Our findings suggest that young age, recurrent type of pterygia, and larger pterygial tissue are risk factors for pterygium recurrence after surgical excision. Hence, early excision of pterygium is recommended to decrease the recurrence rate.

The present study was undertaken to compare the pterygium recurrence rates after treatment with two different concentrations of topical bevacizumab in those who had undergone a primary pterygium excision. The 90 patients who underwent pterygium excision were enrolled in this prospective, placebo-controlled double-blinded interventional case series. The participants were randomly categorized into 3 groups each consisting of 30 subjects. 24 h after surgery, Group II and Group III received a total of 5 and 10 mg/mL dose of topical bevacizumab, respectively; whereas patients in Group I were administered only a placebo starting a day after surgery. Participants were instructed to instill their topical medicines 4 times a day for 1 week. The patients were examined for pterygium recurrence and complications at postoperative 1, 7, and 14 days as well as each month during the following year. Pterygia recurred in 14 patients (46.7 %) in Group I and in 4 patients (13.3 %) in Group II. No recurrence was observed in Group III during the follow-up period. The Kaplan-Meier survival analysis disclosed a significantly better outcome for those who had been treated with 10 mg/mL concentrations of bevacizumab (Mantel-Cox log rank analysis, P < 0.001). The mean recurrence time was not significantly different between Group I and Group II. No ocular or systemic complication developed till the end of follow-up. Thus, 10 mg/mL concentration of topical bevacizumab was more efficacious than 5 mg/mL dose in preventing pterygium recurrence.

Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) is an antimalarial drug used extensively in treatment of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. Retinal toxicity is the most important side effects of this drug. Even after the drug is discontinued, retinal degeneration from HCQ can continue to progress. Consequently, multiple ophthalmic screening tests have been developed to detect early retinopathy. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the value of central 2-10 perimetry method in early detection of retinal toxicity. This prospective cross-sectional investigation was carried out on 60 rheumatoid arthritis patients, who had been receiving HCQ for at least 6 months and still were on their medication (HCQ intake) at the time of enrollment. An ophthalmologist examined participants using direct and indirect ophthalmoscopy. Visual field testing with automated perimetry technique (central 2-10 perimetry with red target) was performed on all included subjects twice in 6 months interval: The first one at the time of enrollment and the second one 6 months later. Males and females did not show any significant difference in terms of age, duration of therapy, daily and cumulative HCQ dose, anterior or posterior segment abnormalities, hypertension, body mass index, and best corrected visual acuity. Anterior segment was abnormal in 9 individuals including 3 subjects with macular pigmentary changes, 4 individuals with cataract and 2 cases with dry eyes. Moreover, 12 subjects had retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) in their posterior segments. After 6 months, depressive changes appeared in 12 subjects. Additionally, HCQ therapy worsened significantly the perimetric results of 5 (55.6%) patients with abnormal anterior segment. A same trend was observed in perimetric results of 6 (50.0%) subjects with abnormal posterior segments (P=0.009). The daily dose of HCQ (P=0.035) as well as the cumulative dose of hydroxychloroquine (P=0.021) displayed statistically significant associations with perimetric results. Central 2-10 perimetry is a useful method for early detection of HCQ retinal toxicity, but more comprehensive studies, with larger sample size, longer-term follow-up and more precise techniques are mandatory to confirm HCQ retinal toxicity.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of corneal flap hinge position on dry eye after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Methods: In a prospective double-masked randomized controlled clinical trial, 212 consecutive eyes of 106 myopic patients underwent LASIK; in each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to the superior hinge and the other eye to the nasal hinge procedure. The patients were examined pre-operatively and 1 week, 1 month, 3 months and 6 months after surgery for visual acuity, fluorescein tear film breakup time and Schirmer’s baseline tear secretion test; a subjective evaluation of dry eye symptoms was accomplished by the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI^®) questionnaire at the 1-month, 3-month and 6-month postoperative visits. Results: Tear film breakup time was not significantly different with the nasal or superior hinge flap technique at the preoperative, 1-week, 1-month, 3-month and 6-month visits (p > 0.05 for all comparisons between two groups). No significant difference between the two groups was found for the amount of Schirmer’s baseline tear secretion test at pre- and postoperative visits (p > 0.05 for all comparisons between two groups). Subjective evaluation of symptoms also showed no significant difference at the 1-month, 3-month and 6-month postoperative visits. Conclusions: The nasal and superior hinge flap methods do not affect signs and symptoms of dry eye after LASIK. We recommend that selecting the hinge position should be done according to the surgeon’s preference and ease.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was reported in Wuhan, in late December 2019 and was became a pandemic health problem worldwide. In this review, the current evidence related to the ocular transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and its common manifestations was studied. According to this review, 7% to 69.4% of patients had at least an ocular symptom following COVID-19. Ocular symptom are bilateral or unilateral conjunctivitis, increased secretion, eye itching and foreign body sensation, epiphora, dry eye, conjunctival congestion, eye pink, conjunctival hyperemia, and chemosis. SARS-CoV-2 particles were found in tears and conjunctiva. Therefore, the transmission of COVID-19 by conjunctiva is possible. Then, it is essential to wear eye shield to protect against developing ocular involvement by COVID-19 because personal glasses and contact lenses cannot protect from COVID-19.