Clinical Congenital Anophthalmos and Microphthalmos-Experiences of Patients and Their Parents after More than 10 Years of Treatment.

Congenital clinical anophthalmos and blind microphthalmos describe the absence of an eye or the presence of a small eye in the orbit. Between 1999 and 2013, 97 children with anophthalmos or microphthalmos were treated with self-inflating, hydrophilic gel expanders at the Rostock Eye Clinic. More than a decade later, this study investigated the perspective of patients and parents regarding the treatment, the surgical outcome, and the emotional and social well-being of the patients.

New retinal tack designs: an analysis of retention forces in human scleral tissue.

Purpose: The study aimed to construct a new retinal tack design with high retention forces to prevent spontaneous disentanglement in cases of complicated retinal surgery.

Methods: Six new forms for the peak of a retinal tack were developed using computer-aided design (CAD); then a prototype was produced for each model. Finally, standardised design testing was conducted using human (ex vivo) sclera by logging 15 consecutive measurements for each model.

Prevalence and clinical spectrum of hypertensive retinopathy among hypertension clinic patients at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital in Malawi.

Background: Prevalence and spectrum of hypertensive retinopathy in the population reflects the status of hypertension control and the associated risks for cardiovascular events. We investigated the prevalence and clinical spectrum of hypertensive retinopathy among patients attending hypertension clinic at a tertiary hospital in Malawi.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of systematically selected patients attending hypertension clinic at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital.

Treatment of cancer in a child with ocular xeroderma pigmentosa (XP) in Malawi.

A 3-year-old girl presented to the Eye Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi, with multiple ulcerating lesions on her face and in her eyes. Her skin was freckled, with hypopigmented and hyperpigmented areas (poikilodermia) typical of xeroderma pigmentosa. The tumors on the conjunctiva of the right eye and the lower eyelid of the left eye appeared to be squamous cell carcinomas.

Low-dose transscleral diode laser cyclophotocoagulation (TSCPC) as a potential single treatment for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) in Malawi?

Purpose: To investigate if low-dose 810 nm transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (TSCPC) can be used as single treatment in Malawian glaucoma patients.

Methods: Forty-seven eyes of 28 patients with primary open-angle and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma were treated with TSCPC using 12 spots with 900 mW, 2,000 ms (1.8 J per spot); six spots in the upper half, six in the lower by sparing the 3 and 9 o'clock positions ±20°.

Severe eye complications from Stevens-Johnson syndrome in a human immunodeficiency virus-infected patient in Malawi.

Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) is a severe form of erythema multiforme that primarily affects skin and mucous membranes. In Malawi, manifestations of SJS may become more common in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients receiving nevirapine-based antiretroviral therapy (ART) because the CD4 cell threshold for starting ART has increased from 250 to 350 cells/μL. We describe a patient with severe ocular complications from SJS that developed soon after initiation of nevirapine-based ART and cotrimoxazole preventive treatment, which led to blindness.

Intravitreal vancomycin and amikacin versus intravenous imipenem in the treatment of experimental Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis.

Background: Controversy still surrounds the intravenous (IV) treatment of endophthalmitis. The purpose of this study was to compare IV and intraocular (IO) treatment in experimental Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis: intravitreal injection of vancomycin and amikacin (VA/AN) in comparison with IV imipenem (IPM) and a combination of IV and IO (IV+IO) therapy.

Methods: The right eyes of 27 rabbits were injected with 25000 S.

Intravenous treatment of experimental Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis: imipenem versus the combination of ceftazidime and amikacin.

Background: To compare the efficacy of intravenous (IV) imipenem (IPM) and a combination of IV ceftazidime (CAZ) and amikacin (AN) in the treatment of Staphylococcus aureus endophthalmitis in a rabbit model.

Methods: Right eyes of 60 albino rabbits were injected with 1000 colony-forming units of S. aureus intravitreally.