Pregnancy and the Eye

Pregnancy causes significant changes in all systems of the body. Although most of them are physiological, they may also lead to pathological consequences. The resulting pathological changes may occur for the first time or existing diseases affected by pregnancy can become more serious or change course. Diseases specific only to pregnancy may arise. Like all systems of the body, the visual system is also affected by pregnancy, developing a wide range of physiological and pathological changes. Knowing the ocular physiological changes and diagnosing eye diseases that may develop during pregnancy, and preventing and treating these diseases is crucial to ensure the baby’s healthy development. Therefore, we have reviewed the conditions that an ophthalmologist should recognize, follow-up, and pay attention to during treatment and summarized them under the topic “pregnancy and the eye”. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2015; 45: 213-219

Evaluation of Tear Film Osmolarity in Cases with Chronic Blepharitis

Objectives: To investigate the tear film osmolarity in eyes with chronic blepharitis. Materials and Methods: Patients with symptomatic chronic blepharitis were included in the study. After ophthalmologic examination, tear osmolarity was measured. Tear film breakup time (TBUT), Schirmer II test with anesthesia, and slit-lamp corneal fluorescein staining were also performed. The tear film osmolarity results were compared with those of healthy subjects. Results: Ten eyes of 10 patients (6 women, 2 men) with a mean age of 47.4±14.4 years (31 to 62 years) and 12 eyes of 12 healthy individuals (10 women, 2 men) were examined. Patients’ symptoms included foreign body sensation, photophobia, redness, burning, itching, scaling, eyelash loss, and recurrent hordeolum. There was no any other systemic or ocular pathology that could result in dry eye. Mean osmolarity was 323.8±19.91 mOsm/L (298-365 mOsm/L), mean TBUT was 4.22±2.17 seconds (1-8 secs,), and mean Schirmer measurement was 7.2±3.26 mm (4-15 mm). Corneal staining was observed in 65% of the eyes. The mean osmolarity of normal group was 302.17±8.54 mOsm/L (288-316 mOsm/L), mean TBUT was 12.5±4.52 seconds (8-23 secs), and mean Schirmer measurement was 13.17±7.83 mm (5-30 mm). There was a statistically significant difference between the mean osmolarity, TBUT, and Schirmer measurements of the two groups (t-test; p=0.003, p<0.001, and p=0.04, respectively). Conclusion: The dry eye symptoms in chronic blepharitis result from imbalance between the aqueous and lipid components of the tear film allowing increased evaporation. This condition does not only change TBUT and Schirmer results but also increases the osmolarity of the tear film significantly indicating serious dry eye disease in chronic blepharitis. (Turk J Ophthalmol 2015; 45: 5-8

Intravitreal dexamethasone implant results in the treatment of non-infectious uveitis

Objective: The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal dexamethasone implant in non-infectious uveitic macular edema. Methods: Between April 2013 and February 2017, 27 eyes of 21 patients were included in the study at Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital. The files of patients who underwent intravitreal dexamethasone implantation for non-infectious uveitic macular edema and followed up at least 6 months were retrospectively reviewed. The patients were evaluated in terms of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) before and at the 1st, 3rd, and 6th months after injection and the need for re-injection. Results: Twenty-seven eyes of 21 patients were included in the study. The mean age of the patients was 39.2±11.7 years. The mean monitoring time was 24.15±10.08 months. In patients who received single-dose intravitreal dexamethasone implant, the decrease in CMT measurements and improvement in BCVA measurements at 1, 3, and 6 months after injection compared to baseline was found to be statistically significant (p=0.001 for each). Recurrence was detected in 33.3% (n=9) of the cases during follow-up; in cases with recurrence, second implants were repeated after an average of 9.67±3.12 months. The third dexamethasone implantation was applied due to the second relapse of four cases from nine relapsing cases. Third implants were performed at an average of 12.50±4.79 months. During the follow-up period, the most common complications in our patients were cataract (37%) and increased intraocular pressure (40.7%). Conclusion: Intravitreal dexamethasone implantation is an effective and reliable treatment option in non-infectious uveitic macular edema. There was no difference between the first dose and re-implantations in terms of efficacy and safety

AS-OCT as a Tool for Flap Thickness Measurement After Femtosecond-Assisted LASIK

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To investigate the efficacy of anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) for calculating flap thickness in femtosecond laser-assisted laser in situ keratomileusis