Treatment of ocular cicatricial pemphigoid with the tumour necrosis factor alpha antagonist etanercept.
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Aged, 80 and over↗
Biomedical subjects
Pierre-Yves Robert
Publications and source records attributed to Pierre-Yves Robert.
Efficacy and safety of short duration azithromycin eye drops versus azithromycin single oral dose for the treatment of trachoma in children: a randomised, controlled, double-masked clinical trial.
AIMS: Efficacy and safety of a short-duration treatment of azithromycin 1.5% eye drops versus oral azithromycin to treat active trachoma. METHODS: Randomised, controlled, double-masked, double-dummy, non-inferiority explanatory study including 670 children from Guinea Conakry and Pakistan if: 1-10 years old; active trachoma (TF+TI0 or TF+TI+ on simplified World Health Organisation (WHO) scale). Three groups received either: azithromycin 1.5% eye drops twice daily for 2 days, for 3 days or azithromycin single 20 mg/kg oral dose. Patients' contacts were treated whenever possible. Clinical evaluation was performed using a binocular loupe. Primary efficacy variable was the cure (no active trachoma (TF0)) at day 60. Non-inferiority margin for difference between cure rates was 10%. RESULTS: Cure rate in per protocol set was as follows: 93.0%, 96.3% and 96.6% in 2-day group 3-day group, and oral treatment group, respectively. Azithromycin 1.5% groups were non-inferior to oral azithromycin. The intend to treat (ITT) analysis supported the results. Clinical re-emergence rate was low: 4.2%. Ocular tolerance was similar for all groups. No treatment related adverse events were reported. Logistic regression analyses found prognostic factors such as: country (p<0.001) and trachoma severity (p = 0.003). CONCLUSIONS: In active trachoma, azithromycin eye drops twice daily for 2 or 3 days are as efficient as the WHO's reference treatment and represent an innovative alternative to oral azithromycin.
Administration, Oral↗
Sleep with eyes wide open.
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Chronobiology Phenomena↗
Specific antibody production in herpes keratitis: intraocular inflammation and corneal neovascularisation as predicting factors.
PURPOSE: The purpose of the study is to investigate whether analysis of specific antibody synthesis can aid the diagnosis of herpes keratitis. METHODS: Aqueous humor was collected from 39 patients with presumed recurrent herpes keratitis, including 23 consulting for keratitis and 16 patients scheduled for penetrating keratoplasty. Local antibody production was ascertained by analysis of paired aqueous humor/serum samples, using a modified micro-ELISA technique. RESULTS: Local production of antibodies was found in 32 patients (82%): anti-herpes simplex virus (HSV) antibodies in 26 (67%) and anti-varicella zoster virus (VZV) antibodies in 11 (28%). Twenty of 23 patients with active keratitis (87%), and 12 of 16 undergoing keratoplasty (75%), tested positive. Five patients had local production of both anti-HSV and anti-VZV antibodies, whereas seven patients tested negative. Local antibody production was significantly associated with intraocular inflammation (P<0.05), corneal neovascularisation (P<0.05), and positive response to anti-viral treatment (P<0.05). No complications were encountered in sampling aqueous humor. CONCLUSIONS: Assessment of local anti-HSV and -VZV antibody production is a safe and reliable diagnostic procedure for recurrent herpes keratitis. It might be particularly helpful in patients presenting with intraocular inflammation and neovascularisation since it discriminates between herpes and non-herpes pathologies and may therefore be useful for preventive and therapeutic strategies.
Acyclovir↗
Assessment of blepharospasm surgery using an improved disability scale: study of 138 patients.
PURPOSE: To assess a new scale for grading functional disability in a series of patients operated on for blepharospasm resistant to treatment by botulinum toxin (BT) injections. METHODS: The bicentric study included 138 patients: 80 (58%) with essential blepharospasm; 46 (33%) with apraxia of eyelid opening; and 12 (9%) with intermediate forms. They had undergone orbicularis myectomy (92 cases, 67%), frontalis suspension (31 cases, 22%), or both (15 cases, 11%). Functional disability was assessed by using an original scale covering 6 daily life activities, each graded using 5 levels from 0 (no disability) to 4 (activity impossible). The score obtained was related to the total of activities actually performed to produce a functional disability score (FDS) from 0 to 100. Each patient's FDS was prospectively determined, before surgery and 3 months after surgery (M3). In patients who, after surgery, required a further course of BT injections, the FDS was assessed immediately before the third injection. RESULTS: The mean FDS fell significantly, from 78 +/- 15 (standard deviation) before surgery to 45 +/- 21 at M3 (p < 0.01%), whatever the clinical form of essential blepharospasm or surgical procedure. The mean postoperative FDS was significantly lower in the 62 patients (45%) weaned off BT than in the unweaned group, respectively (31 +/- 17 versus 56 +/- 18; p < 0.01). In the latter group, the mean FDS after BT reinjection (34 +/- 19) fell to a level comparable with that of the weaned patients. CONCLUSIONS: This accurate, easy-to-use scale makes it possible to quantify in patients with blepharospasm functional improvement as the result of surgery and, where applicable, of BT reinjection.
Activities of Daily Living↗
Retrocaruncular approach to the medial orbit for dacryocystorhinostomy.
PURPOSE: The objective of this study was to present a versatile approach to the medial orbit behind the caruncula for dacryocystorhinostomy. METHODS: This study was a retrospective, non-comparative, case series with a description of the surgical technique. We report 11 procedures carried out on 10 patients, who were operated on for DCR using the retrocaruncular approach (RCDCR). Surgical indications and complications were recorded for every patient. RESULTS: Lacrimal patency was obtained in 82% of the cases. The average follow-up was 2.81 months (1-6.5). CONCLUSION: DCR may be safely completed through a retro-caruncular approach. The retrocaruncular approach provides excellent and safe exposure of the posterior aspect of the lacrimal sac, and it avoids the scarring associated with the skin approach.
Adult↗
Herpes simplex virus DNA in corneal transplants: prospective study of 38 recipients.
Herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection of the eye can induce epithelial and stromal keratitis and may also lead to postoperative endothelial failure in keratoplasty. Clinical symptoms and/or virus culture of corneal scrapings most frequently provide the basis for diagnosis of ocular HSV infection, and although HSV DNA has been shown to be present in the cornea, its role in success or failure of corneal grafts remains unclear. In this study, a PCR assay was used to detect HSV DNA in corneal buttons of 38 corneal graft recipients and in donor scleral remnants, retaining one-half of each sample for subsequent viral isolation. Recipients were followed up clinically for a period of 6 months after keratoplasty. All recipients but three were found to be HSV seropositive. Eight recipient corneal buttons contained detectable HSV DNA (7 HSV-1, 1 HSV-2, the latter case confirmed by viral culture). Two donor corneas were found positive for HSV-1 DNA, with negative cultures, and endothelial graft failure occurred in one of the matching recipients after 4 months. One recipient with no history of herpes contracted herpetic keratitis 4 months after keratoplasty, even though the corneal button and donor scleral remnants contained no detectable HSV DNA. The study confirms previous observations of HSV DNA in the corneal tissue of HSV seropositive patients apparently unrelated to any clinical manifestation of herpes infection. However, as demonstrated by culture, HSV remains infectious and may therefore induce donor-to-host infection in corneal recipients.
Adult↗
Visual prognosis in extremely old patients with temporal (giant cell) arteritis.
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Aged↗
[Is incidence of diplopia after Fat Removal Orbital Decompression a predictive factor of choice of surgical technique for Graves' ophthalmopathy?].
UNLABELLED: Dysthroid orbitopathy or Graves ophthalmopathy is a frequent pathologic condition five times more frequent in females than males. The main symptoms are: proptosis, motility disorders related to eye muscles fibrosis, eyelid retraction, lagophthalmos, and finally the more severe ones: compressive optic neuropathy at the apex of the orbit, and corneal exposure. In order to reduce proptosis the classic approach is Bone Removal Orbital Decompression (BROD) either through eyelid skin, coronal, conjunctival, or endonasal approaches. Recently a new technique has been described by Olivari: Fat Removal Orbital Decompression (FROD). The purpose is to evaluate the incidence of diplopia after FROD and improve surgical indications for Graves' ophthalmopathy. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 35 patients were included in this retrospective study (58 orbits). FROD (OLIVARI technique) was performed in all cases (23 bilateral surgery, 12 unilateral; 12 men, 23 women). All patients with optic neuropathy (severe Graves'ophthalmopathy) were eliminated because bone decompression was always performed. The ocular motility was examined before and after surgery by orthoptic screening. The average follow up was 18 months. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Before FROD, 7 patients complained of moderate or severe diplopia: all remained with diplopia after FROD. After FROD 32% developed a new diplopia: only one patient remained with diplopia after strabismus surgery or adaptation by prisms glasses. Diplopia after BROD in moderate Graves' ophthalmopathy (with indications identical to our study) is reported from 23 to 34% in previous studies. CONCLUSION: Diplopia after FROD is a real risk whose incidence is identical after FROD and BROD and must be explained to each patient before surgical decision.
Adipose Tissue↗
Internal and external contamination of donor corneas before in situ excision: bacterial risk factors in 93 donors.
BACKGROUND: Most studies of corneal donor contamination concentrate on postenucleation contamination of the eyeball. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the relative contamination of in situ excised corneal tissue and relevance to final success or rejection by recipients of the corneal grafts. METHODS: Ninety-three donors underwent anterior chamber puncture (ACP) and corneal epithelium scarification (CS) before and after disinfection with 5% povidone-iodine. Following in situ excision, corneas were preserved in culture medium at +35 degrees C. Morphological and bacteriological assessment was carried out after culture, and recipients were followed up over a 2-year period. RESULTS: Samples taken by ACP, CS before disinfection, CS after disinfection and a culture medium sample were contaminated by bacteria in, respectively, 8 (8.6%), 23 (24.7%) 4 (4.3%) and 5 (5.4%) donors. Contamination of aqueous humor was significantly associated with age, death-to-sample time and premortem systemic infection. Contamination of epithelium significantly increased culture medium contamination. CONCLUSION: External bacteria on donor cornea are mainly skin bacteria (especially Staphylococcus) and can be partially eliminated by a povidone-iodine wash. Internal bacteria are mainly gut bacteria and may be due to perimortem bacteriemia. However, bacterial infection at the time of death appears to have no effect on the incidence of endophthalmitis in recipients and should no longer prevent use of such corneal tissue in grafts.
Adult↗
Multiplex detection of herpesviruses in tear fluid using the "stair primers" PCR method: prospective study of 93 patients.
Human herpesviruses can infect the eye and be excreted subsequently in tears. The aim of the present study was to use a multiplex PCR to detect herpesviruses (HSV-1, -2, VZV, CMV, EBV, HHV-6) in tears from normal subjects and from patients with pathological conditions (acute herpes, zoster, papillary conjunctivitis, and dry eye). Schirmer test strips were used to collect tear fluid from 93 patients, sampling both eyes. DNA was then extracted from the 186 samples by chromatography, and viral DNA amplified using a commercialised multiplex "stair primer" method. Thirty-four samples (18.3%) contained Taq inhibitors. The multiplex test gave positive results for HSV and VZV in tear fluid from patients with acute dendritic keratitis (3 patients) and acute ocular zoster (4 patients) and was, therefore, considered effective in testing samples from patients with acute lesions. HSV-1 and HSV-2 were found in two samples from patients with metaherpetic corneal scarring. Among 28 cases of dry eye, two were positive for HHV-6, the latter being associated with EBV in one patient. HHV-6 was also found in 4 out of 54 cases of papillary conjunctivitis. This raised occurrence of HHV-6 in dry eye or papillary conjunctivitis, suggests new clinical patterns for HHV-6 latency or reactivation. Detection of EBV in 1 out of 80 healthy eyes confirms previous evidence that lacrimal glands constitute potentially a site for latent-phase EBV.
Conjunctivitis, Viral↗
[Surgical treatment of blepharospasm: results of a study of 138 patients using an improved disability scale].
We applied a new blepharospasm clinical disability scale to the evaluation of blepharospasm surgery in a group of 138 patients. This scale analyzes six parameters of daily life, namely reading, watching television, household tasks, walking, employment, and driving. The patients had either essential blepharospasm or pretarsal dystonia. Frontalis suspension of the eyelid gave slightly better functional results than orbicularis resection in some patient subgroups.
Activities of Daily Living↗