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Biomedical subjects

O Kari

Publications and source records attributed to O Kari.

10 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Tolerance to different kinds of contact lenses in young atopic and non-atopic wearers.

PURPOSE: To study tolerance to three types of soft and onetype of rigid gas permeable (RGP) contact lens in young atopic and non-atopic subjects starting to wear contact lenses. METHODS: A prospective study was conducted in 73 young subjects (mean age: 18.7 years, range: 11-37 years). Each subject was allotted at random to one of four groups. Each group of subjects used a different type of contact lens for a year. Tolerance was determined by means of self-assessment by the subjects, ophthalmologic methods, and cytology. The study was conducted on a blind basis. The investigators assessing tolerance did not know what kind of lens a patient had been wearing. RESULTS: Fifty-six percent of subjects who had used soft contact lenses, but only 14% of RGP lens users described their lenses as very comfortable to wear. Sixty-three percent of non-atopic subjects but only 47% of atopic subjects described their lenses as very comfortable to wear. No differences were found between the three types of soft contact lens. Four cases of giant papillary conjunctivitis (GPC) and two cases of macropapillary reaction were recorded. No connections with atopy, type of lens, or lens care solution were found. CONCLUSIONS: Higher percentages of users of soft contact lenses than users of RGP contact lenses described their lenses as very comfortable to wear. Wearing of all types of lenses was associated with follicular or papillary reactions in some subjects. Young people can wear contact lenses safely only if monitoring takes place at least twice a year.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1996

Occupational conjunctivitis associated with type IV allergy to methacrylates.

On rare occasions, exposure to methacrylates (MAs) may induce mucosal symptoms. Three patients, two dental laboratory workers and one hearing aid laboratory worker, are presented. All three had allergic contact dermatitis from MAs which disappeared after avoidance of contact with uncured MA compounds. Two of the patients, the dental laboratory assistant and the hearing aid worker, had also developed symptoms of conjunctivitis. Both were exposed to chemically curable and light-curable MAs. The association between their conjunctivitis and type IV allergy to MAs was supported by the following observations: 1) sensitization to several MAs including methylMA, 2-hydroxyethylMA, ethyleneglycol diMA, triethyleneglycoldiMA, tetrahydrofurfuryldiMA, and 1,4-butanedioldiMA, as well as to pentaerythritol triacrylate; 2) simultaneous appearance of their eye symptoms and allergic contact dermatitis; 3) high exposure to MAs because of disturbances of ventilation; 4) disappearance of the eye symptoms during holidays; and 5) opthalmologist's findings of follicular conjunctivitis with some papillae, eosinophilia, and lymphocytosis in conjunctival scrapings corresponding to allergic contact conjunctivitis. In addition, the activation of eosinophils in the conjunctival scrapings was demonstrated with the monoclonal antibody technique, and an elevated level of eosinophilic cationic protein was found in the tear fluid. Our cases suggest that conjunctivitis may be caused by type IV allergy to MAs, although type I allergy (even though prick tests were negative), other hypersensitivity mechanisms, or irritation cannot be excluded. 4H-Gloves seem to give adequate hand protection even to allergic patients. More attention should be paid to ventilation systems if MA exposure occurs. In some cases, patients with eye symptoms need to be patch tested.

Conjunctivitis, Allergic↗
PubMed1996

Topical lomefloxacin twice daily compared with fucidic acid in acute bacterial conjunctivitis.

Forty-five patients with presumed acute bacterial conjunctivitis were treated in an investigator-masked randomized multicenter study with either lomefloxacin 0.3% or fucidic acid 1% eye drops twice daily. Clinical signs and symptoms were rated by slit-lamp examination and conjunctival swab cultures were performed to evaluate clinical and microbiological efficacy. A total of 57 ocular isolates were tested for susceptibility to nine antibiotics. A significant decrease in clinical symptomatology was achieved by both treatments with a gradual improvement over the treatment period of 7-9 days. Bacteriological recovery was frequently achieved already at the first control visit (day 3-5), but the recovery rate was statistically significant (p = 0.014) only in the lomefloxacin group. The relatively high in vitro resistance rate (46%) to fucidic acid was not reflected by lower clinical efficacy. Two unrelated adverse events (one in each treatment group) and minimal local intolerance problems were observed in both treatment groups. A significantly higher incidence of burning sensation was observed with fucidic acid than with lomefloxacin (p < 0.01). All four treatment failures in the study occurred in the fucidic acid group. Lomefloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution demonstrated a high efficacy and good tolerance in the management of acute bacterial conjunctivitis.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1992

Is atopy a risk factor for the use of contact lenses?

We studied the tolerance of soft contact lenses (CL) in 24 atopic (16 with hay fever) and 52 non-atopic subjects with a mean age of 20 years. They were examined when they first came to an ophthalmologist to have CL and re-examined after an average of 1.7 years. All subjects were allowed to use CL throughout the year, including the pollen season. Of the 76 subjects, 31 (41%) reported some kind of eye symptoms during the use of CL. Six subjects (8%) had stopped using CL because of symptoms. Altogether, in 29/76 subjects (38%) some objective sign was detected in the examination, confirming the subjective symptoms (conjunctivitis 16, keratoconjunctivitis 8, increased limbal blood vessels 4, and eczema palpebrae 1). Fourteen of the 24 atopics (58%) had experienced symptoms compared with 17 of the 52 non-atopics (33%) (p = 0.034). Eleven atopics had seasonal eye symptoms, and eight of them (73%) had problems with CL use. Eosinophils and neutrophils found in the conjunctival scrapings at the first examination appeared to predict poor CL tolerance when the occurrence of symptoms in different groups was first compared by bivariate analysis. The risk factors that could predict poor CL tolerance were also evaluated, with logistic regression analysis controlling potential confounders. History of an atopic condition increased 5-fold the risk of experiencing various external eye symptoms during the use of CL. We conclude that seasonal atopic allergy is a especially risk factor for wearing soft contact lenses, and their use should be restricted during the season.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1992

Conjunctival eosinophilia in atopic and non-atopic external eye symptoms.

We studied the occurrence in an ophthalmological office practice of conjunctival eosinophilia in 333 normal subjects (mean age 26 years) and in 152 atopic and 484 non-atopic patients (mean age 40 years) with various external eye symptoms. Eosinophils were present in 131/636 patients (21%) and in 22/333 asymptomatic normal subjects (7%). In those patients with conjunctival eosinophilia, a history of some kind of atopic condition was obtained only in 53/131 (40%). When the patients were characterized according to the presence of both eosinophilia and atopy, eosinophilia without signs of atopy was observed in 7-15% in different diagnostic groups. Patients with conjunctivitis or blepharoconjunctivitis had a fourfold risk for eosinophilia compared to normal subjects (odds ratios 4.52 and 4.09, confidence intervals 2.02, 10.12 and 2.40, 6.99), when atopy, sex, age, time of the examination and presence of bacteria were included as potential confounders in the regression model. We conclude that a considerable portion of patients with external eye symptoms, and especially with various forms of conjunctivitis, show eosinophilic inflammation without any evidence of atopic background. They can be labelled as having 'intrinsic' eosinophilic conjunctivitis analogously to the classification used in patients with intrinsic rhinitis and asthma. The etiology of this common nonatopic syndrome remains to be established.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1988

Atopic conjunctivitis. A cytologic examination.

Tarsal conjunctival scrapings of the lower and upper eyelids of 21 atopic, pollen allergic patients with conjunctivitis were examined three times; during a symptom-free period, during a challenge test and during the pollen season. Eosinophils were also counted from the conjunctival fluid of 17 patients, but only of 12 patients during the challenge. The controls were 10 atopic patients without conjunctivitis (K0), 31 normal persons (K1), who were examined routinely in the course of a spectacle prescription and 45 patients with acute conjunctivitis (K2) of other than allergic origin. A statistically significant difference in the occurrence of eosinophils in the scrapings was found between the pollen allergic patients and the normal control patients but not between patients with atopic or non-atopic conjunctivitis. During the challenge test, the occurrence of eosinophils in the scrapings increased for at least an hour after the challenge had become positive. In the pollen allergic patients eosinophils were equally abundant during the symptom-free and pollen seasons. It is concluded that the occurrence of eosinophils in the conjunctival scraping is not a reliable clinical indicator of allergy.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Tear histamine during allergic conjunctivitis challenge.

Tear histamine was measured in 14 patients with allergic conjunctivitis during a challenge test performed at a symptom-free point in time. The allergen challenge caused a rapid increase in the amount of tear histamine in only two-thirds of the patients, but there was a clinical reaction in all. The increase in the tear histamine content occurred in both the challenged and contralateral non-challenged eye, and the increase was also equally high in both. It is probable that the histamine release in the challenged eye takes place in the conjunctiva, whereas in the contralateral eye it is possibly induced by some sympathetic mechanism in the lacrimal gland.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1985

Allergic conjunctivitis, total and specific IgE in the tear fluid.

Twenty-three patients with allergic conjunctivitis caused by birch, timothy or mugwort pollen were examined for the presence of total and specific IgE in the tear fluid. In thirteen of the 23 patients IgE could be shown in the tears. Specific IgE antibodies against the causative pollens were present in the tear fluid of 8 of the patients. The relation between serum and tear IgE on one hand and serum and tear albumin on the other hand suggests local production of the specific IgE antibody.

Adolescent↗