A case of recalcitrant pediatric Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease successfully controlled with adalimumab

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is uncommon in the pediatric population and can have an aggressive course with serious visual sequelae. A 12-year-old Han Chinese American female, who presented with mild headaches and panuveitis with diffuse serous retinal detachments, was diagnosed with VKH. Despite treatment with a combination of high-dose systemic corticosteroids, intravitreal triamcinolone injection, and mycophenolate mofetil, ocular inflammation was inadequately controlled. Addition of adalimumab allowed for inflammation remission, improvement of vision, and tapering of systemic corticosteroids. Escalation of immunosuppression until remission appears to be critical in this population. Further research is needed to understand the complex pathophysiology of VKH and investigation for similar efficacy of other anti-tumor necrosis factor-alpha agents will need to be performed. Keywords: Adalimumab, Mycophenolate mofetil, Pediatric, Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH

Chorioretinal lesions in mothers of children with congenital toxoplasmosis in the National Collaborative Chicago-based, Congenital Toxoplasmosis Study

Aims: To determine whether mothers of children with congenital toxoplasmosis have chorioretinal lesions consistent with toxoplasmosis.Methods: Prospective cohort study. Ophthalmologists in our study have examined 173 children with congenital toxoplasmosis in a hospital outpatient setting. These children were referred to us by their primary care physicians. One hundred and thirty mothers of these children had retina examinations of both eyes at least once. Main outcome measure was lesion(s) consistent with ocular toxoplasmosis.Results: Of 130 mothers examined between 1991-2005, 10 (7.7%, 95% Confidence Interval 3.8%, 13.7%) had chorioretinal lesions which likely represent resolved toxoplasmic chorioretinitis. Most of these were small peripheral chorioretinal lesions. None reactivated between 1991-2005.Conclusions: Chorioretinal lesions consistent with quiescent ocular toxoplasmosis occur in mothers of children with congenital toxoplasmosis in the United States

Associations among Visual Acuity and Vision- and Health-Related Quality of Life among Patients in the Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment Trial

PURPOSE. To evaluate the associations between visual acuity and self-reported visual function; visual acuity and health-related quality of life (QoL) metrics; a summary measure of self-reported visual function and health-related QoL; and individual domains of self-reported visual function and health-related QoL in patients with uveitis. METHODS. Best-corrected visual acuity, vision-related functioning as assessed by the NEI VFQ-25, and health-related QoL as assessed by the SF-36 and EuroQoL EQ-5D questionnaires were obtained at enrollment in a clinical trial of uveitis treatments. Multivariate regression and Spearman correlations were used to evaluate associations between visual acuity, vision-related function, and health-related QoL. RESULTS. Among the 255 patients, median visual acuity in the better-seeing eyes was 20/25, the vision-related function score indicated impairment (median, 60), and health-related QoL scores were within the normal population range. Better visual acuity was predictive of higher visual function scores (P ≤ 0.001), a higher SF-36 physical component score, and a higher EQ-5D health utility score (P < 0.001). The vision-specific function score was predictive of all general health-related QoL (P < 0.001). The correlations between visual function score and general quality of life measures were moderate (ρ = 0.29–0.52). CONCLUSIONS. The vision-related function score correlated positively with visual acuity and moderately positively with general QoL measures. Cost–utility analyses relying on changes in generic healthy utility measures will be more likely to detect changes when there are clinically meaningful changes in vision-related function, rather than when there are only changes in visual acuity. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00132691.

Use of Health Care Claims Data to Study Patients with Ophthalmologic Conditions

OBJECTIVE: To describe what information is or is not included in health care claims data, provide an overview of the main advantages and limitations of performing analyses using health care claims data, and offer general guidance on how to report and interpret findings of ophthalmology-related claims data analyses. DESIGN: Systematic review. PARTICIPANTS: Not applicable. METHODS: A literature review and synthesis of methods for claims-based data analyses. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Not applicable. RESULTS: Some advantages of using claims data for analyses include large, diverse sample sizes, longitudinal follow-up, lack of selection bias, and potential for complex, multivariable modeling. The disadvantages include (a) the inherent limitations of claims data, such as incomplete, inaccurate, or missing data, or the lack of specific billing codes for some conditions; and (b) the inability, in some circumstances, to adequately evaluate the appropriateness of care. In general, reports of claims data analyses should include clear descriptions of the following methodological elements: the data source, the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the specific billing codes used, and the potential confounding factors incorporated in the multivariable models. CONCLUSIONS: The use of claims data for research is expected to increase with the enhanced availability of data from Medicare and other sources. The use of claims data to evaluate resource use and efficiency and to determine the basis for supplementary payment methods for physicians is anticipated. Thus, it will be increasingly important for eye care providers to use accurate and descriptive codes for billing. Adherence to general guidance on the reporting of claims data analyses, as outlined in this article, is important to enhance the credibility and applicability of findings. Guidance on optimal ways to conduct and report ophthalmology-related investigations using claims data will likely continue to evolve as health services researchers refine the metrics to analyze large administrative data sets