Nature and incidence of severe limbal stem cell deficiency in Australia and New Zealand
Autor: | Stephanie L Watson, Charles N J McGhee, Nick Di Girolamo, Samantha Bobba, Richard A. Mills, Geoffrey J Crawford, Mark Daniell, Damien G. Harkin, Elsie Chan, Brendan G. Cronin |
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Rok vydání: | 2016 |
Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
Response rate (survey) medicine.medical_specialty Pediatrics Visual acuity business.industry Incidence (epidemiology) eye diseases Transplantation Contact lens 03 medical and health sciences Ophthalmology 030104 developmental biology 0302 clinical medicine Epidemiology Severity of illness 030221 ophthalmology & optometry medicine Young adult medicine.symptom business |
Zdroj: | Clinical & Experimental Ophthalmology. 45:174-181 |
ISSN: | 1442-6404 |
Popis: | Background This study aimed to determine the nature and incidence of severe limbal stem cell deficiency in Australia and New Zealand. Design A one-year pilot surveillance study with a one-year follow-up period was conducted in association with the Australian and New Zealand Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit. Participants The study included patients reported by practising ophthalmologists on the Surveillance Unit's database. Methods Ophthalmologists were provided with a definition of severe limbal stem cell deficiency, contacted on a monthly basis by the Unit and asked to report newly diagnosed cases. Main Outcome Measures Severe LSCD was defined as at least 6 clock hours of whorl-like epitheliopathy, an opaque epithelium arising from the limbus, late fluorescein staining of the involved epithelium, and superficial corneal neovascularisation or conjunctivalisation. Results On average, 286 report cards were sent by the Surveillance Unit to practising ophthalmologists each month (total 3429 over 12 months) and the Unit received an average of 176 responses per month (total 2111; 62% response rate). During the 1-year study period from April 2013-March 2014, 14 positive cases were reported to the Unit. A range of underlying aetiologies were implicated, with contact lens over-wear and cicatrising conjunctivitis being the most common (n = 3). Conclusions This surveillance study is the first worldwide to document the incidence of limbal stem cell deficiency, however due to study design limitations, it is likely to have been under-reported. It provides novel data on the demographics, clinical conditions and management of patients with limbal stem cell deficiency as reported by treating ophthalmologists. |
Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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