BackgroundThe aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of diabetic macular edema (DME) utilizing optical coherence tomography (OCT), and to clarify the effects of the systemic findings and risk factors on the development of DME.MethodsThis cross-sectional study was conducted in the departments of ophthalmology and endocrinology at the Dokuz Eylul University School of Medicine in Izmir, Turkey. The demographics, type and duration of diabetes mellitus, treatment modality, smoking and alcohol consumption habits, as well as the systemic blood pressure, renal functional tests, hemoglobulin A1c level, serum lipid profile, and 24-h urine albumin level were noted and statistically analyzed. The relationships between the systemic findings and DME were studied.ResultsFour-hundred and thirteen eyes of 413 diabetic patients who were examined between January 2011 and July 2012 were enrolled in this study. The prevalence of DME was 15.3% among the patients. The males exhibited DME significantly more frequently than the females (p = 0.031), and the duration of diabetes was significantly longer in those patients with DME (p < 0.001). Those patients without DME frequently used antihyperlipidemic drugs and had a higher level of high density lipoprotein cholesterol (p = 0.040 and p = 0.046, respectively). The patient’s alcohol consumption, nephropathy, neuropathy, previous cataract surgery, severity of diabetic retinopathy, and insulin usage were statistically significant factors with regard to the DME prevalence.ConclusionsThis study demonstrated the prevalence of DME in Turkey by utilizing OCT. The development of DME can be avoided or limited and the response to treatment may be improved by the regulation of the DME risk factors.

Clinically significant IOL tilt or decentration was rare after transscleral implantation. There were no differences in tilt or decentration between primary and secondary implantation.

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We investigated the efficacy of an eutectic mixture of local anesthetics (EMLA^®) in reducing the pain of a botulinum toxin injection into eyelids. 17 patients with facial dyskinesia (9 blepharospasm and 8 hemifacial spasm) who had been treated regularly with botulinum toxin injections received EMLA cream and placebo. The pain was assessed by the ophthalmologist and the patient. Injection with EMLA cream showed lower pain scores (mean 1.82 ± 2.13, median 1) than injection with placebo (8.76 ± 2.17; p = 0.0001). Percutaneous anesthesia induced by EMLA cream is an effective and safe method which improves the comfort in patients who need repeated botulinum toxin injections for their facial dyskinesia.

This observational study attempted to identify the effect of a natural disaster on the safety of blood supply and donor types with the influx of donors after a severe earthquake. Blood donation rate, blood discard rate and safety of blood donations responding to the earthquake, as projected from the infectious disease marker rate, were evaluated in blood donated immediately before (1 July-17 August) and after 17 August 1999 (17 August-21 August). These were compared with the results from the corresponding periods in 1998 and 2000 for donations at a university medical centre and two regional blood centres. 8055 units of allogeneic blood were collected at two regional blood centres, and 450 units were collected at a university medical centre during 4 days. Viral marker rates were nearly the same at the former but were slightly lower at the latter. The blood discard rate was nearly twice the comparative periods at the former, but it remained unchanged at the latter. Voluntary donors replaced the replacement donors during 4 days. This analysis highlights the size of the pool of potential donors that are available as a national resource that can be motivated to give blood with the right motivation.