Articles

Since the advent of antibiotics, lateral sinus thrombosis is an infrequent complication of otitis media. Lateral sinus thrombosis may occur by thrombophlebitis or penetration by offending pathogens through the dura of middle and posterior cranial fossae. We present a case of right-sided sigmoid and transverse venous sinus thrombosis as a rare complication of chronic suppurative otitis media in an adult. We discuss the patient’s imaging, management and relevant literature to offer clinical recommendations. A 39-year-old woman presented with headache, neck pain, vomiting, fever and photophobia with a tender right mastoid on examination. Computerised Tomography, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Magnetic Resonance Venogram of the head revealed complete opacification of the right mastoid air cells and middle ear, with absent flow void in the right transverse and sigmoid sinus, consistent with thrombosis. After discussion with neurosurgery, she was commenced on anticoagulants. The patient was readmitted with right otalgia and otorrhea refractory to medical treatment, and ultimately underwent right mastoid exploration. Conclusion: Lateral sinus thrombosis may occur with other intracranial or extracranial complications of otitis media. Clinicians should approach any complication of otitis media with vigilance as antibiotics may mask some signs and symptoms of mastoiditis, which can progress to otogenic brain abscess.

Hairy polyp and choristoma are rare benign developmental malformations. Hairy polyp mainly occurs in the nasopharynx whereas choristoma occurs in the dorsum of the tongue. Aetiology and pathogenesis of both hairy polyp and choristoma still remain unknown. Diagnosis is made by histological examination and complete excision is the treatment of choice. We report a case of hairy polyp and choristoma on the palate and the dorsum of the tongue respectively in a seventeen days old baby.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of ranibizumab in hastening the recovery of acute CSCR when given immediately at time of diagnosis. Methods: In This retrospective case series, a total of 72 patients diagnosed with acute CSCR where reviewed, of which 63 received Ranibizumab at presentation. The patients were evaluated using Best corrected visual acuity, Ophthalmic examination, Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescein angiography, in addition to indocyanine green angiography and OCT angiography in some cases, at presentation, one week, one month and two months’ post injection. Results: From the total 72 patients diagnosed with acute CSCR, 63 of them received intravitreal ranibizumab and the remaining 9 patients preferred to go for observation. The mean age of patients was 41.2 year old. The ratio of male to female was 8:1. The mean BCVA at presentation was 6/15 on Snellen chart. All patients who received ranibizumab injection showed an improvement after 1 week, with a mean improvement in BCVA of two lines. Of them, 43 patients were back to BCVA of 6/6 after 2 months and showed complete resolution of sub retinal fluid. The remaining 20 patients showed an additional mean of improvement of one line (over the previous two lines) after the 2 months. Conclusion: Intravitreal ranibizumab hasten the recovery of both the BCVA and central macular thickness on OCT in acute CSCR when given immediately at presentation.

Five key sectors of transport have been selected as the target groups: seafarers, truck drivers, dockworkers, rail workers and airline workers. Transport workers often operate under stressful working conditions, long-work hours, lack of good sleep, healthy diet and physical exercises that contribute to fatigue, impaired well-being, mental ill-health, stress and chronic diseases. The hypothesis is that good mental health workplace culture depends on good education, staffing and management. Objectives: To create, implement and evaluate a research based mental health culture promotion program Determinate existing researches and training programs, To study the knowledge, skills and needs for specific training in diferent age-groups Create and implement effective and relevant training, Produce training materials and scientific evidence available for ship owners, students and workers and to develop proposals for new mental health policies, legislations and regulations Methods: Multidisciplinary training and research methodology with quantitative and qualitative research methods will be used. Validated mental health culture promotion methods with new programs for the specific sectors. Expected impact • Significant less sickness absence and suicides • Benefit for the workers’ health including benefit for the company economy. • Policies developed for improved mental health culture based on the research. • The training programs are ready to be continued at the end of the project.

Yaws is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as 1 of the 20 Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs), a group of communicable diseases that have subsisted in tropical and subtropical environments, and that affect people living in poor and marginalized societies [1]. Yaws also form part of a group of chronic bacterial infections, commonly known as the endemic trepanomatoses. These diseases are caused by a spiral bacteria of the genus Treponema, which also includes bejel and pinta, being yaws the most common [2]. Like syphilis, yaws have been described in three stages; primary stage characterized by granulomatous skin lesions, secondary stage by generalized spread, and tertiary stage by chronic destructive disease of skin, cartilages and bones [3].

We report an interesting case of a 21 year old male who presented with recurrent mucoepidermoid carcinoma of parotid with facial nerve involvement as facial tics. Intraoperatively, the tumour was noted to be firm, irregular and adherent to the underlying structures. The patient underwent extended total parotidectomy, division of buccal branch of facial nerve, selective neck dissection with cervical local rotational flap repair and post-operative radiotherapy. This presentation of Mucoepidermoid carcinoma with involvement of facial nerve as facial tics is one of the rare unique reported cases.

Background: Glaucoma is a multi-factorial optic neuropathy characterized by a loss of retinal ganglion cells with subsequent loss of the retinal nerve fibers ultimately resulting in visual impairment. The macula region has a high density of retinal ganglion cells thereby being a likely region to detect early cell loss .Since glaucoma affects mainly the inner layers of the retina, Ganglion Cell Complex (GCC) mapping can help to detect glaucomatous damage early as compared to the total retinal thickness. Purpose: To map GCC thickness and average Macular Retinal (MR) thickness with high-speed Fourier-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (FD-OCT) and correlate it with the Retinal Nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in preperimetric glaucoma. Design: Observational cross-sectional study. Methods: Forty four eyes diagnosed as preperimetric glaucoma were studied. GCC, MR thickness and RNFL thickness was mapped using the RTVue FD-OCT system. The GCC thickness map, the deviation map and the significance map were obtained in all cases. Average GCC thickness and MR thickness were correlated with the RNFL thickness. Results: Average GCC of patients was 85.99±6.9 µm. There was GCC loss in 35 (87.5%) eyes which correlated well with areas of RNFL loss (r=0.408, p<0.001). Nine (22.5%) eyes were seen to have decreased MR thickness. GCC loss correlated well with the loss of average RNFL thickness and MR thickness. Further GCC loss was also seen in 23 (74.19 %) eyes with a normal MR thickness. Conclusion: GCC analysis may prove to be a robust diagnostic parameter and is complementary to RNFL analysis in preperimetric glaucoma.

Between 2013 and 2016 the main tasks for the German public health care departments were mainly related to medical support in terms of the management of outbreaks of infectious diseases, physical examinations of children and adults to exclude tuberculosis ore other infectious diseases, the administration of vaccinations and medical acute care.

Introduction: Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF) is a rapidly progressing, severe suppurative infection of the superficial fascia and the sorrounding tissues that may lead to necrosis, septic shock and death if left untreated. Facial NF is rarely seen and symptoms may be non-specific at the onset and depend on the origin site and the stage of the disease, making it difficult for diagnosis. Materials and Methods: A systematic review was done following the PRISMA guidance. PubMed database was searched for case reports published between January 2007 and March 2017. Full text articles were obtained and assesed for relevance. Data extraction was performed as an iterative process. Results: A total of 24 articles, describing 29 adult patients with facial NF were included. Facial NF was more common in males. Skin trauma was the most frequent mechanism of lesion and diabetes mellitus was the most common associated systemic disorder. Periorbital area was the most affected area. In order of appereance, swelling and pain were the most common initial clinical manifestations. Group A Streptococcus was the most frequent microorganism isolated. Advanced airway management was needed in more than 50% of the cases and surgical management was done in 90% of the cases. Conclusions: Practitioners should be aware of its existance, epidemiology, etiology, risk factors and initial clinical manifestations to develop a high index of suspicion, to order studies that may discard or confirm the diagnosis, and to offer prompt treatment to preserve patient’s life and reduce the disfigurement and disability that it may cause.

Purpose • To assess the short term effects of intravitreal Lucentis (IVTL) on intraocular pressure in patients with ocular hypertension and glaucoma • To determine rate of anterior chamber paracentesis (ACP) required post-injection according to departmental protocol Methods This was a prospective, observational study carried out between August 2011 and February 2012 in the Department of Ophthalmology, Maidstone Hospital. 24 participants (13 female, 11 male) with established ocular hypertension (OHT) or glaucoma were chosen from a cohort of patients receiving intravitreal (IVTL) Ranibizumab (Lucentis) treatment for wet age related macular degeneration (wARMD). Apraclonidine 1% was given pre-injection, and baseline IOP was measured 30 min. after this, just before IVTL. IOP was measured at baseline, within 1 min of injection, 5 min, 15 min, 30 min up to 60min following a single IVTL treatment. Anterior paracentesis was performed if: • Immediate post injection IOP > 50mm Hg and OHT • Immediate post injection IOP > 40 mm Hg and there was evidence of disc damage only • Immediate post injection IOP > 30mm Hg with evidence of disc damage and visual field loss Results 79.2% had diagnosed disc damage and visual field loss (glaucoma); 12.5% had disc damage only (pre-perimetric glaucoma), whereas the remaining 8.3% had no evidence of disc damage or visual field loss i.e. ocular hypertension (OHT). Administration of Apraclonidine 1% prior to IVTL did not cause a statistically significant IOP reduction in patients with OHT and glaucoma (paired Student’s t-test P = 0.368). Immediately post injection, mean IOP was 41.54mm Hg (SD 14.1, 95% CI 37.20 to 45.88; Paired T test results P <0.0001,) which confirmed a statistically significant difference between baseline and immediate post injection IOP. 13 out of 24 (58%) of the study patients required anterior chamber paracentesis (ACP) post IVTL according to our devised protocol. There was no statistically significant difference in baseline IOP between the paracentesis and non-paracentesis groups (p=0.4). The presence of a bleb post injection had no statistically significant bearing on immediate post intravitreal IOP (p=0.3). ACP performed at 1min restored IOP to a safer level at 5min in all cases thus treated. Conclusions IVTL appears to cause a significant but transient rise in IOP which is reduced after a mean time of 5 minutes. Although the clinical significance of this IOP spike is still unknown, extreme care must be taken in patients with ocular hypertension and glaucoma particularly those with established disc damage and visual field loss. Apraclonidine 1% appears to have a limited role in the prophylactic lowering of IOP pre-injection. The authors propose the use of the formulated anterior chamber paracentesis protocol for IOP management in patients with OHT and glaucoma receiving intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment.