Hemicentral retinal vein occlusion in a patient with a history of coronavirus disease 2019 infection: a case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Considering the various manifestations of coronavirus disease 2019 and its imperative importance in terms of the right clinical approach and early management, we sought to present a hemicentral retinal vein occlusion case, with a history of heterozygosity of methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) genes and potential for clotting complications as a late manifestation of coronavirus disease 2019, and provide a brief review of reported retinal vein occlusion cases in patients with coronavirus disease 2019.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 35-year-old Iranian patient presented with a visual impairment in the left eye 4 months after recovering from coronavirus disease 2019. He reported a mild blurring of vision in the same eye a few days after admission due to coronavirus disease 2019. The ophthalmic evaluation was compatible with hemicentral retinal vein occlusion. Systemic and laboratory workups were negative except for borderline protein C activity, homocysteine levels, and heterozygosity of MTHFR genes. The patient was scheduled to receive three monthly intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor injections.

CONCLUSION

We present a case of inferior hemicentral retinal vein occlusion case with an MTHFR mutation with sequential loss of vision 4 months after coronavirus disease 2019 to make clinicians aware of the possibility of late ocular coronavirus disease 2019 manifestations.

Short term choroidal microvascular changes following photodynamic therapy in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy

BACKGROUND

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is characterized by focal serous detachment of the retina, primarily affecting the macula. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is the best choice for treatment of chronic and recurrent patients. In this study we aim to evaluate the early effects of the half dose protocol (3 mg/m2 verteporfine) of PDT laser treatment on the micro vasculature of choroid.

METHODS

Among thirty-one patients (62 eyes), twenty eyes were in the control group and forty-two eyes received PDT laser treatment. Vision log MAR, CMT (central macular thickness), SRF (sub retinal fluid), BCT (baseline choroidal thickness), CVI (choroidal vascular index), and laser treated area were compared between two groups.

RESULTS

Results show that no strong correlation was detected between the impact of laser treatment and resolution of SRF in the first week in the fovea. The mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the patients significantly increased from 20/63 at the beginning of the study, according to the Snellen chart, to 20/49 in the first week and 20/38 in the sixth week. PDT can significantly reduce SRF and CMT in 6 weeks compared to the control group. Although there was initially a small, non-statistically significant increase in choroidal thickness and CVI after 1 week, a dramatic decrease occurs after 6 weeks. Therefore, after 6 weeks of PDT laser, all the indicators such as SRF, CMT, choroidal thickness, and CVI significantly reduced.

CONCLUSION

PDT laser can significantly reduce SRF and CMT at 1 and 6 weeks and choroidal thickness and CVI at 6 weeks in chronic CSC patients. Also, a larger laser treated area has no impact on the final outcome. Therefore, it seems that the mechanism of PDT in CSC disease is the recovery of choriocapillaris circulation.

A novel technique for small-incision levator resection with a double mattress suture for ptosis correction

PURPOSE

To introduce a novel technique for small-incision levator resection in ptosis surgery and evaluate its efficacy in a pilot study among patients affected by congenital or aponeurotic ptosis.

METHODS

We prospectively enrolled congenital and aponeurotic ptosis patients if their levator function was not poor (≥5 mm) from June 2021 through October 2022. Surgical technique involved a 1-cm lid crease incision, minimal dissection, and creating a loop passing through the tarsus and levator aponeurosis. Success was defined as postoperative MRD-1 ≥3 mm and inter-eyelid MRD-1 difference ≤1 mm. Eyelid contour quality was scored excellent, good, fair, and poor according to its curvature and symmetry.

RESULTS

Sixty-seven eyes (35 congenital and 32 aponeurotic) were included in the study. Mean age was 34±19 years (range, 5-79 years). Mean preoperative levator function and levator resection amount were 9.53 mm and 8.39 mm in the congenital group and 12.34 mm and 4.15 mm in the aponeurotic group, respectively. Mean pre- and postoperative MRD-1 was 1.61 mm and 3.27 mm respectively (P<0.001). The overall success rate was 82.1% (95% C.I: 71.7-89.8%); the result was failure in 12 cases, of which 11 had under-correction. Preoperative MRD-1 was correlated with a success rate (P=0.017).

CONCLUSION

The described technique shows non-inferior results to the previously described surgical methods and also it shows very good lid contour outcome and minimal lag. The findings suggest that the double mattress single suture technique can be used in both congenital and aponeurotic ptosis.

The effect of povidone-iodine 2% eye drops in the treatment of adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis

BACKGROUND

Keratoconjunctivitis is one of the most common pathologies worldwide, caused by several infectious and noninfectious factors. This study aimed to determine the effect of povidone-iodine 2% eye drops in treating adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis.

METHODS

This analytic cross-sectional study was conducted on patients referred to Farabi Eye Hospital Records of patients with adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis, more than 12 years of age, and no allergy to iodine who were treated by povidone-iodine 2% eye drops four times a day were assessed. Data included demographic characteristics, family history of adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis, follicular conjunctivitis, petechial conjunctival hemorrhages, periauricular lymphadenopathy, and the presence of conjunctival pseudomembrane were collected from the records. Discharge decrease, injection decrease, swelling decrease, pseudomembrane formation, periauricular lymphadenopathy, and subepithelial infiltration on the 7^thday of assessment by physical examination were reported.

RESULTS

Patients with a mean (±standard deviation) age of 33.77 (11.01) years were assessed. At the baseline, 95 (99.0%) follicular conjunctivitis, 94 (97.9%) petechial conjunctival hemorrhages, 29 (30.2%) periauricular lymphadenopathy, and 5 (5.2%) conjunctival pseudomembrane were recorded. On the 7^thday of treatment, the discharge decreased in 92.7% of patients, and the injection decreased in 90.6%. The swelling decrease was also detected in 79.2% of patients. Subepithelial infiltration was only seen in 21.9% of the study population. Results showed that 2.1% of patients had periauricular lymphadenopathy, and only 13 out of 96 patients (13.5%) had pseudomembrane formation after 7 days.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the safety, availability, and tolerability of povidone-iodine and its promising effects on patients with adenoviral keratoconjunctivitis, further clinical trials assessing the impact of this drug in a longer duration of follow-up can be recommended.

Etiology, pathogenesis, and management of acute intraocular lens opacification: a systematic review

Millions of cataract surgeries with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation are performed worldwide. Although cataract surgery brings many benefits to the patients, the risk of various complications is still a concern. One of the infrequent adverse events but potentially affecting on patients’ visual acuity and contrast sensitivity is losing the transparency of IOL. IOL opacification may lead to IOL removal or exchange, which is unpleasant to both the patient and the surgeon. Several reports of acute IOL clouding are available in the literature describing various etiologies of this phenomenon, however, the exact mechanism remained unclear in some cases. Herein, we aimed to review the causes and outcomes of intraoperative and early postoperative IOL opacification.

Prevalence of Hepatitis in Prisoners: A Systematic Review of Current Evidence

INTRODUCTION

Prisoners represent high-risk behaviors such as injecting drug use, sharing syringes, tattooing, and unprotected sexual intercourse. The authors aimed to study the prevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatitis D in the prisoners.

METHODS

We conducted a systematic search using the keywords in online databases of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Science Direct. Two independent researchers examined the quality of the articles and the probable risk of bias. The most relevant articles by title and abstract were retrieved. Finally, The full text of selected articles was read, and the critical findings were extracted.

RESULTS

Reviews of 23 studies showed that most prisoners are susceptible to hepatitis B and hepatitis C. One study also indicated that prisoners could be infected with hepatitis A and hepatitis E. The most common routes of hepatitis transmission in prisons were intravenous drug use, needle sharing, tattooing, and unsafe sex with multiple sexual partners.

CONCLUSION

High-risk sexual behaviors, shared contaminated needles for IV drug injection, and tattooing are the principal routes of hepatitis transmission among prison inmates. Hepatitis treatment is feasible and could be useful for infected prisoners undergoing a well-designed treatment program.

COVID-19 in pediatrics: The current knowledge and practice

INTRODUCTION

SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes severe acute respiratory syndrome and could afflict individuals from all walks of life. Children are usually asymptomatic or represent non-specific mild to moderate symptoms; therefore, they often remain undiagnosed and could be potential reservoirs and silent carriers of the virus. Despite the global attention to COVID-19 and its importance in public health, some clinical and paraclinical aspects of this disease in children are still unclear. Thus, we conducted a comprehensive systematic review of available literature to reflect on the current knowledge and practice of the disease among children.

METHODS

This study was a systematic review of current evidence conducted in October 2020. We performed a systematic search using the keywords in online databases. The investigation adheres to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) checklist to ensure the reliability and validity of extracted literature and results.

RESULTS

We selected and reviewed 23 most related studies out of 1744 identified paper in an initial online search based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the present review; of whom, 13 were original research studies, and 10 were a letter to the editors, commentaries, viewpoints, consensus statements, and perspectives. Although due to the origin of the current pandemic, China was the country with the most publications (14 articles), data from several countries have beenincluded in this review.

CONCLUSION

COVID-19 can also affect children and cause systemic disease with several internal organ involvements. However, the prevalence, severity, and diversity of the symptoms in children are less than in adults. Cough and fever appear to be some of the most common symptoms, followed by other symptoms such as gastrointestinal manifestations. Comorbidities increase the risk of severe COVID-19 in children, and those without underlying conditions are very unlikely to suffer from severe disease. Mental health issues such as anxiety and depression due to the isolated situation caused by pandemics are common findings in children of early ages and should be seriously considered in current practice.

Security challenges and solutions using healthcare cloud computing

Cloud computing is among the most beneficial solutions to digital problems. Security is one of the focal issues in cloud computing technology, and this study aims at investigating security issues of cloud computing and their probable solutions. A systematic review was performed using Scopus, Pubmed, Science Direct, and Web of Science databases. Once the title and abstract were evaluated, the quality of studies was assessed in order to choose the most relevant according to exclusion and inclusion criteria. Then, the full texts of studies selected were read thoroughly to extract the necessary results. According to the review, data security, availability, and integrity, as well as information confidentiality and network security, were the major challenges in cloud security. Further, data encryption, authentication, and classification, besides application programming interfaces (API), were security solutions to cloud infrastructure. Data encryption could be applied to store and retrieve data from the cloud in order to provide secure communication. Besides, several central challenges, which make the cloud security engineering process problematic, have been considered in this study.

Characterization of SARS-CoV-2 different variants and related morbidity and mortality: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION

Coronavirus Disease-2019 (SARS-CoV-2) started its devastating trajectory into a global pandemic in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Ever since, several variants of SARS-CoV-2 have been identified. In the present review, we aimed to characterize the different variants of SARS-CoV-2 and explore the related morbidity and mortality.

METHODS

A systematic review including the current evidence related to different variants of SARS-CoV-2 and the related morbidity and mortality was conducted through a systematic search utilizing the keywords in the online databases including Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, and Science Direct; we retrieved all related papers and reports published in English from December 2019 to September 2020.

RESULTS

A review of identified articles has shown three main genomic variants, including type A, type B, and type C. we also identified three clades including S, V, and G. Studies have demonstrated that the C14408T and A23403G alterations in the Nsp12 and S proteins are the most prominent alterations in the world, leading to life-threatening mutations.The spike D614G amino acid change has become the most common variant since December 2019. From missense mutations found from Gujarat SARS-CoV-2 genomes, C28854T, deleterious mutation in the nucleocapsid (N) gene was significantly associated with patients' mortality. The other significant deleterious variant (G25563T) is found in patients located in Orf3a and has a potential role in viral pathogenesis.

CONCLUSION

Overall, researchers identified several SARS-CoV-2 variants changing clinical manifestations and increasing the transmissibility, morbidity, and mortality of COVID-19. This should be considered in current practice and interventions to combat the pandemic and prevent related morbidity and mortality.

Adsorption studies of methyl orange on an immobilized Mn-nanoparticle: kinetic and thermodynamic

A nano-adsorbent containing Mn-nanoparticle decorated SiO₂–Al₂O₃ was developed. The application of the nano-adsorbent was studied to remove methyl orange. It effectively removes 98% of methyl orange from contaminated water after 15 min. The novel nano-adsorbent was very stable and easily separated from the purified water.