Conventional vs. accelerated cross-linking
The Dresden protocol of 3mW/cm2 irradiance for 30 minutes has been extensively studied and has shown advantageous clinical and topographical results. However, this protocol is time-consuming and therefore accelerated CXL using higher irradiance to shorten treatment duration has emerged. The...
Endothelial cell loss using different graft injectors in DMEK
This study aimed to investigate endothelial cell loss between two injector systems in descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) grafts; a glass injector – modified Jones tube and a plastic injector – closed system IOL injector, the Viscoject 2.2 system. DMEK...
Maintenance therapy for CMV endotheliitis
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) has been associated with corneal endotheliitis, leading to endothelial cell loss and corneal decompensation. CMV corneal endotheliitis recurrence can affect between 5-60% of eyes after cessation of anti-CMV therapy. Each recurrence of endotheliitis has a detrimental effect on...
Outcomes of primary and repeat DSAEKs
Retrospective analysis of results following primary and secondary descemet stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEKs), carried out in Villa Serena-Villa Igea Private Hospitals in Italy, showed that primary and secondary DSAEK surgery result in similar visual outcomes, refractive errors and endothelial...
Risks factors for graft preparation failure in DMEK
Diabetes mellitus (DM) makes it more difficult to prepare descemet membrane epithelial keratoplasty (DMEK) grafts due to the ‘stickiness’ of Descemet’s membrane. This retrospective study examined a classification system, where donors were scored points according to their DM related risk...
Conjunctivochalasis and aqueous tear deficiency – which one causes symptoms?
This review sought to determine whether conjunctivochalasis (CCh) obliterates the fornix tear reservoir and thus mimics aqueous tear deficiency (ATD). Patients were divided into two groups, with aqueous tear deficiency (CCh +ATD) or without (CCh –ATD), based on results of...
Penetrating keratoplasties in infants
This retrospective review looked at endothelial cell counts (ECC) following penetrating keratoplasties (PKP) performed in infants within the first year of their life. One hundred eyes of 71 patients had their first PKP during the study period (1998-2013). In 30%...
Acanthamoeba ability to adhere to different contact lenses
This study tested ability of Acanthamoeba lugdunensis trophozoites to adhere to silicon hydrogel contact lenses (SHCL) and how this is influenced by different multipurpose contact lens solutions (MPS). Three generations of SHCL were tested: first generation – Air Optix, second...
Dry eyes after photorefractive keratoplasty
This study examined changes in tear break up time (TBUT), Schirmer test, tear osmolarity and dry eye questionnaire (OSDI) score from prior to photorefractive keratoplasty (PRK), to two months and four months postoperatively. Fifty eyes of 25 patients were examined....
Treatment of Sjogren’s Syndrome dry eye in mouse model
Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) is a chronic autoimmune disease characterised by inflammation of the exocrine glands, specifically the salivary and lacrimal glands that produce saliva and tears, respectively. The immune-mediated attack on the salivary and lacrimal glands leads to the development...
Central corneal and epithelial thickness measured by Fourier domain OCT
This study examined intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility of corneal thickness (CT) and epithelial thickness (ET) measurement of Fourier domain OCT (RTVue) in 23 healthy volunteers. RTVue is capable of producing 26,000 A scans per second with depth resolution of 5µm....
Corneal tattooing as treatment for bullous keratopathy
This retrospective study looked at differences in epithelial smoothing in patients with bullous keratopathy (BK) undergoing either corneal tattooing or anterior stromal puncture (ASP). Both procedures were carried out for symptomatic relief in eyes with poor visual potential. Chinese ink...