Patient-appropriate health literacy educational materials in ophthalmology.

Objective: To evaluate the literacy level of patients with glaucoma in a tertiary care teaching centre compared with a rural community centre and to assess comprehension of and preference for educational material written at different reading levels.

Design: Prospective, randomized, double-blinded study.

Participants: Patients with glaucoma presenting for routine examination or referral at a tertiary care academic centre in southwestern Ontario and a single general ophthalmology clinic located in a moderately sized suburban community in Ontario, Canada, were invited to participate in this study.

Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid, keratomycosis, and intravenous immunoglobulin therapy.

Purpose: To report the case of a patient developing fungal keratitis in the context of uncontrolled ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP), which, despite intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) and other immunomodulatory therapy, progressed to end-stage pemphigoid, with corneal opacification, ankyloblepharon, and xerosis. Keratoprosthesis (KPro) restored functional vision for the patient.

Methods: A 39-year-old man presented with uncontrolled CP and corneal ulcer in the left eye.

Central corneal thickness in low-tension glaucoma.

Background: It is possible that the intraocular pressure (IOP) is underestimated in eyes whose central cornea is thinner than normal. The objective of this study was to determine and establish the significance of central corneal thickness in patients with low-tension (normal-tension) glaucoma compared with those with chronic open-angle glaucoma (COAG) or ocular hypertension and healthy eyes.

Methods: The study was carried out from February 1998 to May 1999.