Efficacy and safety of abatacept to treat active birdshot uveitis: a prospective open label interventional proof-of-concept trial.

Background/aims: Birdshot uveitis (BU) is a chronic autoimmune posterior uveitis, mostly affecting middle-aged Caucasians. There is a strong association with HLA-A29 and T-cell activation. Safety and efficacy of abatacept, an inhibitor of T-cell costimulation, is tested in active BU.

HLA-A29 Birdshot Retinochoroiditis in Its 5th Decade: Selected Glimpses into the Intellectual Meanderings and Progresses in the Knowledge of a Long-Time Misunderstood Disease.

The appraisal of HLA-A29 birdshot retinochoroiditis (BRC) was fraught with pitfalls and misunderstandings. Progress in investigational methods has led to better knowledge and management of the disease. Our aim was to assess some of the steps that have led to better characterisation of the clinical entity of BRC.

The Changing Global Epidemic of HIV and Ocular Disease.

: Overview of the evolving epidemiology of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-related ocular disease over time. : Narrative review. : HIV enhances susceptibility to opportunistic eye infections, has direct pathogenic effects, and places patients at risk of immune recovery inflammatory syndromes in previously infected eyes after starting highly-active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Switch from BAK-preserved to preservative-free latanoprost decreases anterior chamber flare in POAG patients.

Purpose: To validate the hypothesis that BAK induces low-grade inflammation in the anterior chamber, we designed a study to investigate whether switching from BAK-preserved to preservative-free latanoprost in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) would reduce the flare levels.

Patients: Forty-one eyes of twenty-two patients with primary open-angle glaucoma treated with BAK-preserved latanoprost for at least 6 months as monotherapy were included. Exclusion criteria included any use of topical eye drops other than latanoprost, pseudoexfoliation and pigment dispersion glaucoma, wearing of contact lenses and intraocular surgery in the past year.

Assessment of Confocal Microscopy for the Diagnosis of Polymerase Chain Reaction-Positive Acanthamoeba Keratitis: A Case-Control Study.

Purpose: To determine in vivo confocal microscopy diagnostic criteria to diagnose Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as the reference diagnostic technique.

Design: Retrospective case-control study. Data were recorded prospectively and analyzed retrospectively.

Extraskeletal osteosarcoma of the orbit: A clinicopathologic case report and review of literature.

Primary extraskeletal osteosarcoma (EOS) is an extremely rare malignancy. In this report, the clinical course of a 32-year-old man presenting with proptoses is described. Medical history included Hirschsprung disease (HD), horseshoe kidney, azoospermia, and vertebral anomalies.

Adalimumab in Patients with Active Noninfectious Uveitis.

Background: Patients with noninfectious uveitis are at risk for long-term complications of uncontrolled inflammation, as well as for the adverse effects of long-term glucocorticoid therapy. We conducted a trial to assess the efficacy and safety of adalimumab as a glucocorticoid-sparing agent for the treatment of noninfectious uveitis.

Methods: This multinational phase 3 trial involved adults who had active noninfectious intermediate uveitis, posterior uveitis, or panuveitis despite having received prednisone treatment for 2 or more weeks.

Keratoneuritis is not pathognomonic of Acanthamoeba keratitis: a case report of Pseudomonas keratitis.

The presence of keratoneuritis in a radial pattern is considered to be a virtually pathognomonic sign of Acanthamoeba keratitis. We report a case of a massive keratoneuritis as a presenting sign in Pseudomonas keratitis in a contact lens wearer, thereby further challenging this concept.

Fuchs' Uveitis Syndrome: No Longer a Syndrome?

Purpose: Rubella virus (RV) has a central role in the etiopathogenesis of Fuchs' uveitis syndrome (FUS). We aim to offer new insights by comprehensive analysis of recent laboratory and epidemiologic data.

Methods: We conducted a literature search for laboratory data and papers on etiopathogenesis.

Novel FRMD7 Mutations and Genomic Rearrangement Expand the Molecular Pathogenesis of X-Linked Idiopathic Infantile Nystagmus.

Purpose: Idiopathic infantile nystagmus (IIN; OMIM 31700) with X-linked inheritance is one of the most common forms of infantile nystagmus. Up to date, three X-linked loci have been identified, Xp11.4-p11.

Vascular dysregulation in normal-tension glaucoma is not affected by structure and function of the microcirculation or macrocirculation at rest: a case-control study.

In normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), optic nerve damage occurs despite a normal intraocular pressure. Studies implicating systemic blood pressure or, more recently, arterial stiffness in the pathophysiology of NTG have produced conflicting results. Our aim was to investigate whether NTG is associated with alterations in the macrocirculation or microcirculation, cardiac function, and peripheral and central hemodynamics.

Unilateral proptosis and blindness caused by meningioma in a patient treated with cyproterone acetate.

Cyproterone has antiandrogenic, antigonadotropic, and progestagenic activity. High-dose preparations are used for treatment of prostate cancer and for treatment of hypersexuality. We describe a patient who was referred to our clinic with slowly progressive unilateral proptosis and blindness of the left eye.

Corneal manifestations and in vivo confocal microscopy of Gaucher disease.

Purpose: To report corneal abnormalities and confocal microscopy findings in a patient with a variant of Gaucher disease (GD).

Methods: Case report with slit-lamp photography, confocal microscopy, and molecular analysis of the glucocerebrosidase gene.

Results: Ophthalmic evaluation in a 57-year-old white patient demonstrated corneal opacities scattered throughout the cornea.

Efficacy and safety of deep sclerectomy in childhood glaucoma in Saudi Arabia.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of deep sclerectomy in childhood glaucoma.

Methods: A prospective cohort of 120 children presenting with glaucoma to King Abdul Aziz University Hospital (KAUH) was subjected to nonpenetrating deep sclerectomy surgery (NPDS). Eventually, 57 patients had macro perforation and converted to penetrating deep sclerectomy (PDS).

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis: an update.

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) is a bilateral, usually seasonally recurrent, allergic inflammation of the conjunctiva, characterised by limbal gelatinous hypertrophy and/or upper tarsal giant conjunctival papillae. Although rare in temperate regions, it represents an important cause of hospital referral in many parts of Africa and Asia. Clinical and immunohistochemical studies suggest that IgE-dependent (type I allergic) and IgE-independent (type IV allergic) mechanisms are involved in the immunopathogenesis of VKC, in which various inflammatory cells, including different T cell subpopulations play an active role via a cascade of chemical mediators.

Birdshot-like chorioretinopathy in common variable immunodeficiency.

Purpose: To describe a patient with ocular manifestations secondary to common variable immunodeficiency.

Methods: A 17-year-old adolescent girl presented with asymptomatic bilateral optic disk edema and chorioretinal infiltrates. These findings were noted during routine follow-up visits for hydroxychloroquine use for lymphoid interstitial pneumonia.

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis in school children in Rwanda: clinical presentation, impact on school attendance, and access to medical care.

Objective: We sought to describe the clinical presentation, effect on visual acuity, impact on school attendance, and access to appropriate eye care in children with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) in Rwanda (Central Africa).

Design: Case-control study nested within a cross-sectional survey.

Participants: We examined 3041 children; 121 had VKC.

Symptomatic bilateral choroidal metastasis from breast cancer as first clinical sign of advanced metastatic tumor disease 31 years after diagnosis.

We report a 62-year-old caucasian woman with bilateral choroidal metastases as only clinical presenting sign of advanced metastatic tumour disease. She presented with decreased vision in the left eye since 5 days. She was treated for breast cancer 31 years before.