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Aims: To evaluate the relationship between amplitude of accommodation and refractive errors in the peri-presbyopic age group. Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixteen right eyes of 316 consecutive patients in the age group 35-50 years who attended our outpatient clinic were studied. Emmetropes, hypermetropes and myopes with best-corrected visual acuity of 6/6 J1 in both eyes were included. The amplitude of accommodation (AA) was calculated by measuring the near point of accommodation (NPA). In patients with more than ± 2 diopter sphere correction for distance, the NPA was also measured using appropriate soft contact lenses. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in AA between myopes and hypermetropes ( P P P P P P >0.5). Conclusion: Our study showed higher amplitude of accommodation among myopes between 35 and 44 years compared to emmetropes and hypermetropes

Purpose: To compare the short-term efficacy and safety of topical latanoprost and brimonidine in Indian eyes. Materials and Methods: Twenty-eight patients with ocular hypertension, primary open-angle, pseudoexfoliation or pigmentary glaucoma were enrolled. Following baseline measurements, latanoprost was applied topically once daily in the evening for 12-weeks. After a washout period, brimonidine was applied twice daily in all patients for 6 weeks; 16 patients continued for 12 weeks. Patients were examined at 2, 6 and 12 weeks. The primary outcome measure was the difference in mean intra ocular pressure (IOP) reduction at 6 and 12 weeks. The mean diurnal variation of IOP at baseline and at 12 weeks was also compared. Results: Twenty-six of 28 enrolled patients completed the study. One randomly selected eye of each patient was used for analysis. At 6 weeks, the mean IOP reduction was 11.2 mm Hg (± 2.9 mmHg) with latanoprost and 6 mmHg (± 3.3 mmHg) with brimonidine. At 12 weeks this was 10.8 mmHg (± 2.8 mmHg) and 6.9 mmHg (± 3.1 mmHg) respectively. At 6 weeks 85.7% (24) eyes obtained more than 25% reduction in IOP with latanoprost compared to 13 (46.4%) with brimonidine. IOP reduction was maintained with both drugs throughout the study period. Two eyes did not show any response to brimonidine. Latanoprost reduced the diurnal variation of IOP from 5.10 to 2.90 mmHg; brimonidine reduced it from 4.70 to 3.90 mmHg. Conjunctival hyperaemia was present in one patient on latanoprost and three patients on brimonidine. Two patients experienced drowsiness with brimonidine. Neither drug produced side effects necessitating withdrawal from the study. Conclusion: In this short-term study, both latanoprost and brimonidine effectively reduced IOP and stabilised the diurnal curve in Indian eyes. Latanoprost was more effective than brimonidine.

Aim: To study the relationship between ocular parameters and amplitude of accommodation (AA) in the peri-presbyopic age group (35-50 years). Materials and Methods: Three hundred and sixteen right eyes of consecutive patients in the age group 35-50 years, who attended our outpatient clinic, were studied. Emmetropes, hypermetropes and myopes with best-corrected visual acuity of 20/20, J1 in both eyes were included. The AA was calculated by measuring the near point of accommodation. The axial length (AL), central anterior chamber depth (CACD) and lens thickness (LT) were also measured. Results: There was moderate correlation (Pearson′s correlation coefficient r = 0.56) between AL and AA as well as between CACD and AA (r = 0.53) in myopes in the age group 35-39 years. In the other age groups and the groups taken as a whole, there was no correlation. In hypermetropes and emmetropes, there was no correlation between AA and the above ocular parameters. No significant correlation existed between LT and AA across different age groups and refractive errors. Conclusion: There was no significant correlation between AA and ocular parameters like anterior chamber depth, AL and LT.

A letter to the editor is presented in response to the article "Correlation between ocular parameters and amplitude of accommodation," by Lekha Mary Abraham, Thomas Kuriakose, V. Sivanandam, N. Venkatesan, R. Thomas and J. Muliyil in a previous issue of the periodical and a response by Abraham and Kuriakose to the letter about their article is also presented.

Introduction: Ocular Pulse Amplitude (OPA) is the fluctuation of IOP with the cardiac cycle which is equal to the difference between systolic and diastolic IOP. These variations in IOP are thought to be caused by the blood volume that is pumped into the eye, mainly the choroidal bed during each cardiac cycle. In patients with end stage renal disease (ESRD), Choroidal perfusion has been found to be reduced as determined by Indocyanine Green Angiography (ICG) which is an invasive procedure. OPA is recorded by Dynamic Contour Tonometer (DCT) which represents a potential new technology for measuring choroidal blood flow indirectly & non-invasively especially in patients with suspected compromise in perfusion as in ESRD. In this study we postulate that measurement of OPA can be used to assess the choroidal perfusion inpatients with ESRD., Objectives: To measure OPA in non-diabetic patients with ESRD on hemodialysis and to compare it with that of OPA in age matched normal individuals., Materials & Methods: It was a prospective Cross-sectional study and was done in a clinical set up during the period of January 2013 to October 2013. OPA among 44exposed and 44 non exposed individuals were measured using Dynamic Contour Tonometry (DCT) and analysis done., Results: The mean OPA in non diabetic patients with ESRD was 1.945mm Hg (CI:1.847 - 2.043) and the mean OPA in age matched normals was 2.16mm Hg (CI: 2.08- 2.24)., Conclusion: OPA in non diabetic ESRD patients was statistically significantly lower than that of age matched normals (p=0.03). There was no correlation between OPA and other parameters like age, gender, intraocular pressure, blood pressure or serumcreatinine levels., (© NEPjOPH.)

Background: Smoking, both active and passive, creates a plethora of health-related problems, which primarily affect the cardiovascular and respiratory systems. There is very little evidence on the effects of tobacco smoke on the eye, especially regarding anterior ocular surface related pathology. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of smoking on the ocular surface and the tear film in smokers., Methods: A total of 51 (102 eyes) smokers and 50 (100 eyes) age-and gender-matched healthy non-smokers were included in this study. The ocular surface was evaluated by measuring tear film break-up time, surface staining with fluorescein, and corneal and conjunctival sensitivities, and by completing the Schirmer's II test. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 11.5. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant., Results: The smoker group had significantly lower tear film break-up time, and corneal and conjunctival sensitivity than the nonsmoker group. Punctate staining was significantly higher in the smoker group than the non-smoker group. There was no statistically significant difference in Schirmer's II test results between the smoker and non-smoker group., Conclusion: Smoking caused adverse effects on the precorneal tear film and there was strong association between smoking and tear film instability. Although a causative relationship could not be determined, there is a need for further longitudinal studies.