Milenko Stojkovic

Comparison of postoperative pain and satisfaction after dacryocystorhinostomy in patients operated on under local and general anesthesia

Summary Background There has been only 1 study on postoperative pain after external dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR) that compared pain between 2 groups of patients; 1 group received local anesthesia and the other received general anesthesia. To further characterize the relationship between these 2 types of anesthesia and postoperative pain, we designed a study in which a single patient received these 2 different anesthesia modalities for a short interval on 2 different sides. Material/Methods There were 50 participants in this study. External DCR was performed on the same participant on both sides using local anesthesia on 1 side and general anesthesia on the other. Postoperative pain was measured using the visual analogue scale (VAS), and localization and timing of pain were reported by the participants. Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) were documented if present. Results Pain levels were significantly higher with general anesthesia 3 hours post-surgery, and 6 hours post-surgery the pain remains higher following general anesthesia but is borderline insignificant (p=0.051). However, 12 hours post-surgery, there is no significant difference in the pain level (p=0.240). There was no significant difference in the localization of pain with local and general anesthesia. Postoperative nausea is significantly more frequent after general anesthesia, and vomiting only occurs with general anesthesia. Local anesthesia was preferred by 94% of the participants (47 out of 50). Conclusions The vast majority of patients in our study who have undergone both GA and LA DCR would choose LA again, providing a compelling case for use of the LA technique.

Is nail fold capillaroscopy useful in normotensive and primary open angle glaucoma? A pilot study.

Purpose: Vascular dysregulation is deemed a significant risk factor in glaucoma occurrence and progression. Capillaroscopy of the blood vessels on the finger nail-fold is a method that can provide information regarding the state of the vascular system at the capillary level. The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether there are significant differences in the morphological characteristics of the peripheral blood vessels in normotensive glaucoma and primary open angle glaucoma. Matherials and Methods: An ophthalmological and capillaroscopic examination was conducted on 30 normotensive glaucoma patients and 30 primary open angle glaucoma patients. The capillaroscopic characteristics described were as follows: capillary row density, capillary diameter, number of spirally formed capillaries, permeability of the loop, and loop resistance. Results: Statistically, significantly more intensively spiraled capillaries were found in normotensive glaucoma patients (χ2 test, p < 0.05). Conclusions: Results confirm the thesis that vascular factors play a significant role in the pathogenesis of the glaucoma, especially in cases where the level of intraocular pressure cannot be deemed responsible for the present damage of the optical nerve. Despite the newer, technologically more developed methods for diagnostics and monitoring glaucoma, it is often not easy to establish the right diagnosis and determine further the course of the illness, since the role the intraocular pressure (IOP) plays compared to the role of vascular factors is unknown; hence, capillaroscopy as a complementary diagnostic procedure can be of help.

Human external ophthalmomyiasis caused by Lucilia sericata Meigen (Diptera: Calliphoridae) – a green bottle fly

Ophthalmomyiasis externa is the result of infestation of the conjunctiva by the larval form or maggots of flies from the order Diptera. If not recognized and managed appropriately, it can be complicated by the potentially fatal condition ophthalmomyiasis interna. Ophthalmomyiasis externa is mainly caused by the sheep bot fly (Oestrus ovis). We present the first case, to our knowledge, of ophthalmomyiasis externa in an elderly woman from Belgrade caused by Lucilia sericata Meigen--a green bottle fly.

A 7-year prospective study of routine histopathological evaluation of the lacrimal sac wall incisional biopsy specimens obtained during external dacryocystorhinostomy in adults and a review of the literature.

The most common lacrimal sac pathology is chronic inflammation with or without occlusive fibrosis. However, a substantial number of lacrimal sac-specific pathologies were reported throughout the literature which may mimic chronic inflammation and be misdiagnosed. From a tertiary ophthalmic care centre in Serbia, in a single ophthalmic pathology laboratory, during a 7-year period (January 2004 to October 2010), a 599 consecutive lacrimal sac wall biopsy samples routinely obtained during external dacryocystorhinostomy in adult patients with clinically presumed primary acquired lacrimal drainage system obstruction were analysed. Although non-specific lacrimal sac pathology was present in the vast majority of cases (578 biopsy specimens; 96.49%), this report also reveals a relatively substantial number (21 biopsy specimens; 3.51%) of clinically non-suspected or intraoperatively unexpected primary lacrimal sac-specific pathology—among them, six lesions with malignant biological behaviour were identified: one microinvasive squamous cell carcinoma and five malignant lymhoproliferative lesions. Usefulness of routine lacrimal sac wall biopsy during surgery for primary acquired lacrimal drainage system obstruction is undoubtful and commensurate with the constant need for better understanding of the pathological processes that involve lacrimal drainage system.

Spectral Analysis of Intraocular Pressure Pulse Wave in Open Angle Glaucomas and Healthy Eyes

Purpose: To investigate the spectral content of intraocular pressure (IOP) pulse wave by advanced spectral signal processing of continuous IOP readings obtained by dynamic contour tonometry. Patients and methods: A non-interventional case-control study included 20 healthy subjects, 20 previously untreated primary open angle glaucoma patients, and 20 previously untreated normal tension glaucoma patients. The continuous IOP reading obtained by dynamic contour tonometry was submitted to Fast Fourier Transform signal analysis and further statistical data processing. Results: The spectral components of the IOP pulse wave were discerned up to the fifth harmonic. Highly statistically significant difference was found between the control group and the primary open angle group, and between the primary open angle glaucoma group and the normal tension glaucoma group in the first, second and the third harmonic amplitude (p < 0.01). Glaucoma patients had significantly higher ocular pulse volume values. Conclusions: It is possible to determine spectral components of the IOP pulse wave up to the fifth harmonic by a spectral analysis of dynamic contour tonometry continuous readings. We found that high Ocular Pulse Amplitude values in primary open angle glaucoma group was associated with high harmonics amplitude, which indicates low rigidity of blood vessels.

Duane type I retraction syndrome associated with Wyburn-Mason syndrome

Purpose: Our aim is to report the co-existence of Duane’s retraction syndrome and Wyburn-Mason syndrome, a rare condition characterized by arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) in the central nervous system and retina. Methods: An 11-year-old boy was referred for evaluation of strabismus present since birth. On examination his uncorrected visual acuity was 6/6 in each eye, with small angle left eye esotropia in the primary position, ipsilateral face turn, abduction deficit, lid fissure narrowing in adduction and widening in abduction; plus typical features of left-sided type I Duane syndrome were present. The left fundus demonstrated localized, well-compensated, markedly convoluted, dilated and tortuous retinal vessels and venous congenital retinal macrovessel, which traverse the macular region. The right fundus was unremarkable. In order to elucidate if this retinal vascular malformation is associated with similar lesions in the orbit, paranasal sinuses and/or brain, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was performed, followed by digital subtraction angiography of the brain vessels. Results: Clinical features of retinal disease (typical retinal vascular malformation) and brain imaging studies have led to the diagnosis of Wyburn-Mason syndrome. Digital subtraction angiography of the brain revealed an AVM of 30 mm maximal diameter in the left occipital lobe. Conclusions: Intracranial AVM might have affected the normal vascular development during the second month of gestation, causing involutional changes of the sixth nerve and resulted in Duane’s syndrome by “steal phenomenon.” Retinal AVM may point to concomitant intracranial AVMs, thus warranting neurological assessment. Patients with AVM of the retina should be examined early with brain and orbital neuroimaging to rule out cerebral AVMs.

Association between C-reactive protein and normal tension glaucoma

Background/Aim. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a systemic inflammatory marker associated with risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Some risk factors for CVD are associated with normal tension glaucoma (NTG), but the association between CRP and NTG has not been well defined yet. The aim of our study was to compare high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) levels in plasma between patients with NTG and normal controls. Methods. We studied 20 patients (4 males and 16 females) with the NTG diagnosis and compared their CRP values to those obtained in 25 controls (5 males and 20 females) with no ocular disease. Both groups had similar demographic parameters (age, sex, body mass index – BMI) and similar vascular risk profile. Results. Plasma CRP levels were comparable between patients with NTG and controls (mean values 4.99 ± 0.77 mg/L, median 4.50 mg/L, range 2.50–18.90 mg/L and mean value 4.19 ± 0.30 mg/L, median 3.50 mg/L range 2.20–8.50 mg/L, respectively, p > 0.5. Conclusion. The results obtained in this study suggest that CRP levels are not altered in NTG patients.

Acute post-surgical bilateral orbital gas-producing infection — a case report and literature review

The presence of visible gas on radiography, computed tomography (CT), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is associated with various pathological conditions, ranging from severe infections caused by gas-producing organisms to cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue disruption that allows an interface with the air [1]. A high index of suspicion surrounds the finding of gas because of the virulence of conditions such as gas gangrene and necrotizing fasciitis [1–12]. Gas dissecting into the orbital soft tissues as a result of bacterial activity is a rapidly progressive, extremely serious, life-threatening ophthalmological emergency [1–12]. Gas gangrene (myonecrosis) and necrotizing fasciitis can cause necrosis of tissues and systemic shock with multiorgan failure, sometimes within a matter of hours [1–3, 13]. It is well known that the usual causative organisms in gas-producing infection from a contaminated wound are clostridial species: Clostridium perfringens accounts for the majority of cases (over 80 %), while most other cases are caused by other Clostridium species [1–3]. Clostridial infection is always associated with necrosis, and very often associated with poor functional and anatomical outcome [1–4]. However, a variety of other non-clostridial organisms, both aerobes and anaerobes, may also produce infections in which gas is demonstrable: Escherichia coli, Proteus species, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Bacteroides, Klebsiela pneumoniae, Prevotella species, Staphylococcus aureus, Peptostreptococcus species, Fusobacterium species, and Streptococcus pyogenes are only the species reported most often in the literature [2]. Non-clostridial infections may take various forms, which lead to difficulties in making accurate and prompt diagnoses and are also related to the confusion between gas gangrene and various (bacterial and nonbacterial) lesions that simulate gas gangrene. Aside from the fact that non-clostridial organisms usually involve subcutaneous tissues, they may also involve muscle and simulate clostridial myonecrosis [2, 3]. However, non-clostridial gas infections accompanied by gangrene are not very common, even in immunosuppressed individuals [2, 3]. Since the initial report by Chiari (1893), which concerned a non-clostridial gas-forming infection due to a colon bacillus in the gangrenous lower limb of a diabetic patient [4], fewer than 40 cases of non-clostridial gas-forming infections have been described. Only four such cases have been described in the orbit [5–7, 12], and these are quite different from the present case. With regard to the pathogenesis of gas bubbles of clostridial or non-clostridial etiology, they are liberated by the bacterial fermentation of glucose [4]. In addition, impaired microcirculation may also contribute to gas formation [3, 4]. It is also necessary to mention the benign, non-infectious presence of gas in the orbit, which is known as orbital emphysema. Orbital emphysema is a well-known entity that can arise from nose-blowing, tumor presentation, or after fractures of the orbital floor, and may be self-induced in psychiatric patients [15]. There are no research contracts or any kind of financial support (grants) for this study. No authors have any conflicts of interest.