[Features of macular ganglion cell complex in normal black subject in Lomé].

Purpose: To determine the features of the macular ganglion cell complex and its correlations in normal black subjects in Lomé.

Materials And Methods: We conducted a descriptive, analytical, retrospective study over 32 months from November 2014 to June 2017. This study was based on records of healthy patients with normal IOP, optic discs and ganglion cell complexes (GCC).

Onchocerca volvulus-specific antibody and cellular responses in onchocerciasis patients treated annually with ivermectin for 30 years and exposed to parasite transmission in central Togo.

Background: Annual mass drug administrations (MDA) of ivermectin will strongly reduce Onchocerca volvulus microfilariae (mf) in the skin and in the onchocerciasis patients' eyes. Ivermectin treatment will also affect the expression of immunity in patients, such that activated immune defenses may help control and contribute to clearance of mf of O. volvulus.

[Accuracy of Optical Coherence Tomography versus Ultrasound in pachymetry].

Purpose: Measuring the central corneal thickness is an important step in the diagnosis and monitoring of glaucoma. Ultrasound pachymetry was the gold standard before the advent of OCT. The purpose of this study is to assess the reliability of OCT pachymetry compared to ultrasound pachymetry in black patients.

Inflammatory and regulatory CCL and CXCL chemokine and cytokine cellular responses in patients with patent Mansonella perstans filariasis.

Mansonella perstans (Mp) filariasis is present in large populations in sub-Saharan Africa, and to what extent patent Mp infection modulates the expression of immunity in patients, notably their cellular cytokine and chemokine response profile, remains not well known. We studied the spontaneous and inducible cellular production of chemokines (C-X-C motif) ligand 9 (CXCL9) [monokine induced by interferon (IFN)-γ (MIG)], CXCL-10 [inducible protein (IP)-10], chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 24 (CCL24) (eotaxin-2), CCL22 [macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC)], CCL13 [monocyte chemotactic protein-4 (MCP-4)], CCL18 [pulmonary and activation-regulated chemokine (PARC)], CCL17 [thymus- and activation-regulated chemokine (TARC)] and interleukin (IL)-27 in mansonelliasis patients (Mp-PAT) and mansonelliasis-free controls (CTRL). Freshly isolated peripheral mononuclear blood cells (PBMC) were stimulated with helminth, protozoan and bacterial antigens and mitogen [phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)].

[Optic disc features on OCT in glaucomatous and normal black Africans].

Purpose: To determine the correlations between the size of the optic disc and glaucomatous defects in black Africans.

Design: Retrospective observational study.

Methods: The study was conducted over a two-year period from November 2014 to October 2016, based on records of black Togolese patients who had undergone optic nerve head (ONH) OCT or ganglion cell complex OCT for assessment of glaucoma.

Onchocerca volvulus infection and serological prevalence, ocular onchocerciasis and parasite transmission in northern and central Togo after decades of Simulium damnosum s.l. vector control and mass drug administration of ivermectin.

Background: Mass drug administration (MDA) of ivermectin has become the main intervention to control onchocerciasis or "river blindness". In Togo, after many years of MDA, Onchocerca volvulus infection has declined dramatically, and elimination appears achievable, but in certain river basins the current situation remains unknown. We have conducted parasitological, serological, ophthalmological, and entomological assessments in northern and central Togo within the river basins of Ôti, Kéran and Mô.

[Risk factors for retinal detachment in Togo].

Introduction: Retinal detachment poses management problems in developing countries due to the shortage of technical equipment. Prevention passes through knowledge and elimination of risk factors. This study aimed to identify the risk factors for retinal detachment in people living in Togo.

[OCT topographic characteristics of the optic nerve in patients clinically suspected to have large optic disc cupping in Togo].

Purpose: To describe topographic characteristics of optic discs clinically suspected of large cupping.

Materials And Methods: This is retrospective study conducted from the January 2 to December 31 on the OCT registry and data base of a private ophthalmologic center in Lomé (Togo). We included records of patients with large cupping - CDR (cup-to-disc ratio) ≥ 0.

[Management and functional results of traumatic cataract in the central region of Togo].

Introduction: Traumatic cataract is a serious condition because it can cause partial or total vision loss. Our study aims to assess the postoperative functional outcomes of patients undergoing surgery for traumatic cataract in the Central region of Togo.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective study based on the analysis of medical records of patients who underwent surgical treatment for traumatic cataract in hospital based and outreach eye care services between 1 January 2009 and 30 June 2011.

Cataracts in rural areas in Togo: awareness and attitudes.

To assess the prevalence of senile cataracts and the awareness and attitudes of patients with them in a rural area in Togo. We conducted a 10-weeks cross-sectional ophthalmic screening in the prefecture of VO, 57 km from Lomé, which sought to include individuals aged 50 years and older living in the study area. All patients underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination.

Analysis of age-dependent trends in Ov16 IgG4 seroprevalence to onchocerciasis.

Background: Diagnostics provide a means to measure progress toward disease elimination. Many countries in Africa are approaching elimination of onchocerciasis after successful implementation of mass drug administration programs as well as vector control. An understanding of how markers for infection such as skin snip microfilaria and Onchocerca volvulus-specific seroconversion perform in near-elimination settings informs how to best use these markers.

Cellular gene expression induced by parasite antigens and allergens in neonates from parasite-infected mothers.

Prenatal exposure to parasite antigens or allergens will influence the profile and strength of postnatal immune responses, such contact may tolerize and increase susceptibility to future infections or sensitize to environmental allergens. Exposure in utero to parasite antigens will distinctly alter cellular gene expression in newborns. Gene microarrays were applied to study gene expression in umbilical cord blood cell (UCBC) from parasite-exposed (Para-POS) and non-exposed (Para-NEG) neonates.

A Recombinant Positive Control for Serology Diagnostic Tests Supporting Elimination of Onchocerca volvulus.

Background: Serological assays for human IgG4 to the Onchocerca volvulus antigen Ov16 have been used to confirm elimination of onchocerciasis in much of the Americas and parts of Africa. A standardized source of positive control antibody (human anti-Ov16 IgG4) will ensure the quality of surveillance data using these tests.

Methodology/principal Findings: A recombinant human IgG4 antibody to Ov16 was identified by screening against a synthetic human Fab phage display library and converted into human IgG4.

[Ocular tumors in Togo: epidemiological, clinical, and histopathological features observed at the Lomé Teaching Hospital of Sylvanus Olympio].

Purpose: To describe the epidemiological, clinical, and histopathological features of ocular tumors in Togo.

Methods: We have a retrospective and descriptive study of the ocular specimens registered in the pathology laboratory from January 1, 2006, to December 31, 2010. The frequency of ocular tumors, the patients' age and sex, the department from which the specimen came, the sampling procedure, and the histopathological patterns were analyzed.

[Severe ametropia in children in Lomé (Togo)].

Aims: To determine the features of severe ametropia (refractive errors, including myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism) in children in general practice in Lomé.

Patients And Methods: We conducted a retrospective study based on records of patients aged 5-16 years seen in a private clinic in Lomé from 1 January, 2001, to 31 December, 2010. We analyzed subjective refraction after automated refraction or retinoscopy.

Sustainable control of onchocerciasis: ocular pathology in onchocerciasis patients treated annually with ivermectin for 23 years: a cohort study.

Unlabelled: The evolution and persistence of ocular pathology was assessed in a cohort of Onchocerca volvulus infected patients treated annually with ivermectin for 23 years. Patients were resident in rural Central and Kara Region of Togo and ocular examinations included testing of visual acuity, slit lamp examination of the anterior eye segment and the eye fundus by ophthalmoscopy. Before ivermectin treatment, vivid O.

[Refractive errors among schoolchildren in the central region of Togo].

Untreated refractive errors represent the main visual impairment in the world but also the easiest to avoid. The goal of this survey is to use clinical and epidemiological data to efficiently plan distribution of corrective glasses in a project supported by the Swiss Red Cross in the central region of Togo. To achieve this goal, 66 primary schools were identified randomly in the catchment area of the project.