Bilateral acute idiopathic frosted branch angiitis in a pregnant woman

Purpose: To present a case of frosted branch angiitis in a pregnant woman. Methods: A 27-week pregnant 18-year-old woman was presented with bilateral decreased visual acuity. Fundoscopy showed typical appearance of frosted branch angiitis. Results: A good spontaneous clinical improvement was observed during systemic evaluation. No treatment was started. Conclusion: Frosted branch angiitis may be seen during pregnancy, without any associated underlying disease, and can be resolved without any intervention. The treatment may not be necessary for some cases. © 2012 Ophthalmic Communications Society, Inc

A severe aspect of pediatric ocular allergy to recognize: Vernal keratoconjunctivitis [Çocukluk çagı göz allerjilerinin tanınması gereken ciddi bir yönü: Vernal keratokonjonktivit]

Aim: To determine the clinical features of vernal keratoconjunctivitis and to evaluate the safety and the efficacy of the medical treatment on clinical grades. Material and Method: All patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis who had been treated with mast-cell stabilizers, antihistamines and artificial tear drops previously were enrolled in the study. Topical steroids were added during recurrences, were tapered and discontinued according to the clinical improvement. Topical cyclosporin 0.05% four times daily was used additionally in cases of inadequate response to treatment or evident steroid dependance. Main outcome measures were the clinical features, change of clinical grades, response to treatment, rate of recurrences and side effects of the eyedrops. Results: Twenty patients (13 males, 7 females) with vernal keratoconjunctivitis in different severity scales were included. The median age of the patients was 10 (9-11) years. The median follow-up time was 35 (15-56) months. Ten patients received topical cyclosporine. The rate of recurrences was similar in patients who received topical cyclosporine compared to those who were followed with topical steroids. (p=0.17) No severe adverse reaction to any of the formulations was seen. Discussion: Topical 0.05% cyclosporin is safe and effective for the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis as a steroid sparing agent. It helps to obtain good clinical response without serious adverse effects and provides improvement on the clinical grades

Intravitreal injection of methotrexate in an experimental rabbit model: Determination of ultrastructural changes

PubMedID: 23571257Purpose: To investigate the ultrastructural changes of the rabbit retina induced by intravitreal methotrexate injection. Materials and Methods: Ten New Zealand white rabbits were enucleated bilaterally at different time periods after intravitreal methotrexate injection. One rabbit was used as control group and one rabbit was used as intact group. Histopathological examinations were performed under light and electron microscopy. Early (within first three days after injection) and long-term (one month after serial injections) effects of intravitreal methotrexate on the retina were investigated. Results: Retinal edema, vacuolization, and disintegration of mitochondria of the retinal cells were observed as early changes. The main long-term effects after serial injections were edema in the photoreceptor, inner nuclear, and ganglionic cell layers. Cellular disorganisation was seen on light microscopy. Electron microscopic examination revealed mitochondrial degeneration and vacuole formation in retinal cells, nuclear degeneration in outer nuclear layer, and membranous whorl formation in photoreceptor and nerve fiber layers. Conclusions High dose intravitreal methotrexate injection may cause significant ultrastructural changes in the rabbit retina in varying severity. This finding may highlight the potential side effects of methotrexate on human retina in higher doses