No abstract

The ocular surface significantly contributed to the transmission of microbes into the eye during cataract surgery. These microbes could not be eradicated by topical preoperative antibiotics. However, no patient developed postoperative endophthalmitis. Natural defense mechanisms appear to fend off a minor inoculum with these microbes of relatively low pathogenicity.

The incidence of acute closed-angle glaucoma was studied in 1796 patients derived from the hospital discharge registry of Finland for the years 1973-1982 (469 males and 1327 females). The average incidence was 3.8 cases/100,000 per year. The incidence showed a steep rise with age. The highest incidence was observed in both sexes in the group 80 years of age and older. The incidence was higher (Chi-square 7.81, df = 1, P less than 0.01) among women (5.3/100,000 per year) than among men (2.0/100,000 per year). The age-adjusted incidence for the whole period of 1973-1982 showed no statistically significant rise. The seasonal variation of incidence was statistically significant (P less than 0.001). In winter (December, January, February) and in autumn (September, October, November) the incidences were higher compared to spring (March, April, May) and summer (June, July, August). This association was greater (P less than 0.001) among females than among males (P less than 0.05). Mean sunshine hours showed a reverse association with the incidence of acute glaucoma. The association was statistically significant when both sexes were pooled together (P less than 0.001). There was no sex interaction with regard to the association of incidence of acute glaucoma and mean sunshine hours.

Study objective-The aim was to examine a possible association of amount of sunshine and risk for acute closed angle glaucoma.Design-This was a retrospective analysis of hospital discharge registry data, linked to meteorological data for the same period.Setting-The study was a national survey using hospital discharge data for the whole of Finland over a 10 year period.Participants-All subjects with the acute closed angle glaucoma diagnosis from the hospital discharge registry were collected for the years 1972 to 1982. A total of 1796 patients were found.Measurements and main resultsMeteorological data from two cities in Finland, Helsinki and Oulu, were collected for the same years from the Finnish Meteorological Institute. A peak incidence of acute closed angle glaucoma was noted whenever the number of hours without sunshine increased. A regression analysis including incidence of acute closed angle glaucoma as a dependent variable, and sex, mean temperature, mean air pressure, mean humidity, total amount of rain per month, and mean sunshine hours as independent variables, was constructed. Sex and sunshine hours best explained the variation in incidence in a covariate model. No other meteorological variate could improve the model fit.Conclusions-The result confirms that the number of hours without sunshine is positively associated with the incidence of acute closed angle glaucoma, when other meteorological variables are controlled for.

Recent reports concerning the incidence of choroidal and ciliary body melanomas have raised a suspicion of an increase of this malignancy in the developed countries. The rapid rise in the incidence of melanoma of the skin is well known. This study covers the incidence of choroidal and ciliary body melanomas in Finland over the years 1973-1980. A total of 382 cases of intraocular malignant tumours were reported to the Finnish Cancer Registry. 285 choroidal and ciliary body melanomas were found. The age-specific incidences showed a steep rise from the age of 30 to the age of 70. The peak incidence was in the age-group 70 and over. There was only one case, a girl 12 of age, in the age-group 15 years and younger. The age adjusted incidences showed no significant increase during the study period. The age-specific incidence showed no significant difference compared to a previous study. Sex, laterality or latitude were not found to be risk factors.