The treatment of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) remains controversial regarding the use of local, systemic, or combined treatments. The aim of this study was to analyze the efficacy and toxicity of intravenous high‐dose methotrexate (IV HD‐MTX) based systemic therapy in a uniformly treated population of PVRL patients. From a nationwide French database, we retrospectively selected 59 patients (median age: 70 years, median Karnofsky Performance Status: 90%) with isolated PVRL at diagnosis who received first‐line treatment with HD‐MTX between 2011 and 2018. 8/59 patients also received a local treatment. No deaths or premature discontinuations of MTX due to toxicity were reported. A complete response was obtained in 40/57 patients after chemotherapy. Before treatment, IL‐10 was elevated in the aqueous humor (AH) or in the vitreous in 89% of patients. After treatment, AH IL‐10 was undetectable in 87% of patients with a CR/uCR/PR and detectable in 92% of patients with PD/SD. After a median follow‐up of 61 months, 42/59 (71%) patients had relapsed, including 29 isolated ocular relapses as the first relapse and a total of 22 brain relapses. The median overall survival, progression‐free survival, ocular‐free survival and brain‐free survival were 75, 18, 29 and 73 months, respectively. IV HD‐MTX based systemic therapy as a first‐line treatment for isolated PVRL is feasible, with acceptable toxicity, even in an elderly population. This strategy seems efficient to prevent brain relapse with prolonged overall survival. However, the ocular relapse rate remains high. New approaches are needed to improve local control of this disease, and ocular assessment could be completed by monitoring AH IL‐10.
BackgroundDolosigranulum pigrum is a commensal inhabitant of the upper respiratory tract suspected to be responsible for ocular infections but no well-described case of D. pigrum corneal infection has been reported. Herein culture and PCR-sequencing-based investigations of corneal scraping specimens confirmed D. pigrum keratitis in three patients.Case presentationThree elderly patients presented with unilateral keratitis. None was a corneal-contact lens wearer, one had previous cataract surgery and another suffered rheumatoid arthritis sicca syndrome. Culturing the corneal scraping specimen was positive for two cases and PCR-sequencing of bacterial 16S rDNA in the presence of negative controls identified D. pigrum in three cases. The two D. pigrum isolates were in-vitro susceptible to penicillin G, amoxicillin, doxycycline, rifampicin and gentamicin. In all cases, surgical treatment of corneal thinning was necessary, but corneal perforation occurred in two cases despite intensive antimicrobial treatment with ticarcillin, gentamicin and vancomycin or levofloxacin eye drops leading to enucleation in one case.ConclusionsD. pigrum is the likely cause of corneal infection in three patients, with effective antibiotic treatment in two patients.
APOLLON (NCT02924311) was a prospective observational study to evaluate the effectiveness of intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) over 24 months in routine clinical practice in France. The primary endpoint was mean change from baseline in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA; Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study letters) by 12 months, and safety was monitored throughout the study. Of 402 patients enrolled across 61 participating clinics and hospitals in France, 168 patients were followed for at least 24 months and included in the effectiveness analyses (79 treatment-naïve and 89 previously treated). After 24 months of IVT-AFL treatment, the mean (± standard deviation [SD]) change in BCVA from baseline was + 6.5 (± 10.7) letters in treatment-naïve patients (p < 0.001) and + 1.6 (± 17.0) letters in previously treated patients (p = 0.415) from a baseline of 63.8 (± 13.6) and 60.5 (± 16.5) letters. The mean number of IVT-AFL treatments over 24 months was 11.3 (± 4.9) and 11.9 (± 4.7) for treatment-naïve and previously treated patients. This final analysis of the APOLLON study indicated that following 24 months of IVT-AFL treatment in routine clinical practice in France, treatment-naïve patients with DME achieved significant gains in visual acuity and previously treated patients maintained prior visual acuity gains.Trial registration number: NCT02924311.
Purpose: We report a case of unilateral exudative retinal detachment in a patient with thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP), without associated hypertension, successfully treated with plasmapheresis. Case Report: A 46-year-old woman with a medical history of TTP presented with unilateral exudative retinal detachment. Biological and radiological assessment eliminated other causes of exudative retinal detachment, including hypertension. Plasma exchange was performed, followed by a rapid improvement in visual acuity and total disappearance of serous detachment. Conclusion: Exudative unilateral retinal detachment is a rare complication of TTP and can be successfully treated by plasma exchange.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.