Our study represents a first step in understanding the possibilities of the MSC approach to treatment of alkali injuries of the cornea and shows that such an approach improves clinical outcomes and leads to better prognosis.

Preliminary data of four pediatric patients with moderate keratoconus show feasibility of treatment by CXL in these select patients with no intra- or postoperative complications over 3-year follow-up.

Introduction To compare the anatomical and functional outcome and changes in the quality of life (QoL) over time of the lateral tarsal strip (LTS) versus the Quickert everting sutures (ES) for the repair of primary involutional lower eyelid entropion. Methods Forty-five patients (54 eyes) with primary involutional lower eyelid entropion were recruited in a prospective randomized clinical trial over 3-year period. Twenty-six eyes were randomized to the LTS technique and 28 to the ES procedure. Primary outcome was the anatomical correction of the eyelid at the final assessment in 1 year. Secondary outcomes were function and symptoms assessment with a QoL questionnaire at 6 months. Fisher’s exact test was used for the statistical analysis of success rate and gender study and Mann–Whitney U test and logistic regression analysis were used for age study. The Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney U tests were used for the analysis of the National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire-25 (NEI VFQ-25). Results At the 6-month follow-up, 25 eyes (96.2%) of the LTS group and 20 (71.4%) of the ES group had favorable outcome ( P = 0.025). There were one and eight eyes, respectively, with early recurrence. At the final 12-month evaluation, 23 eyes (88.5%) in the LTS group and 16 eyes (57.1%) in the ES group were successful. Three (11.5%) and 12 (42.9%) eyes respectively showed postoperative recurrence. There was a statistically significant difference between the two groups ( P = 0.015) for the primary outcome, whereas age and gender did not influence success. The NEI VFQ-25 showed statistically significant subjective improvement from baseline in most categories of the QoL. No significant difference between the two procedures was detected at 6 months. Conclusion This study suggests that the LTS procedure has a superior surgical success rate and reduction of symptoms compared with the ES for the repair of involutional lower eyelid entropion. Both procedures showed similar improvement of the postoperative QoL. Trial registration International Clinical Trials Registry Platform identifier: ACTRN12616000620426.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common autoimmune disease. Ocular manifestations of this autoimmune disease vary and are mainly keratoconjunctivitis sicca, episcleritis, scleritis and keratitis. Their appearance, as well as their severity are related to RA chronicity and resistance to therapy. The treatment consists of corticosteroids, NSAIDs and cytotoxic drugs, depending on the type of ocular manifestations and the patient's response to treatment.

BackgroundOcular allergies affect a great part of the general population and often co exist with other allergic manifestations. In the present study, the prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis and the commonest allergens in allergic patients at an outpatient unit in Thessaloniki, Greece were evaluated.MethodsThis is a retrospective study regarding allergic patients who referred to an outpatient clinic between the 1st of January of 1996 and the 31st of December 2010. They completed relative questionnaires concerning their allergic condition. The patients who were included in our study had allergic conjunctivitis confirmed by ophthalmologists and were divided into 4 groups. The criteria used were the existence of allergic conjunctivitis alone or with other allergic co- morbidities. The patients then underwent skin prick tests after consent according to current guidelines.ResultsThe archives of 1239 allergic patients were evaluated and 497 patients (40,11%) who manifested eye allergic symptoms were included in our study. 448 patients (90.14%) had allergic conjunctivitis in conjunction with asthma or rhinitis or both. 370 patients underwent skin prick tests and 284 of them (124 males-160 females) were positive for at least 1 of the 8 tested allergens (76.75%). 166 were positive to a grass mix (58.45%), 130 to olea European (45.77%), 124 to dust mites mix (43.66%), 58 to cypress (20.42%), 71 to parietaria officinalis (25.00%), 67 to cat dander (23.59%), 35 to dog dander (12.32%) and 32 to Altenaria (11.26%).ConclusionsSymptoms of ocular allergy are very common in patients with allergic rhinitis and asthma. Men had slightly higher percentages of positive skin prick tests, except for dog dander and Altenaria. Conjunctivitis should not be overlooked as an allergic entity when evaluating allergic patients.