0001) and number of ventilated days (OR 1.017, 95% CI: 1.005-1.029; P = 0.006) were identified as independent risk factors for the development of Type I ROP. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of Type I ROP in this study is higher than that in previous studies due to the higher number of infants with BW <1000 g in our cohort and the treatment of more eyes with stage 2+ ROP. However, all the treated eyes had a favorable outcome. Gestational age at birth and number of ventilated days were independent risk factors for the development of Type I ROP.

Traumatic cataract surgery assisted by trypan blue.

The advantages of trypan blue use in anterior segment surgery have been well recognized, but few reports of its use in traumatic cataract surgery have been published. The authors describe three cases of traumatic cataract in which the role of trypan blue in performing safe and successful cataract surgery is demonstrated. Selective staining of the anterior lens capsule using trypan blue enabled the surgeon to identify the extent of structural damage and plan the surgery accordingly. In all three cases, the cataract was removed and the intraocular lens was implanted successfully without complications. Trypan blue is a safe and helpful aid in traumatic cataract surgery.