The rising incidence of Acanthamoeba keratitis: A 7-year nationwide survey and clinical assessment of risk factors and functional outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate the incidence of Acanthamoeba keratitis in the Netherlands between 2009 and 2015 and to analyse predicting factors for treatment outcome.

Methods: Patient characteristics, diagnostic methods, diagnostic delay, therapy prior to and after diagnosis, and visual outcome were obtained from medical files of all patients diagnosed with Acanthamoeba keratitis in the Netherlands between 2009 and 2015. A logistic regression analysis on treatment failure, defined as a best corrected visual acuity of less than 20/40 Snellen decimals (i.

ARE INTRAVITREAL INJECTIONS WITH ULTRATHIN 33-G NEEDLES LESS PAINFUL THAN THE COMMONLY USED 30-G NEEDLES?

Purpose: This study investigated whether pain from intravitreal injections (IVIs) can be reduced by injecting with a 33-G needle instead of the commonly used 30-G needle. Additionally, several pain-related psychological factors were explored as predictors of outcome.

Methods: This randomized crossover trial included 36 patients who received injections with both needles in randomized order.

Some effort for some: further evidence that scalar implicatures are effortful.

Under the assumption of the principle of cooperation (Grice, 1989), a statement such as "some eels are fish" is thought to be false since it contains less information than is considered sufficient. However, the statement is logically sound since the meaning of "some" is compatible with "all". Currently, the primary interpretation of such underinformative statements remains subject to debate.

Clinical relevance of quantitative varicella-zoster virus (VZV) DNA detection in plasma after stem cell transplantation.

Detection of Varicella-Zoster virus (VZV) DNA in plasma can facilitate the early recognition of complicated VZV-infection in immunocompromised hosts. The correlation of VZV-DNA in plasma with clinical presentations of VZV-infection and subsequent aciclovir treatment in allogeneic stem cell transplant (allo-SCT) recipients was studied. In 81 consecutive VZV-IgG positive allo-SCT recipients, VZV-DNA was measured at regular time points (1, 2 and 4 months) following allo-SCT and patient records were screened for VZV-related symptoms and aciclovir treatment.

Immunoglobulin classes of smooth muscle antibody in the course of acute hepatitis B: prognostic significance.

A prospective longitudinal study was performed in 48 patients with acute hepatitis B (AHB) of whom 38 were previously healthy (PH) and 10 drug addicted (DA). Smooth muscle antibody was present in 23/38 PH and in 8/10 DA patients for a median of 4 weeks; other autoantibodies were not found. In the PH patients SMA was of IgM class in 23/23 and 8/23 of the IgG class as well.