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Aim: To report the parental feedback on the ′squint surgery fees′ of their ward in an urban private practice. Design: Prospective cohort study. Subjects and Methods: Three months after the surgery, a 10 item questionnaire was administered on the parents of the children who underwent a squint surgery. Multivariate analysis was performed. Results: The parents of 46 children were included. Thirty-three respondents were fathers. The educational status ranged from 6 th grade to postgraduates including doctors. Four respondents refused to disclose the income. The mean total and per capita monthly income of the families were 59,590/- INR (Indian Rupees) and 14,670/- INR, respectively. Thirteen parents found the surgical charges inappropriate. Concession was demanded when the total cost of surgery (28,417/- INR) exceeded the per capita income of the family (10,149/- INR) by three times. The most appropriate cost of the surgery adjudged by the parents was two times the per capita income. The "appropriateness of the fees" had no correlation with the outcome (P = 0.4). All the parents recommended heavy concession in the fees for the reoperations. The quality of the medical expertise was considered the most important determinant of the surgical fees. Of 18 children with mediclaim, 12 had rejection due to ′congenital′ nature of the disease. Two were considered "cosmetic". Conclusions: In a private practice, the parental feedback on fees is desirable to make surgical services demand sensitive. Clinician should avoid the term "congenital" in the medical records and loudly express, "restoration of binocular vision" as the indication of squint surgery in children.

Choroidal osteoma is an unusual form of intraocular calcification seen in otherwise healthy eyes. It is a benign idiopathic osseous tumor of the choroid, typically seen in young females. Choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) is a complication seen in one-third of these patients and carries a poor visual outcome. We report a case of a 25-year-old hyperthyroid female with choroidal osteoma and subfoveal CNVM in her left eye which was successfully treated using low-fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin followed by a single injection of intravitreal ranibizumab.

The aim of the study was to know the response of the relatives attending the squint surgery of their ward. A trained secretary administered an eight item questionnaire by live / telephonic interview. Of the 44 attendees, two left the Operation Theater before completion of the surgery. Mean age of the patients was 7.2 years ± 7.8 and that of the attendees was 36.1 years ± 8.5. Forty patients had a surgery under general anesthesia and four under local anesthesia. Eleven (25%) attendees experienced an increase in anxiety. Thirty-six (82%) attendees reported increased transparency, 38 (86%) reported increased confidence, and 43 (98%) reported increased awareness. None found any disadvantage. Twenty-seven (61%) recommended this practice for all and 16 (36%) recommended the practice selectively. The internal validity of the questionnaire was fair (Cronbach′s Alpha = 0.6). It was concluded that the presence of relatives in the Operation Theater during the surgery could bring in more transparency, accountability, confidence, awareness, and trust.

This is a rare case of persistent Horner′s syndrome following epidural anesthesia and Caesarean section. A 33-year-old female presented with persistent ptosis and miosis following epidural anesthesia and Caesarian section several months prior. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) of head, neck, and chest were unremarkable. Medline search using terms Horner′s, epidural, spinal anesthesia, delivery, childbirth, Caesarian, and pregnancy identified 31 articles describing Horner′s syndrome in obstetric epidural anesthesia, of which 11 were following Caesarean section. The increased incidence of Horner′s syndrome in the setting of epidural anesthesia in pregnancy may be related to epidural venous engorgement and cephalic spread of the local anaesthetic, with disruption in the oculosympathetic pathway. It is important to include recent epidural anesthesia within the differential diagnosis of acute Horner′s syndrome in a postpartum female. Rarely, the ptosis may be permanent and require surgical intervention.

Anterior megalophthalmos, a rare hereditary disorder, is macrocornea (horizontal corneal diameter more than 13 mm) in association with enlarged lens-iris diaphragm and ciliary ring. One of the major challenging issues in the cataract surgery of these patients is preventing intraocular lens (IOL) malposition, because of probable large capsular bag. Several approaches have been selected by previous surgeons, such as, custom-made anterior chamber IOLs. In this study, we show a normal capsular bag diameter despite ciliary ring enlargement, with application of ultrasound biomicroscopy (UMB). We suggest that in cases of anterior megalophthalmos without phacodonesis, UBM could measure the actual size of the capsular bag and obviate the need for further procedures.

Anterior segment infiltration in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) presenting as hypopyon uveitis is very rare. We report this case as an uncommon presentation in a patient on remission after bone marrow transplant for AML. In addition to the hypopyon, the patient presented with "red eye" caused by ocular surface disease due to concurrent graft-versus-host disease and glaucoma. The classical manifestations of masquerade syndrome due to AML were altered by concurrent pathologies. Media opacities further confounded the differential diagnosis. We highlight the investigations used to arrive at a definitive diagnosis. In uveitis, there is a need to maintain a high index of clinical suspicion, as early diagnosis in ocular malignancy can save sight and life.

A 55-year-old woman, with history of cataract surgery 1 year back, presented with features of ocular inflammation for last 3 months. She had no history of any other intraocular surgery. On examination, anterior segment showed frothy material in the inferior angle with moderate anterior chamber reaction (cells+/flare+) and sulcus intraocular lens with large posterior capsule rent. Fundoscopy showed multiple, small to medium-sized transparent bubbles of perfluorocarbon liquid (PFCL) with membranes in the vitreous cavity. Ultrasonography confirmed the presence of PFCL in the vitreous cavity. Pars plana vitrectomy with anterior chamber wash was done which led to good visual recovery. To conclude, retained PFCL can cause late onset fibrinous inflammation after a quiescent period but surgical intervention may lead to good visual outcome.

We report a rare case of keratoconus with granular dystrophy with a follow-up of two decades, documenting the sequential presentation of two diseases confirmed by histology and genetic studies. A 13-year-old boy was diagnosed in 1988 with keratoconus in both eyes (BE) based on slit-lamp biomicroscopy findings of corneal ectasia in BE accompanied by Fleischer′s ring, Vogt′s striae, a small, old, healed hydrops. The left eye (LE) had central corneal thinning and scar in the central area involving the mid and posterior stroma secondary to healed hydrops. Penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) was advised. The boy was lost to follow-up till 1991 and presented with white, dot-like opacities in the central cornea in the RE only, suggestive of granular corneal dystrophy. Similar findings of white, dot-like opacities were noted in the LE in 1995 and the patient subsequently underwent PKP in BE. Histopathology of corneal buttons confirmed the presence of patchy, crystal-like orange deposits, which stained bright red with Masson′s trichrome. Mutational analysis of the TGFBI gene in patient′s DNA revealed a heterozygous mutation corresponding to a change in Arg555Trp in the keratoepithelin protein. Granular dystrophy recurred after 8 years in the RE.

Cocaine is used to produce a euphoric effect by abusers, who may be unaware of the devastating systemic and ocular side effects of this drug. We describe the first known case of cilioretinal artery occlusion after intranasal cocaine abuse.