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Biomedical subjects

Louis D Pizzarello

Publications and source records attributed to Louis D Pizzarello.

2 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2003

Refractive changes in pregnancy.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the causes of any vision change reported during pregnancy. SETTING: An obstetrical practice in Southampton, New York. STUDY POPULATION: Two hundred forty pregnant women were asked whether they had any alteration in vision. Those who agreed to take part in the study (83) and who complained of vision changes (12) were matched with the next patient seen in the practice who was asymptomatic. OBSERVATION. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination, including refraction. Those who had alterations in vision status were seen again after delivery. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in visual acuity and refractive error during pregnancy. RESULTS: All women who complained of visual changes were found to have experienced a myopic shift from pre-pregnancy levels. (0.87+/-0.3 diopters in the right eye ( P<0.0001) and 0.98+/-0.3 diopters in the left eye ( P<0.0001). Post partum, all subjects returned to near pre-pregnancy levels of myopia. CONCLUSIONS: This report links worsening of myopia to pregnancy. The causes of this myopic shift are not readily evident and merit further investigation.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Rapid assessment of trachoma in Hainan Province, China: validation of the new World Health Organization methodology.

This study was undertaken to validate a WHO methodology for the rapid assessment of trachoma. Fourteen villages were chosen by random sampling in two counties in Hainan Province, China. For the rapid assessment, trichiasis patients were identified, 50 children ages 1-10 years were examined for active trachoma, and information was collected on community access to services and community risk factors. To validate the methodology, a prevalence survey was undertaken simultaneously in the same villages. For the prevalence survey, 2428 people from 1606 households in the 14 villages were chosen by random sampling. Very little active trachoma was found by either method, although the rates of trichiasis were more substantial. Ranking of the villages by the two methods for trichiasis was highly correlated (Spearman's correlation coefficient = 0.60, p = 0.02). For active trachoma, the Spearman's correlation coefficient for the ranking of villages by the two methods was 0.40 and not significant (p = 0.14), suggesting that a correlation this close may have been seen by chance alone. The observational data showed all the villages to be at risk of active trachoma (due to poor environmental hygiene conditions), suggesting that this aspect of the WHO methodology overestimates the risk for active trachoma. We conclude that, with the exception of the community assessment of risk, this rapid assessment methodology is a valid tool for the assessment of trichiasis and possibly of active trachoma in rural communities, although the level of active trachoma in this study was too low to effectively validate that aspect of the methodology.

Child↗