Recent Advances in Human Papillomavirus Infection and Management

Human papillomavirus (HPV) accounts for approximately 4.5% of all cancers which differs at the level of economic development and geographical regions. The life cycle of the HPV is completely dependent on the epithelium differentiation without the involvement of cell death and systemic viremia. Carcinogenesis is the consequence of viral gene expression, dysregulated cell proliferation, and genomic instability. Keratinocytes are the target cell for HPV which act as the physical and immunological barrier. In cervical carcinogenesis, the enhanced level of Th17 infiltration has been observed which increases with the disease progression and is coupled with CCL20 expression in the stromal mesenchymal compartment. IL-6 and M-CSF are known as “switch factors” which are imperative for pro-tumorigenic response in monocytes. Screening of cervical cancer includes three major procedures: cytology, nucleic acid test, and co-testing. For evaluating anal lesions, high-resolution anoscopy is performed which is similar to colposcopy. Prophylactic vaccination is the primary preventive measure to control the HrHPV infection and reduce the burden of HPV-related cancer. The precancerous stage of HPV infection includes excision, ablation, and immunotherapy. Radiotherapy is the acceptable primary treatment for the early stage of anogenital cancer, whereas for the advanced-stage metastatic cancer, palliative therapy is the only option

An unusual intraorbital foreign body.

A plastic foreign body penetrating the anterior base of skull through the orbit in a 10-year-old male child is reported

Evaluation of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness profile in thyroid ophthalmopathy without optic nerve dysfunction

AIM: To evaluate retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness profile in patients of thyroid ophthalmopathy with no clinical signs of optic nerve dysfunction. METHODS: A prospective, case-control, observational study conducted at a tertiary care centre. Inclusion criteria consisted of patients with eyelid retraction in association with any one of: biochemical thyroid dysfunction, exophthalmos, or extraocular muscle involvement; or thyroid dysfunction in association with either exophthalmos or extra-ocular muscle involvement; or a clinical activity score (CAS)>3/7. Two measurements of RNFL thickness were done for each eye, by Cirrus HD-optical coherence tomography 6mo apart. RESULTS: Mean age of the sample was 38.75y (range 13-70y) with 18 males and 22 females. Average RNFL thickness at first visit was 92.06±12.44 µm, significantly lower than control group (101.28±6.64 µm) (P=0.0001). Thickness of inferior quadrant decreased from 118.2±21.27 µm to 115.0±22.27 µm after 6mo (P=0.02). There was no correlation between the change in CAS and RNFL thickness. CONCLUSION: Decreased RNFL thickness is an important feature of thyroid orbitopathy, which is an inherent outcome of compressive optic neuropathy of any etiology. Subclinical RNFL damage continues in the absence of clinical activity of the disease. RNFL evaluation is essential in Grave’s disease and active intervention may be warranted in the presence of significant damage

Reliability of Smart Phone Photographs for School Eye Screening

Smartphone photographs capturing Bruckner’s reflex have demonstrated reliability in identifying amblyogenic conditions in children. Assessing visual acuity for screening has been the traditional method since the inception of school screening. The present study aims to assess the reliability of smartphone photographs in detecting ocular morbidities in school children and to compare it with traditional vision screening. Two thousand five hundred and twenty school children underwent vision screening and smartphone cameraphotography by a trained research assistant followed by a comprehensive eye examination of all children by an ophthalmologist. Children with unaided visual acuity less than 6/12 in either of the eyes were graded as abnormal. Based upon the characteristics of the Bruckner’s reflex, the photographs were graded as normal or abnormal by two investigators blinded to the clinical findings. Statistical analysis was performed to compare the sensitivity and specificity of traditional vision screening and photograph based screening, considering comprehensive eye examination as the gold standard. The sensitivity and specificity of vision screening was 81.88% and 97.35% whereas for photographs it was 94.69% and 98.85% respectively. When the two methods were compared, the p value was <0.05. We conclude that smartphone photography is better than traditional vision screening for detecting ocular morbidities in school children

Resistive index of ophthalmic artery correlates with retinal pigment epithelial alterations on spectral domain optical coherence tomography in diabetic retinopathy

Abstract Background Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays a significant role in maintenance of integrity of retinal photoreceptors and choriocapillaries. RPE derives its blood supply through ophthalmic artery (OA) via choriocapillaries. RPE topographic alterations have been observed to be associated with severity of retinopathy. The present study was undertaken to assess the correlation between resistive index (RI) of the OA with RPE topographic alterations on Spectral-Domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), to our knowledge, it is for the first time. Methods A tertiary care center based cross-sectional study was undertaken after informed consent. Sample size was calculated using 95% confidence interval. Seventy five consecutive cases of type 2 diabetes mellitus between the ages of 40 and 70 years were included. The cases were divided into three groups according to Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study classification: diabetes mellitus with no retinopathy (No DR) (n = 24); non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n = 27); and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (n = 24). Healthy control subjects of similar age group were included (n = 24). RI in OA was studied using Color Doppler imaging. Grades of RPE topographic alterations and retinal photoreceptor ellipsoid zone (EZ) disruption were studied using SD-OCT. Data was analysed using Chi square (χ2) test, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson correlation analysis and Neuman–Keuls test. Results LogMAR best corrected visual acuity was found to increase significantly with the severity of DR (F = 105.74, p < 0.001). ANOVA revealed a significant increase in RI of OA (F = 14.23, p < 0.001) with severity of diabetic retinopathy. χ2 test revealed significant increase in grades of RPE alterations (χ2 = 71.83, p < 0.001) and EZ disruption (χ2 = 60.59, p < 0.001) with the severity of diabetic retinopathy. Pearson correlation analyses revealed a significant positive correlation between RI of OA with grades of RPE alterations (r = 0.48, p < 0.001) and also between grades of RPE alterations and EZ disruption (r = 0.82, p < 0.001). Conclusions Decrease in ocular blood flow resulting from an increase in RI of OA correlates with severity of DR and grades of topographic alterations in RPE. Integrity of EZ was observed to be dependent on RPE