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Background: the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) has increased substantially during the last years, possibly due to a significant proportion of prescriptions that do not follow the approved indications., Objective: to assess the prevalence of PPI prescription and the appropriateness of the prescription within the Emergency Department (ED) of a Spanish university hospital., Materials and Methods: a cross-sectional, retrospective prescription-indication drug-use study was performed, which selected 384 patients that presented to the ED over two days in January 2016., Results: of the total cohort, 23.2% were taking PPI before their hospital visit and only 20.2% had a correct indication and dosage; 2.9% of the patient cohort had an indication for PPI treatment but had not been prescribed them. A drug other than omeprazole was used in 25% of cases; 30.47% of the patients were discharged with a PPI and only 28.2% of them had the correct indication and dosage. Finally, 5.7% were not prescribed PPI even though it was warranted. PPI prescription increased with age whereas the indication for the prescription decreased. Furthermore, the use of these drugs was higher in hospitalized patients compared to discharged patients., Conclusions: these results are in line with similar studies, which demonstrate the existence of an over-prescription of PPI. PPI prescription needs to be improved, thereby reducing drug interactions, adverse effects and unnecessary economical expenses.

Purpose: To evaluate efficacy and reliability of local intra-arterial fibrinolysis (LIF) in Retinal Central Artery Occlusion (RCAO)., Material and Method: We have studied 12 patients with RCAO. Seven patients (group I) were treated with conventional therapy and 5 patients (group II) underwent treatment with urokinase via transcutaneous femoral catheter into the ophthalmic artery. Thereafter patients received heparin sulfate for 3 days., Results: Mean follow up was 14 months and mean time from onset of symptoms to the beginning of therapy was 11 hours. One patient in group I showed improvement of visual acuity (from counting fingers to 0.1). In all patients in group II there was angiographic evidence of improved perfusion of retinal arteries and 4 patients (80%) showed improvement in visual acuity. The best results were obtained when LIF was performed before 10 hours after onset of symptoms. No complications were observed after the fibrinolysis treatment., Conclusion: LIF in ophtalmic arteries for the treatment of RCAO reduces dosage of fibrinolytic agents and becomes a safe and useful treatment during the first hours post RCAO.

Purpose: To investigate the demographic characteristics, clinical findings and long-term outcome of central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC)., Methods: This study examined retrospectively the clinical stories and fluorescein angiographies of 113 patients with CSC and a minimum follow-up of 12 months., Results: A total of 113 patients was examined; 90 were men and 23 women. Bilateral involvement was found in 13 cases. In 85.7% of the eyes (Group I) resolution was completed in months and mean final visual acuity (VA) was 79.3/100, while 14.3% of the eyes (Group II) showed a chronic evolution, with diffuse retinal pigment epithelipathy and mean final VA of 47.2/100. The mean age of the patients in Group II was significantly higher; male:female ratio was also higher in this Group. Bilateral involvement occurred in 6% of patients from Group I and in 46.6% in Group II., Conclusions: Chronic CSC affected less than 15% of the patients. Mean age in this group of patients was higher than in patients with a classic CSC, most of the cases were men, bilateral involvement was present in nearly 50% of the cases and 50% of them suffered a significant visual permanent impairment.