Transepithelial phototherapeutic keratectomy for treatment-resistant recurrent corneal erosion syndrome.

Background: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of trans-epithelial phototherapeutic keratectomy (TE-PTK) as a treatment for recurrent corneal erosion syndrome (RCES) in patients with symptoms refractory to conventional treatments.

Methods: All patients who received TE-PTK treatment for RCES had failed 3 or more conventional treatments and were reviewed, and if met criteria, approved by healthcare workers of the British Columbia public health authority (Medical Services Plan (MSP). A retrospective chart review and telephone survey were conducted at the Pacific Laser Eye Centre (PLEC).

New treatment algorithm for keratoconus and cataract: small-aperture IOL insertion with sequential topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy and simultaneous accelerated corneal crosslinking.

Purpose: To describe a new treatment algorithm aimed at optimizing refractive outcomes for patients with keratoconus and cataract.

Setting: Private practice in Sydney, Australia.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Smoke Gets in the Eye: A systematic review of case reports of ocular complications of crack cocaine use.

Issues: Use of crack cocaine and associated medical complications persists globally. Some reports in medical literature describe a sight-threatening condition commonly referred to as 'crack eye' or 'crack eye syndrome'. The purpose of this review is to describe what is known about crack eye from case reports in peer-reviewed literature.

Local anaesthesia as a standard of care for penetrating keratoplasty?

Background/objectives: To determine preferences in the use of local anaesthesia (LA) versus general anaesthesia (GA) for penetrating keratoplasty (PK), and to examine the safety of LA for PK.

Subjects/methods: A retrospective analysis of PKs performed at an ophthalmology department in Canada from 01/01/2008 to 01/01/2020 was conducted to investigate rate of major complications. A questionnaire was also sent out to cornea specialists in the United Kingdom (UK) and Canada to determine trends in anaesthesia use for PK.

Limbal stem cell deficiency secondary to systemic paclitaxel (Taxol) for breast cancer: a case report.

Background: Paclitaxel (PTX) is an antineoplastic drug widely used in treatments for ovarian, breast, and small-cell lung cancer. Although ocular effects associated with PTX have been previously described, very few studies have specifically reported systemic PTX as a contributing factor for limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD), which is characterized by the loss of stem cell and barrier function of the limbus leading to progressive pain and reduction in visual acuity. Described here is a unique case where a patient was diagnosed with LSCD secondary to PTX use for the treatment of breast cancer, at doses of PTX far lower than what is reported in current literature.

Topography-Guided Photorefractive Keratectomy for Postkeratoplasty Astigmatism: Long-Term Outcomes.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (TG-PRK) for postkeratoplasty refractive error correction.

Methods: A retrospective interventional case series of 54 eyes of 50 patients who underwent previous corneal transplants. Unaided distance visual acuity (UDVA) and best corrected visual acuity (CDVA), manifest refraction, mean central keratometric value, mean keratometric astigmatism, and postoperative complications were reviewed.

Immediate and short term visual recovery after SmartSurf photorefractive keratectomy.

Purpose: To investigate immediate and short-term visual recovery in a large cohort of 2093 myopic eyes (with or without astigmatism) treated with SmartSurf procedure, a combination of Transepithelial Photo Refractive Keratectomy (PRK) and Smart Pulse Technology (SPT, SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH, Kleinostheim, Germany).

Methods: In this retrospective case series, post-operative outcomes were evaluated immediately after the surgery (Day 0), at day 1 and 3 months postoperatively, after myopic SmartSurf treatment with mean pre-operative spherical equivalent -4.65±2.

Oral Miltefosine as Adjunctive Treatment for Recalcitrant Acanthamoeba Keratitis.

Purpose: Acanthamoeba keratitis is a rare, vision-threatening disease. Commercially available antiamoebics are poorly cysticidal and highly toxic, and therapeutic keratoplasties can be complicated by recurrence or graft failure. We aimed to discuss the use of oral miltefosine for treatment of recalcitrant Acanthamoeba keratitis.

Epidemiology of bacterial corneal ulcers at tertiary centres in Vancouver, B.C.

Objective: To report the epidemiology of culture-positive bacterial corneal ulcers in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Postoperative Corneal Asphericity in Low, Moderate, and High Myopic Eyes After Transepithelial PRK Using a New Pulse Allocation.

Purpose: To evaluate the postoperative asphericity in low, moderate, and high myopic eyes after combined transepithelial photorefractive keratectomy and SmartSurf treatment (SCHWIND eye-tech-solutions GmbH, Kleinostheim, Germany).

Methods: In this retrospective case series, the outcomes of myopic SmartSurf were evaluated at 3 months postoperatively in 106 eyes and divided into low (less than -4.125 diopters [D]), moderate (-4.

Focal limbal stem cell deficiency associated with soft contact lens wear.

Objective: The aim of this study is to summarize the clinical characteristics of patients with contact lens-associated focal limbal stem cell deficiency (FLSCD) from a tertiary corneal referral centre.

Design: Retrospective, observational case series in a tertiary care centre.

Methods: Patients with contact lens-associated FLCSD were identified in our database.

Paediatric infectious keratitis at tertiary referral centres in Vancouver, Canada.

Objective: To report the clinical and microbiological profiles of paediatric patients with infectious keratitis in Vancouver, Canada.

Design: In this observational case series, the microbiology results and medical records of 17 eyes with microbial keratitis in 16 children aged 17 years or younger were retrospectively reviewed. These patients had undergone corneal scraping between May 2006 and April 2011 at BC Children's Hospital or Vancouver General Hospital Eye Care Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The corneal ulcer one-touch study: a simplified microbiological specimen collection method.

Purpose: To determine if a new, single-sample device (ESwab; Copan Diagnostics, Inc) can simplify the traditional multi-sample approach to specimen collection in infectious keratitis.

Design: Prospective, diagnostic test evaluation.

Methods: In this institutional study, patients with suspected infectious keratitis meeting traditional criteria for diagnostic corneal specimen collection and culture were randomized to the order of first specimen collection method: ESwab or a sample directly plated for growth on chocolate agar.

Modified Miyake-Apple camera: illustration of deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty pearls learned from simultaneous anterior and posterior corneal imaging.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to demonstrate surgical pearls in big-bubble deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty using a modified Miyake-Apple camera system and to correlate these findings with histology.

Methods: This was a wet laboratory-based pilot study. Cadaveric human corneal tissue consented for research and not suitable for transplantation was fixed to a glass slide and assembled into the modified Miyake-Apple camera system.

Evolving indications for and trends in keratoplasty in British Columbia, Canada, from 2002 to 2011: a 10-year review.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to report the evolving indications for keratoplasty and the shift in the type of keratoplasty performed in British Columbia, Canada, over a 10-year period from 2002 to 2011.

Methods: This was a retrospective database review of all the records of corneal transplant tissues at the Eye Bank of British Columbia, Canada, from January 2002 to December 2011. The patient demographics, indications, and types of transplant performed were analyzed.

Enzyme-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty-a new method of lamellar dissection-a wetlab-based pilot study.

Purpose: To explore the safety of a new technique of lamellar dissection, using enzymatic digestion of the corneal stroma and extracellular matrix.

Methods: This was a wetlab-based pilot study of hyaluronidase and trypsin-assisted deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) in cadaveric human corneal tissue. Enzyme-assisted DALK was performed on 17 tissues.

Bilateral corneal ulceration caused by vitamin a deficiency in eosinophilic gastroenteropathy.

Purpose: Vitamin A deficiency is a very rare condition in the developed world and can lead to a variety of ocular changes from xerosis and xerophthalmia to corneal ulcer and perforation. The treatment of this devastating disease is simple and inexpensive. It is therefore important to recognize and treat accordingly, especially in the event of ulcers unresponsive to treatment or in the presence of severe malnutrition/malabsorption syndromes.

Giant cell arteritis presenting with bilateral loss of vision and jaw pain: reminder of a potentially devastating condition.

A case of giant cell arteritis was diagnosed in a woman who presented with bilateral loss of vision that did not improve with intravenous corticosteroid therapy. Preceding her vision loss, the patient had other symptoms consistent with this diagnosis, notably significant jaw pain and arthralgias. The diverse symptoms of giant cell arteritis are discussed, along with the features that can be used to distinguish jaw pain associated with this condition from the pain of temporomandibular joint pathology.

Angle-supported phakic intraocular lens for correction of moderate to high myopia: Three-year interim results in international multicenter studies.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and effectiveness of an angle-supported phakic intraocular lens (pIOL) for correction of moderate to high myopia.

Setting: Ophthalmology centers in the United States, Canada, and the European Union.

Design: Cohort study.

Intraocular lens power calculations after myopic laser refractive surgery: a comparison of methods in 173 eyes.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare published methods of intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation after myopic laser refractive surgery in a large, multi-surgeon study.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Participants: A total of 173 eyes of 117 patients who had uneventful LASIK (89) or photorefractive keratectomy (84) for myopia and subsequent cataract surgery.

Update on toxic anterior segment syndrome.

Purpose Of Review: To review, summarize and update our present understanding of toxic anterior segment syndrome.

Recent Findings: Toxic anterior segment syndrome has emerged within the last 2 years as a complication of increasing frequency following uneventful cataract surgery. Over 100 North American clinics reported toxic anterior segment syndrome cases to a specially constituted task force over a 4-month period in 2006.

Diffuse lamellar keratitis complicating laser in situ keratomileusis: post-marketing surveillance of an emerging disease in British Columbia, Canada, 2000-2002.

Purpose: To describe a surveillance system and summarize data between January 2000 and December 2002 regarding diffuse lamellar keratitis (DLK), a complication of laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) surgery.

Setting: Community-based clinics in British Columbia, Canada, in which LASIK surgery is performed.

Methods: Monthly, all clinics in which LASIK is performed reported the number of LASIK procedures and nonnominal cases of DLK (by grade and onset date) to the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.

Use of polymyxin as an endotoxin blocker in the prevention of diffuse lamellar keratitis in an animal model.

Purpose: To determine whether bacterial endotoxin, lipopolysaccharide (LPS), could induce diffuse lamellar keratitis (DLK) in an animal model and whether DLK could be prevented by endotoxin blockers such as polymyxin.

Methods: Laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) flaps were created in rabbit eyes. The stromal bed was treated with 20 microg of Burkholderia cepacia LPS or balanced salt solution (BSS).