Cystoid Macular Edema after Complicated Cataract Surgery Resolved by an Intravitreal Dexamethasone 0.7-mg Implant

Purpose: To report the effective treatment of cystoid macular edema (CME) following complicated cataract surgery (resulting in Irvine-Gass syndrome) with a dexamethasone 0.7-mg (Ozurdex®) intravitreal implant. Methods: An interventional case report with optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. Results: An 83-year-old Caucasian woman was suffering from CME following complicated cataract surgery on her left eye. She had undergone 3 intravitreal injections of dexamethasone 0.4 mg in the 3 months following the surgery without any improvement of visual function. Seven months after the cataract surgery, she received a single intravitreal injection of dexamethasone 0.7 mg (Ozurdex). Four weeks following the injection, her best-corrected visual acuity improved from 0.3 to 0.8. CME resolved with a reduction of central retinal thickness from 393 µm pre-Ozurdex injection to 212 µm post-Ozurdex injection, as measured by OCT scan. Conclusion: Dexamethasone 0.7 mg (Ozurdex) has proven to be an effective treatment option in retinal vein occlusion and non-infectious uveitis. It can also be considered as off-label treatment in Irvine-Gass syndrome

Bilateral Simultaneous Retinal Detachment in Pseudophakia

Cataract surgery is the most frequent surgical intervention, with approximately 700,000 operations per year in Germany alone. One of the most serious complications is retinal detachment, with a reported incidence rate of pseudophakic retinal detachment of 0.75-1.65%. We report the case of a patient who suffered from a simultaneous bilateral pseudophakic retinal detachment. Interestingly, the bilateral detachments in the left and the right eye started with only some hours' delay. He had no acute trigger for the retinal detachment and no risk factors besides the cataract surgery performed on both eyes some weeks earlier. Simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments will be more common, due to increasing numbers of cataract surgeries and the demographic development. We conclude that funduscopy should be regularly performed in mydriasis to avoid sight-threatening simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments

Bilateral Simultaneous Retinal Detachment in Pseudophakia

Cataract surgery is the most frequent surgical intervention, with approximately 700,000 operations per year in Germany alone. One of the most serious complications is retinal detachment, with a reported incidence rate of pseudophakic retinal detachment of 0.75-1.65%. We report the case of a patient who suffered from a simultaneous bilateral pseudophakic retinal detachment. Interestingly, the bilateral detachments in the left and the right eye started with only some hours' delay. He had no acute trigger for the retinal detachment and no risk factors besides the cataract surgery performed on both eyes some weeks earlier. Simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments will be more common, due to increasing numbers of cataract surgeries and the demographic development. We conclude that funduscopy should be regularly performed in mydriasis to avoid sight-threatening simultaneous bilateral retinal detachments

Recurrent Endophthalmitis after Trabeculectomy for Glaucoma: Importance of Timely Filtering Bleb Coverage for the Conjunctiva

Purpose: To report the occurrence of endophthalmitis after trabeculectomy for glaucoma that was treated by vitrectomy without bleb closure and recurred 3 times after an initial clinically inapparent period of about 2 years. Methods: Interventional case report and short review of the pertinent literature. Results: A 73-year-old Caucasian female underwent trabeculectomy (without mitomycin) for glaucoma. Four years after the trabeculectomy, an endophthalmitis with Staphylococcus epidermidis as the causative organism occurred and was treated with a pars plana vitrectomy (20-gauge) and a combined antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drug regimen. The bleb was not covered during the emergency procedure because the filtering bleb was heavily infected and filled with pus. As the filtering bleb healed nicely and the filtering function was restored, the filtering bleb was left as it was, and best-corrected visual acuity initially recovered to 0.8. After 22 months, the endophthalmitis recurred, this time with Enterococcus faecalis as the causative organism. Its treatment required a total of four further vitrectomies (23-gauge), each accompanied by the same antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drug regimen that had been applied previously. However, the visual acuity could not be preserved, and the eye is blind with defective light projection. Conclusions: The literature suggests an aggressive surgical approach to endophthalmitis, and the present case report confirms this. Since the visual prognosis of eyes after endophthalmitis is poor, the course of treatment for endophthalmitis after trabeculectomy should emphasize recurrence prophylaxis rather than address glaucoma symptoms and therefore include safe bleb leak coverage

Restoration of Severely Impaired Eyesight in an Adolescent with Down Syndrome and Bilateral Cataract in South Asia

Purpose: To report the recovery of visual function after phacoemulsification in a 16-year-old adolescent with Down syndrome (DS) from Saharsa, India. Methods: Interventional case report and short review of the pertinent literature. Results: A 16-year-old South Asian male with DS and bilateral cataract underwent successful surgery in both eyes after considerable difficulty for his parents including cross-border travel from India into Nepal. After the operation, the patient responded to visual stimuli (e.g. movement of hands) that had eluded him prior to surgery, and thus the additional obstacle to social participation imposed by the impaired eyesight could be removed. Conclusions: The establishment of basic ophthalmological surgery in developing countries is feasible and can yield extraordinary benefits for individual patients

Fast Resolution of Recurrent Pronounced Macular Edema following Intravitreal Injection of Dexamethasone 0.7 mg

Purpose: To report the fast resolution of recurrent pronounced macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) within 72 h following intravitreal injection of dexamethasone 0.7 mg (Ozurdex®). Methods: An interventional case report with optical coherence tomography scans and fluorescein angiographic pictures. Results: A 69-year-old Caucasian man underwent intravitreal injection of dexamethasone 0.7 mg due to incomplete CRVO. He had previously undergone 6 intravitreal injections of bevacizumab 1.25 mg (Avastin®) and a C-grid laser photocoagulation over an interval of 16 months. After repeated recurrences of macular edema, the injection of dexamethasone reduced the macular edema from 570 µm preoperatively to 246 µm postoperatively within 72 h following the injection. Best-corrected visual acuity improved from 0.1 to 0.6 within the same interval. Conclusion: Dexamethasone can lead to a very fast reduction of macular edema in patients with vision loss due to CRVO and may facilitate an immediate visual rehabilitation. Retinal anatomy and visual acuity may be restored even in long-standing, recurrent cases

Recovery of Visual Function after Administration of Dabigatran Etexilate

A 46-year-old Caucasian female underwent pars plana vitrectomy (ppv) for retinal detachment. After the procedure, the patient could only distinguish hand movements; the condition was tentatively diagnosed as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy. Conventional treatment with systemic corticosteroids and acetylsalicylic acid was ineffective and yielded substantial steroid-related side effects. Additional administration of 2 × 110 mg dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa®), a novel direct thrombin inhibitor, resulted in a prompt and marked improvement of visual acuity, which indicated improved blood flow in the central vessels of the optic nerve. Dabigatran etexilate may provide a promising alternative for the treatment of postprocedural vision loss after ppv

Risk factors for retinopathy in hemodialysis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

There is limited knowledge on the prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in dialysis patients. We have investigated the association between diabetes mellitus and lipid-related biomarkers and retinopathy in hemodialysis patients. We reviewed 1,255 hemodialysis patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) who participated in the German Diabetes and Dialysis Study (4D Study). Associations between categorical clinical, biochemical variables and diabetic retinopathy were examined by logistic regression. On average, patients were 66 ± 8 years of age, 54% were male and the HbA1c was 6.7% ± 1.3%. DR, found in 71% of the patients, was significantly and positively associated with fasting glucose, HbA1c, time on dialysis, age, systolic blood pressure, body mass index and the prevalence of other microvascular diseases (e.g. neuropathy). Unexpectedly, DR was associated with high HDL cholesterol and high apolipoproteins AI and AII. Patients with coronary artery disease were less likely to have DR. DR was not associated with gender, smoking, diastolic blood pressure, VLDL cholesterol, triglycerides, and LDL cholesterol. In summary, the prevalence of DR in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus requiring hemodialysis is higher than in patients suffering from T2DM, who do not receive hemodialysis. DR was positively related to systolic blood pressure (BP), glucometabolic control, and, paradoxically, HDL cholesterol. This data suggests that glucose and blood pressure control may delay the development of DR in patients with diabetes mellitus on dialysis

Delayed Macular Hole Closure

Purpose: The presented case raises questions regarding the favorable scheduling of planned postoperative care and the ideal observation interval to decide for reoperations in macular hole surgery. Furthermore a discussion about the use of short- and long-acting gas tamponades in macular hole surgery is encouraged. Methods: We present an interventional case report and a short review of the pertinent literature. Results: We report a case of spontaneous delayed macular hole closure after vitreoretinal surgery had been performed initially without the expected success. A 73-year-old male Caucasian patient presented at our clinic with a stage 2 macular hole in his left eye. He underwent 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling with a 20% C2F6-gas tamponade. Sixteen days after the procedure, an OCT scan revealed a persistent stage 2 macular hole, and the patient was scheduled for reoperation. Surprisingly, at the date of planned surgery, which was another 11 days later, the macular hole had resolved spontaneously without any further intervention. Conclusions: So far no common opinion exists regarding the use of short- or long-acting gas in macular hole surgery. Our case of delayed macular hole closure after complete resorption of the gas tamponade raises questions about the need and duration of strict prone positioning after surgery. Furthermore short-acting gas might be as efficient as long-acting gas. We suggest to wait with a second intervention at least 4 weeks after the initial surgery, since a delayed macular hole closure is possible