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Background and Aim: Cat-scratch disease (CSD) is a systemic bacterial infection caused by Bartonella henselae . The disease is typically characterized by regional lymphadenopathy developing after scratches from domestic or feral cats. Rarely, systemic involvement may be observed. The co-occurrence with glomerulonephritis and positive antinuclear antibody (ANA) tests have been reported before. In these cases, the disease can be misdiagnosed as systemic lupus erythematosus. Ocular involvement occurs in 5%-10% of the cases with CSD, and neuroretinitis is among the common manifestations. Administration of corticosteroids (CSs) in addition to antibiotics has been shown to improve prognosis in neuroretinitis cases. However, the optimal dose and duration, remain ill-defined., Case Report: In this article, we present an 11-year-old girl with CSD and neuroretinitis with a positive ANA test and hematuria, who benefited from high-dose methyl-prednisolone and antibiotics., Conclusion: Further research is warranted in order to determine the dose and duration of CSs in the treatment of Bartonella neuroretinitis., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome (VKH) is a multisystem disorder, characterized by the T-cell-mediated autoimmune process directed against melanocytic antigens in the ocular, nervous, auditory and integumentary systems. The ocular hallmarks of the disease involve severe bilateral panuveitis associated with exudative retinal detachment., Case Report: We report a pediatric case of probable VKH Syndrome with isolated ocular findings, in which bilateral vitritis, papillitis and serous retinal detachments involving the macula with intra-retinal edema and choroideal thickening were detected., Intervention: Subtenon triamcinolone acetonide injection was performed in addition to systemic corticosteroid and cyclosporine treatments. Evolution Prompt improvement was seen in the ocular manifestations of VKH syndrome, which persisted for at least 4 months. Subtenon corticosteroid injection, together with systemic corticosteroid and cytotoxic treatment, prevented the ocular complications of invasive intraocular treatment modalities, and at the same time reduced the systemic corticosteroid dosage., Conclusion: We recommend use of ocular invasive treatment modalities in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Syndrome only if the disease progression cannot be controlled. If systemic medications fail to stop the progression of the disease activity, subtenon injections may be considered before intraocular treatment modalities.

Background: The prevalence of Behçet's disease (BD) is much higher in countries along the ancient Silk Route, extending from Japan to Mediterranean countries including Turkey, than in northern Europe and the USA. Three previous epidemiologic surveys have been carried out in different regions of Turkey., Patients and Methods: This study investigated the cross-sectional prevalence of BD in individuals aged > 12 years in Istanbul, Turkey, in two stages. The first stage aimed to identify individuals with recurrent oral ulcers (ROUs) by visiting them in their homes, and the second stage aimed to further examine those with ROUs for the presence of other BD-related manifestations under hospital conditions. The sample size was determined to be 24,000 with an expected BD prevalence rate of 1/1000 and a sampling error of 4/10,000, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of 6-14/10,000. The number of individuals to be screened in each district was determined in proportion to the population of all districts in Istanbul., Results: The standard questionnaire was applied to a total of 23,986 individuals at their homes. A history of ROU was recorded in 2289 individuals (9.5%), and a previous diagnosis of BD was recorded in 47. The diagnosis of ROU was confirmed in 700, and the diagnosis of BD was established in 101 according to the International Study Group criteria. The prevalence rate of BD was estimated as 42/10,000 (95% CI, 34-51/10,000) in Istanbul, Turkey., Conclusions: This survey conducted in Istanbul, the largest cosmopolitan city in Turkey with immigrants from all over the country, has a larger sample size than other previous studies, and therefore the reported prevalence rate of BD has a more acceptable confidence interval. This study aids in the estimation of the prevalence of BD in Turkey, and supports previous findings that Turkey has the highest prevalence rate of the disease in the world.

We investigated the efficacy of a one-step hydrogen peroxide system by culturing soft contact lenses before and after exposure to the AOSEPT disinfection system. Sixteen of 38 soft contact lenses obtained from asymptomatic wearers showed microbial growth. Nine cultures were positive for Pseudomonas sp., four showed growth of Staphylococcus sp., two were positive for beta-hemolytic streptococci, and one culture was positive for Alcaligenes faecalis. A second culture of the contact lenses after hydrogen peroxide disinfection showed no growth in 12 of the 16 previous positive cultures. The rate of disinfection was 55% for Pseudomonas sp. and 100% for other bacteria.