Purpose. To evaluate the corneal endothelial cell density and morphology in normal Egyptian eyes. Methods. In total, 568 healthy eyes of 568 Egyptian volunteers aged 20 to 85 years were examined using noncontact specular microscopy for the central corneal thickness (CCT), mean endothelial cell density (MCD), coefficient of variation (CV) in cell area, mean cell area (MCA), and hexagonal cell (Hex) percentage. Variables were compared between sexes and between different age groups. Results. The mean CCT, MCD, and MCA were 514.45 ± 43.04 μm, 2647.50 ± 382.62 cells/mm2, and 390.59 ± 149.94 μm2, respectively. MCD and MCA showed no significant differences between men and women (P=0.171 and 0.099, respectively), whereas CV (%) and Hex (%) showed significant differences (P=0.024 and 0.015, respectively). CCT (P=0.007, r = −0.113) and MCD (P<0.001, r = −0.357) exhibited a significant negative correlation with age, whereas CV (%) (P<0.001, r = 0.341) and MCA (P=0.008, r = 0.111) exhibited a significant positive correlation. The mean rate of endothelial cell loss from 20 to 85 years of age was 0.3% per year. Conclusions. Our results provide normative data for the corneal endothelium in healthy Egyptian eyes, thus increasing the knowledge base for corneal endothelial cell parameters in healthy Egyptian eyes. Furthermore, our findings can be used as baseline values for comparisons between Egyptian and other populations and for studies of the endothelial cell reserve and capacity for intraocular surgery and corneal transplantation.

Aim. To investigate corneal endothelial cell morphological in children with type 1 diabetes and to determine the systemic and local factors that contribute to these changes. Methods. One hundred sixty eyes of 80 children with type 1 diabetes and 80 eyes of 40 normal children as a control during the period from July 2015 to February 2016 underwent full clinical and ophthalmologic examination. We measured the central corneal thickness (CCT), endothelial cell density (ECD), ploymegathism, and pleomorphism using a noncontact specular microscope. Results. The mean age of the diabetic children was 8.22 ± 3.11 years. The mean duration of type 1 diabetes was 3.51 ± 2.23 years. The mean CCT was significantly higher: 537 ± 33.41 microns (right eye), in the diabetic group compared to the control group. The mean ECD in patients with type 1 diabetes was 3149.84 ± 343.75 cells/mm2 (right eye), and it was significantly lower than in the control group. Furthermore, pleomorphism was significantly lower 48.73 ± 5.43% (right eye), in the diabetic group compared to the control group. The mean polymegathism was significantly higher 37.96 ± 5.61% (right eye), in the diabetic group compared to the control group. All of these changes are significantly correlated only with the duration of diabetes. Conclusions. Diabetic children have thicker corneas, lower ECD, an increased polymegathism, and a decreased pleomorphism. The duration of diabetes is the factor that affects all of these changes. To what extent these changes affect visional function on long term needs to be investigated in further studies.

Purpose To assess SARS-CoV-2 virus in conjunctival tears and secretions of positive confirmed COVID-19 patients. Methods A case series study that included 28 positive COVID-19 patients confirmed with nasopharyngeal swab in the period 18–28 May 2020 at Sohag Tropical Medicine Hospital. Tears and conjunctival secretions of these confirmed positive cases were collected with disposable sampling swabs at interval of 3 days after admission due to respiratory symptoms. They were examined for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR) assay. Results Thirteen (46.43%) patients were stable, 4 (14.28%) patients suffered from dyspnea, 3 (10.72%) patients suffered from high fever, 5 (17.85%) patients suffered from cough, and 3 (10.72%) patients were on mechanical ventilation. Ten (35.71%) patients suffered from conjunctivitis. Tear and conjunctival swabs were positive in 8 (28.57%) patients, while other patients’ swabs were negative (71.43%). Out of 10 patients with conjunctival manifestations, 3 patients had SARS-CoV-2 in their conjunctiva using (RT‐PCR) test. Out of the 18 patients with no conjunctival manifestations, 5 patients had positive SARS-CoV-2 in their conjunctiva using (RT‐PCR) test. Conclusion The SARS-CoV-2 virus could be found in tears and conjunctival secretions in SARS-CoV-2 patients with or without conjunctivitis.

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Purpose To evaluate the outcomes of femtosecond laser-assisted implantation of a 355-degree intracorneal ring (ICR) (Keraring) in patients with keratoconus in the three-year follow-up. Setting Future Femtolaser Center, Sohag, Egypt. Design Prospective interventional case series. Patients and Methods A prospective case series of 38 eyes of 26 patients with keratoconus had implantation of the 355-degree ICR keraring after tunnel creation with a femtosecond laser. The uncorrected visual acuities (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuities (BCVA), sphere, cylinder, and manifest refraction spherical equivalent (SE), and mean keratometry (K), K max, and K min were evaluated preoperatively and 3, 6, 12, 24, and 36 months postoperatively, and all complications were reported. Results 38 eyes of 26 patients with mean age 25.92 ± 5.44 years were enrolled in the study, 11 were males (42.3%). The mean UCVA improved from 0.93 ± 0.21 to 0.63 ± 0.21 logMAR (P ≤ 0.001) and the mean BCVA from 0.67 ± 0.22 to 0.43 ± 0.26 logMAR (P < 0.001). The mean sphere, cylinder, and spherical equivalent have been changed dramatically from preoperative to 3 month postoperative, which is statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001), and the changes between 1 and 2 years and 2 and 3 years are also considerable and statistically significant; the K max and K min and K mean improved and the changes were statistically significant (P ≤ 0.001), and the changes between one, two, and three years were also statistically significant. The safety and efficacy indices were changed through the three-year follow-up. The complications were corneal neovascularization (36.84%), corneal melting (26.3%), and ring extrusion (31.5%) at the end of the study. Conclusions Implantation of a 355-degree intracorneal keraring using femtosecond laser improved the visual, refractive, and topographic parameters in keratoconus patients, with a high rate of ICR extrusion and instability. The study has been registered for the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (http://www.pactr.org) database within No: PACTR201810796878908 on 29 October 2018.