AC/A ratios in myopic and emmetropic Hong Kong children and the effect of timolol§

Purpose: Caucasian children with myopia have elevated response accommodative vergence to accommodation (AC/A) ratios. The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine if response AC/A ratios vary with refractive error and with myopic progression rate in Hong Kong Chinese children, and to determine the effect of beta‐adrenergic antagonism with topical timolol application on AC/A ratios. Methods: Thirty children aged eight to 12 years participated in the study. All refractive errors were corrected with spectacle lenses. Accommodative responses were measured using a Shin‐Nippon autorefractor and concurrent changes in vergence were assessed using a vertical prism and a Howell‐Dwyer card at three metres and 0.33 metre. Accommodative demand was altered using plus or minus two dioptre lenses and lens‐ and distance‐induced response AC/A ratios were calculated. Measurements were repeated 30 minutes after the instillation of topical timolol maleate (0.5 per cent). Results: AC/A ratios appeared higher in progressing myopic children but the difference was not statistically significant. Timolol application reduced accommodative convergence (AC) in the stable myopes (reduction = ‐3 ± 1.14^A) but not in the emmetropes (0.69 ± 0.9^P) or progressing myopes (0.16 ± 0.43^A) and this difference between refractive groups was statistically s ignificant (F^2,27= 3.766; P= 0.036). However, timolol did not produce a significant change in the accommodative response to positive or negative lenses or response AC/A ratios. Conclusions: We did not find that AC/A ratios in myopic Chinese children were elevated and therefore, it is unlikely that elevated AC/A ratios are responsible for the high levels of myopia that occur in Hong Kong. The finding that timolol reduced AC in the stable myopes suggests that the autonomic control of accommodative convergence in these children may be different from that in emmetropic children and those with progressing myopia.     

Cefazolin plus ceftazidime versus imipenem/cilastatin monotherapy for treatment of CAPD peritonitis--a randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Peritonitis is a serious complication of peritoneal dialysis (PD). We studied the efficacy of imipenem/cilastatin monotherapy in the treatment of PD-related peritonitis. METHODS: We performed an open-label, randomized control study comparing imipenem/cilastatin monotherapy (treatment group) versus cefazolin plus ceftazidime (control group) in the treatment of PD peritonitis. The result was further compared to a historic group treated with cefazolin plus netilmycin. Outcome measures were primary response rate at day 10 and complete cure rate. RESULTS: We enrolled 51 patients in the treatment group, 51 in the control group, and identified 96 in the historic group. The primary response rate to the assigned antibiotics was 49.0%, 51.0%, and 49.0% for the treatment, control, and historic groups, respectively (p = 0.97). The primary response rate allowing for change in antibiotic was 82.4%, 90.2%, and 82.3%, respectively, for the three groups (p = 0.41). The complete cure rate was 72.5%, 80.4%, and 82.3%, respectively (p = 0.60). Tenckhoff catheter removal was needed in 6 cases in the treatment group, 6 cases in the control group, and 13 cases in the historic group (p = 0.90). CONCLUSIONS: We concluded that monotherapy of imipenem/cilastatin has similar efficacy compared to the two standard regimens of cefazolin plus ceftazidime or netilmycin in the treatment of PD peritonitis.     

Post-streptococcal glomerulonephritis in Hong Kong.

Of 74 paediatric inpatients with acute glomerulonephritis, 58 (78%) had a raised (greater than 1/200) antistreptolysin O titre. Serum C3 concentration was low in 73, but returned to normal within six weeks. Streptococcal infection remains the commonest cause of acute nephritis in children in Hong Kong, possibly due to overcrowded living conditions.     

Rupture of the gravid uterus

Seventeen cases of uterine rupture in late pregnancy managed over an eight-year period in one hospital in Hong Kong were analysed. Labour was associated with rupture in 16 cases, including ten with one or more previous caesarean section scars. Rupture occurring in an unscarred uterus was associated with high fetal losses and all required hysterectomy. All of these patients had at least one previous vaginal delivery, in contrast to the patients with a scarred uterus. Labour should be closely monitored in multiparous patients with or without a uterine scar, and oxytocics should be used carefully. Patients with previous sections who are scheduled for repeat elective sections should be delivered before 39 weeks.     

The interleukin-5 messenger RNA expression in a patient with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome

Interleukin-5 has a specific role in various eosinophilic activities. It is the predominant cytokine produces by activated T-lymphocytes isolated from patients with idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome. We studied a young patient suffering from idiopathic hypereosinophilic syndrome who presented with Horner's syndrome, peripheral neuropathy and skin ulcers. The IL-5 gene expression by CD4⁺ T-lymphocytes and the peripheral eosinophil count were raised. The skin ulcers continued to deteriorate despite a swift reduction of the IL-5 gene expression and peripheral eosinophil count following systemic corticosteroid treatment. We suggest that peripheral eosinophilia may not be responsible for the damage in skin lesions and more aggressive treatment may be required.     

Liver transplantation for chronic hepatitis B with lamivudine-resistant YMDD mutant using add-on adefovir dipivoxil plus lamivudine.

Lamivudine treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection may improve clinical state and suppress viral replication before liver transplantation. Emergence of lamivudine-resistant YMDD mutant is common. We report the results of liver transplantation in 16 patients with pretransplantation YMDD mutants after receiving lamivudine treatment for a median of 738 days (range, 400-1799 days). Adefovir dipivoxil (10 mg daily) was added on to lamivudine for a median of 20 days (range, 8-271 days) before (n = 11) or at (n = 5) liver transplantation, and the combination was continued indefinitely thereafter. Eight patients received additional intravenous hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIG) for a median of 24 months. Fifteen patients with known pre-adefovir HBV DNA levels had a median titer of 14,200 x 10(3) copies/mL (2 x 10(3) to 4,690,000 x 10(3) copies/mL), and 14 had HBV DNA >10(5) copies/mL. All but 1 patient remained positive for HBV DNA (by quantitative polymerase chain reaction [qPCR]) at the time of liver transplantation, and the titer was greater than10(5) copies/mL in 8 patients. The median follow-up after liver transplantation was 21.1 (range, 4.4-68.9) months. One patient (6%) died of an unrelated cause 12.2 months after transplantation, and 15 patients (94%) were alive with the original graft. All patients cleared HBV DNA and had no detectable HBV DNA by qPCR at the latest follow-up. Fourteen patients had cleared hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), but 2 patients who received only adefovir dipivoxil and lamivudine without HBIG remained HBsAg positive after 7.7 and 9.5 months. Serum HBV DNA, however, was negative, and there was no biochemical or histological evidence of recurrence. Adefovir dipivoxil was well tolerated with no significant renal toxicity. In conclusion, a combination of add-on adefovir dipivoxil plus lamivudine therapy provides effective prophylaxis in patients with pretransplantation YMDD mutant that may be actively replicating. The cost effectiveness of additional passive immunoprophylaxis remains to be defined.