VOLUME 73 - ISSUE 6

Purpose: To analyze the benefits after cataract surgery in professional activities. Methods: A prospective, randomized study was conducted at the Clinical Hospital of the University of São Paulo. The patients had cataract surgery by phacoemulsification (PHACO) and by extracapsular extraction (EECP). Results: The sample consisted of 205 patients, 101 of these, submitted to phacoemulsification. The mean age in phacoemulsification group was 68.3 years ± 9 years and 69.1 years ± 8.5 years in extracapsular extraction group (p=0.70). The percentage of patients employed in phacoemulsification group was 16.83%, and in the extracapsular extraction group of 13.46%. Most patients who were not employed felt motivated to seek work. Most of the patients increased their productivity at work after surgery, 82.50% in the phacoemulsification group, and 78.60% in the other group (p=0.20). Conclusion: Cataract surgery of both techniques has improved the productivity at work and encouraged economically inactive individuals to seek employment.

Keywords: Cataract extraction; Phacoemulsification; Cataract; Blindness; Physician´s practice patterns; Lenses, intraocular; Vision acuity; Perception

Purpose: To analyze the number of surgeries performed in outpatient surgical center at a university hospital and to assess its financial viability during and after the interruption of the Cataract National Campaign in 2006. Methods: Retrospective analytical study between 2005 and 2009 at the Clinical Hospital of the University of São Paulo (HC-FMUSP) which evaluated the economic viability of the outpatient surgical center, the number of cataract surgeries performed and the number of surgeons present daily in that unit. Results: It would be necessary to perform at least 400 procedures monthly to ensure the financial viability of the outpatient surgical center. This number was lower than the expected in the years of 2008 and 2009 (average of 370.6 and 390.1 surgeries respectively). The number of cataract fellows decreased from 13 in 2005 to 3 in 2009. Conclusion: The main factor for the reduction in the number of cataract surgeries performed in the outpatient surgical center after 2006 was the difficulty of access of the population to the hospital due to restrictions on the development of screening projects. The increased use of the operating rooms by other clinics and the decrease in the admission of new surgeons, made the outpatient surgical center appropriate and viable for the new political-economic reality.

Keywords: Cataract extraction; Optimization; Phacoemulsification; Hospital, teaching; Blindness

Purpose: To compare the performance of gonioscopy and noncontact morphometry with anterior chamber tomography (High Resolution Pentacam - HR) using optical Scheimpflug images in the evaluation of the anterior chamber angle (ACA). Methods: Transversal study. 112 eyes from 74 subjects evaluated at the Glaucoma Department, Fluminense Federal University, underwent gonioscopy and Pentacam HR. Using gonioscopy, the ACA was graded using the Shaffer Classification (SC) by a single experienced examiner masked to the Pentacam HR findings. Narrow angle was determined in eyes in which the posterior trabecular meshwork could not be seen in two or more quadrants on non-indentation gonioscopy (SC Grade 2 or less). Pentacam HR images of the nasal and temporal quadrants were evaluated by custom software to automatically obtain anterior chamber measurements, such as: anterior chamber angle (ACA), anterior chamber volume (ACV) and anterior chamber depth (ACD). Results: Based on gonioscopy results, 74 (60.07%) eyes of patients classified as open-angle (SC 3 and 4) and 38 (33.93%) eyes of patients classified as narrow-angle (SC 1 and 2). Noncontact morphometry with Scheimpflug images revealed a mean ACA of 39.20 ± 5.31 degrees for open-angle and 21.18 ± 7.98 degrees for narrow-angle. The open-angle group showed significant greater ACV and ACD values when compared to narrow-angle group (ACV of 193 ± 36 mm³ vs. 90 ± 25 mm³, respectively, p<0.001; and ACD of 3,09 ± 0,42 mm vs. 1,55 ± 0,64 mm, respectively, p<0.0001.). In screening eyes with open-angle and narrow-angle with the Pentacam ACA of 20º (SC Grade 2) using the ROC curves, the analysis showed 52.6% of sensitivity and 100% of specificity. Conclusions: The Pentacam showed ability in detecting eyes at risk for angle closure analyzing ACV and ACD.

Keywords: Anterior chamber; Cornea; Gonioscopy; Image Processing, computer-assisted

Purpose: To analyze the possible predisposing factors of lawsuits involving ophthalmologists. Methods: Retrospective study of 70 lawsuits involving the practice of Ophthalmology. The patient's gender, age, medical and ophthalmic history were reviewed. The eye disorder that generated the prosecution, the pre-existing ophthalmic diagnosis, the preoperative exams and the operating room data were also analyzed. The informed consent form, the outcome of the litigation and the value of compensation were recorded. Results: Blindness was reported in 45 (64.3%) of the 70 lawsuits and was the principal eye disorder related to litigation. The pre-existing eye diseases associated with legal claims were: cataracts in 46 (65.7%) lawsuits, refractive errors in 12 (17.1%), ocular trauma in 8 (11.4%), glaucoma in 3 (4.3%) and retinal detachment in 1 (1.4%) lawsuit. The major surgical complications that possibly motivated the patient to sue the ophthalmologist were retinal detachment in 37 (52.8%) lawsuits, poor visual acuity after cataract surgery in 12 (17.1%), corneal disorders following refractive surgery in 8 (11.4%), endophthalmitis in 4 (5.7%), discomfort with refractive prescriptions in 4 (5.7%) and ocular atrophy in 4 (5.7%) lawsuits. Ophthalmic surgery was involved in 94.3% of the 70 prosecutions analyzed. Two or less visits to the ophthalmologist preceding the surgical or refractive event leading to legal dispute were recorded in 67.1% of the lawsuits. A pre-surgical Informed consent form was not used in 63% of the 66 surgical procedures leading to litigation. 62.9% of the lawsuits were unfavorable to the Ophthalmologist and the amount of compensation was less than R$ 50,000 in 72.7% of these legal claims. Conclusions: Blindness, surgery, retinal detachment, few pre-operative ophthalmic visits and the lack of informed consent forms were possible risk factors associated with lawsuits in the field of Ophthalmology.

Keywords: Malpractice; Informed consent; Ophthalmology; Liability, legal; Refractive surgical procedures

Purpose: To report on the incidence, diagnostic technique, and microbiological features of endophthalmitis at a university-setting in Brazil. Methods: All cases of presumed postoperative endophthalmitis from 2002 to 2008 at a teaching-hospital were included. Main data assessed were: number of cataract surgeries performed, incidence of endophthalmitis, microbiological outcome (aqueous and/or vitreous culture and Gram staining), and antimicrobial susceptibility testing of the positive cases. Results: Seventy-three eyes of 73 patients (43 females and 30 males) developed endophthalmitis after 24,590 cataract surgeries. The incidence decreased from 0.49% in 2003 to 0.17% in 2006 and stabilized afterwards. Coagulase negative Staphylococci (CoNS) and Streptococcus viridans (56.5% and 15%, respectively) were the most common bacterial isolates. Culture and Gram stain were negative in 36.9%. CoNS presented susceptibility rates of 80%-sensitivity to oxacillin, 90% to fourth-generation quinolones and 100% to vancomycin. Conclusions: The rate of endophthalmitis, diagnostic ability of conventional laboratory investigation, microbial isolates and antibiotic susceptibility are in accordance with other findings of the literature. Despite using prophylactic antibiotic drops, it was possible to identify cases that were susceptible to the antibiotics topically applied.

Keywords: Endophthalmitis; Endophthalmitis; Endophthalmitis; Endophthalmitis; Cataract extraction

Purpose: To compare the extent of corneal endothelial (CE) cell loss changes in two groups of eyes submitted to phacoemulsification, with the conventional bevel-up tip position in one eye and with the bevel-down tip position in the fellow eye. Methods: This prospective clinical trial comprised 25 patients with bilateral cataracts subjected to lens removal by phacoemulsification with the conventional bevel-up tip position (GI) in one eye and with the bevel-down tip position (GII) in the fellow eye. The nuclei were graded clinically on the basis of hardness. The endothelial cell count (ECC) was evaluated preoperatively and 1, 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Total surgical time, effective ultrasound time and complications were also compared between the groups. Statistical analysis was performed by the Tukey Studentized Range test, with repeated measures for the selected periods. For the other parameters a paired t test was used. Data are presented as mean ± SD, with the level of significance set at p<0.05. Results: The mean effective ultrasound time was 8.08 ± 6.75 seconds in group I and 7.00 ± 5.75 seconds in GII (P=0.1792) and total surgical time was 10.01 ± 2.46 minutes in GI and 9.86 ± 2.17 minutes in GII (p=0.6267), respectively. The paired t test revealed no statistical differences between the groups. Complications were also similar between the groups. Mean endothelial cell count loss was 6.9% in GI and 2.8% in GII at one month; 6.9% in GI and 3.6% in GII at three months and 11.9% in GI and 7.6% in GII at six months postoperatively. Comparison of endothelial cell count (ECC) showed a statistically significant difference between the groups during the postoperative period. Conclusion: The conventional bevel-up tip position has a negative effect on corneal endothelial cells compared with the bevel-down position. Since the results of other surgical parameters were similar, the bevel-down tip position should be considered as an option in non-complicated phacoemulsification.

Keywords: Cataract extraction; Phacoemulsification; Endothelium, corneal; Comparative study

Purpose: To compare, clinically and biometrically, affected and fellow acute primary angle-closure (APAC) eyes and glaucomatous eyes with narrow angle (NA). Methods: Comparative case series; 30 patients with APAC and 27 glaucomatous patients with NA were evaluated. Keratometry (K), central corneal thickness (CCT), lens thickness (LT), axial length (AL) and anterior chamber depth (ACD) were measured. Parameters defined as lens posisiton (LP) and relative lens position (RLP) were calculated. Results: Biometric difference between APAC-affected and fellow eyes was found only in LP (P=0.046). When fellow eyes were compared to glaucomatous eyes with NA, differences were found in ACD (P=0.009), AL (P=0.010), and LT/AL (P=0.005). The comparison between APAC-affected and glaucomatous eyes with NA showed significant differences in almost all biometric parameters, except for LT (P=0.148) and RLP (P=0.374). We found that the logistic regression model (LRM), built with three parameters (K, CCT and LT/AL), higher than 0.334 could be a reasonable instrument to differentiate APAC eyes from glaucomatous eyes with NA. Conclusions: This study showed that APAC-affected and fellow eyes have similar biometric features, and glaucomatous eyes with NA have a less crowded anterior segment. The LRM built showed promising results in distinguishing APAC from glaucomatous eyes with NA.

Keywords: Glaucoma, angle-closure; Anterior chamber; Biometry

Purpose: To analyze the results obtained with a new phacoemulsification teaching method in the specialization course of Hospital de Olhos do Paraná. Methods: A retrospective study evaluated the results of a "reversal" method used in the CBO/ALCON teaching program at the Hospital de Olhos do Paraná. The method is based on the student progression through five checkpoints starting from the end of the surgery towards the beginning and analysis of intra- and postoperative complications at each one of the checkpoints. Results: Of 84 operated eyes, 77 (91.67%) presented final visual acuity of 20/40 or better. Among the complications, the main one was the posterior capsular rupture and occurred in 11 (13.09%) of 13 (15.48%) eyes with complications. Conclusion: The "reversal" teatching method used in the CBO/ALCON teaching program is appropriate to the student, his instructor, as well as to the patient.

Keywords: Ophthalmology; Phacoemulsification; Visual acuity; Cataract extraction; Clinical competence; Learning

Purpose: When the vision in one eye is preserved (monocular vision) and there is high risk, low prognosis and/or limited resources to the fellow eye surgery, it is unclear if the benefit of binocularity outweighs the reorientation for monocular vision. The goal is to quantify the impact of the quality of vision of both binocular and monocular condition, and in this latter case, between congenital and acquired. Methods: Patients with visual acuity (VA)>0.5 in each eye underwent a structured questionnaire of 14 questions (VF-14), which the score 0-100 indicates the level of patient satisfaction with their vision, ranging from low to high respectively. Epidemiological data and scores of the four groups were recorded and analyzed statistically. Results: The interview by the VF-14 with 56 subjects revealed that the highest score was similar between controls and patients with congenital monocular vision, and low and intermediate levels were obtained by individuals with acquired monocular vision and bilaterally blind, respectively (p<0.001). The more difficult activities for individuals with acquired monocular vision were to identify small print, recognize people, to distinguish traffic lights and watch TV. Conclusion: The study confirmed that the vision loss has an adverse impact on the performance of such activities being higher in congenital than in acquired monocular vision. The data suggest that rehabilitation measures should be considered to improve the quality of vision in intractable diseases, high risk or low prognosis.

Keywords: Vision, monocular; Vision, low; Blindness; Visual acuity; Quality of life; Vision, binocular; Questionnaires

Purpose: To assess the neuropsychomotor and visual development of visually impaired children. Methods: Fourty-five children of both genders were evaluated in a 6-months period. The children were distributed into two study groups: experimental and control. The neuropsychomotor development and visual efficiency were evaluated in the two groups. Results: In the control group, 86.66% of the sample was inappropriate on the coordination behavior, however, all aspects were considered inadequate. The differences among the groups were significant, since p values<0.05 were evidenced in the visual efficiency behavior as well as in the neuropsychomotor development. Conclusion: It was observed in the studied sample that the visually impaired were characterized by a global delay in the neuropsychomotor development, mostly in the coordination behavior.

Keywords: Child development; Visual acuity; Psychomotor disorders; Nervous system diseases

A case of inadvertent retention of Descemet's membrane after penetrating keratoplasty for Fuchs dystrophy is reported. The challenges to remove it during cataract surgery are commented, as well as a proposal of a new surgical approach.

Keywords: Descemet membrane; Descemet membrane; Descemet membrane; Corneal transplantation; Corneal transplantation; Keratoplasty, penetrating; Case reports; Human; Female; Aged

An inedited case in the Brazilian literature of conjunctival fibrous histiocytoma discovered during a wide scale community project accomplished by the team of the Center of Reference in Ophthalmology of the Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal de Goiás in the Amazon region is reported. A 38 year-old caucasian woman presented with a vascularized lesion on the medial portion of the bulbar conjunctiva and caruncular region of the right eye with extension for the limbus and invading about 2 mm of the medial cornea resembling a pterygium. Pathologic findings revealed that the lesion was constituted by spindle-shaped cells, with storiform arrangement, and large histocytelike cells. The immunohistochemistry revealed strong positivity for vimentin and the neoplastic cells were negative for AE1/AE3, HMB 45, S 100 protein. The histopathologic diagnosis was fibrous histiocytoma. The evolution demonstrated the tumoral growth and the possibility of a malignant lesion.

Keywords: Histiocytoma, benign fibrous; Pterygium; Conjunctival neoplasms; Vimentin; Immunohistochemistry; Case reports; Human; Male; Adult

Optic neuropathy due to cat scratch disease is a relatively infrequent occurrence associated with macular star formation and is characterized by sudden painless loss of vision mostly unilateral. Bartonella henselae is well recognized as the etiologic agent in cat scratch disease. Ocular complications of the disease occur in up to 10% of patients and include neuroretinitis. Ocular bartonelosis is usually self-limited with complete or near-complete recovery of vision in otherwise healthy patients. A case of a boy with neuroretinitis caused by B. henselae is reported.

Keywords: Optic nerve diseases; Cat-scratch disease; Macula lutea; Macular edema; Papilledema; Retinitis; Case reports

In the present case we deal with a medial eyelid necrosis and injury of the canalicular system in a patient in treatment for lepromatous leprosy. Histology of the necrotic lesion showed granulomatous inflammatory reaction with accumulation of histiocytes and presence of alcohol-acid resistant bacilli. After medical treatment, the patient had a spontaneous recovery of the medial canthus architecture but with complete destruction of the canalicular system.

Keywords: Necrosis; Leprosy, lepromatous; Case reports

Lesions on the ocular surface can destroy the stem cells from the limbus and cause limbal stem cell deficiency. The limbal stem cell deficiency is marked by conjunctivalization, which can be defined as the invasion of conjunctival epithelium over the cornea. This process is accompanied by varying degrees of corneal changes such as neovascularization, inflammation, recurrent erosions, persistent epithelial defects, destruction of basement membrane of epithelium and stromal healing. Often, these changes are associated with poor visual acuity, photophobia and ocular discomfort. The best treatment for this disease is not known and varies in unilateral or bilateral cases. Among the treatments available, transplantation of limbal autograft or allograft is one of the most used. To improve the outcome of allotransplantation, some researchers use the transplantation of corneal epithelium cultured in the laboratory by ex vivo expansion of limbal stem cells, but due to limited availability of autologous tissue from the limbus and the risk of complications associated with immunosuppression in allogeneic tissue transplantation, researches of others options of stem cell cultured ex vivo have been described in experimental and clinical stage. This review describes the new types of stem cells cultured ex vivo, their current results and future potential.

Keywords: Adult stem cells; Amnion; Cell culture techniques; Epithelial cells; Keratoconjunctivitis; Keratoconjunctivitis; Treatment outcome

Toxoplasma gondii infection is an important cause of ocular disease in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent subjects. The pathogenesis of retinochoroidal lesion associated with this infection is not fully understood. In this review, the role of the immune system in the control of Toxoplasma infection, especially in the eye, is discussed.

Keywords: Toxoplasmosis, ocular; Chorioretinitis; Uveitis; Toxoplasma; Autoimmunity; T-lymphocytes, regulatory; Cytokines