Comparative analysis of intraocular lens power calculation methods after excimer laser surgery.

Many methods have been used in an attempt to more accurate predict the intraocular lens (IOL) power in the eyes undergoing refractive surgery, but none has proved most accurate. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy and predictability of different IOL power calculation methods in eyes after excimer laser surgery. The outcomes of phacoemulsification and IOL implantation in 18 eyes of 16 patients with prior excimer laser keratectomy were documented.

Comparison of the clinical efficacy of two different immunosuppressive regimens in patients with chronic vogt-koyanagi-harada disease.

Purpose: To prospectively compare 2 immunosupressive regimens in patients with active Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease in spite of systemic glucocorticoid treatment.

Methods: Forty-four patients were diagnosed between 1998 and 2005. Twenty-one developed chronic intraocular inflammation in spite of glucocorticoid treatment and were randomized to receive either prednisone and azathioprine (AZA) (n = 12) or prednisone and cyclosporine (CyA) (n = 9).

[Retrospective review of 44 Chilean patients with Behçet disease].

Background: Behçet's disease (BD) is a rare multisystemic inflammatory disease that is potentially disabling and may cause death.

Aim: To describe the characteristics of BD patients from two Chilean centers.

Patients And Method: Retrospective review of the clinical records of patients with BD attended in two rheumatology services between 1985 and 2007.

[Role of Azathioprine in steroid resistant non infectious ocular inflammatory diseases].

Background: Topical and systemic steroids are the first line of treatment of non infectious inflammatory ocular disease. Immunosuppresants are reserved as a second line treatment.

Aim: To evaluate the role of Azathioprine (AZA) as a coadyuvant immunosuppressive treatment for non infectious ocular inflammatory diseases (OIDs) resistant to systemic steroid therapy in a retrospective, noncomparative interventional case series.

[Effectiveness of infliximab in patients with Behçet syndrome and severe uveoretinitis. Report of five cases].

The efficacy and safety of repeated administration of infliximab was evaluated in five patients (two men, three women) with Behçet syndrome accompanied by severe uveoretinitis. Ocular and extra ocular inflammation was suppressed in all patients during the observation period without any serious adverse reactions. The results in these patients suggests that TNF-á blockade is effective in patients with severe ocular Behçet syndrome.

Plasma and whole-blood chemokine levels in patients with Behcet's disease.

Background: Chemokines are a family of chemoattractants of leukocytes that play a critical role for leukocyte recruitment in various inflammatory diseases. The purpose of this study is to investigate the involvement of chemokines, interleukin-8 (IL-8) and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in the peripheral blood, with a special reference to disease activities of the patients with Behçet's disease (BD).

Methods: The study population consisted of totally 55 patients with BD who had panuveitis (20 patients with active BD, 35 patients with inactive BD) as well as 19 healthy volunteers as control.