No abstract

To report the occurrence of diplopia and symblepharon following conjunctival Muellerectomy for ptosis repair in 3 patients under chronic antiglaucoma treatment. In this retrospective observational case series, 3 patients were identified who were being treated chronically with multiple antiglaucoma agents and concurrently underwent Mueller's muscle conjunctival resection (MMCR) for the management of ptosis. These patients developed conjunctival scarring and symblepharon extending from the operative site to the bulbar conjunctiva postoperatively. All 3 patients reported diplopia after surgery. Two of the patients were treated with prismatic correction and one underwent surgical correction. All patients were closely monitored postoperatively and 1 out of the 3 required symblepharon lysis and mucous membrane graft for ocular surface reconstruction with a consequent improvement in symptoms. Long-term use of topical antiglaucoma medications may alter the integrity of the conjunctiva, rendering conjunctival procedures more prone to postoperative scarring. In patients treated with multiple antiglaucoma medications who are in need of ptosis repair surgery, consideration should be given to an external approach to avoid the potential for postoperative symblepharon and diplopia.

In avian species, circannual rhythms, in a number of biological variables, including locomotor activity, have been studied under both laboratory and natural environmental conditions. However, information on circannual rhythm in daily activity duration of Indian cliff swallow (Hirundo fluvicola) is not available. It is a communal mud nesting, non-migratory species and inhabits low under arch bridges. Although it figures in the IUCN Red List under the least concerned category, it is important to study its behavioral ecology that may be of utmost importance from conservation stand point. In the present investigation, we examined the circannual rhythm in daily activity duration in this species at a communal roosting site under Kharoon river bridge on the Raipur-Bhilai highway (21°15′07.54′′N; 81°32′30.65′′E), Raipur, India, for eight consecutive days, every month from August 2009 to October 2011. On each study day, observations were made in two sessions, morning and evening. We monitored and recorded emergence time of the first bird from the nest in the morning and entry time of the last bird to the nest in the evening. We also recorded the ambient temperature and humidity of the study site simultaneously. Average daily activity duration (the time difference between the first bird's emergence time and the last bird's entry time from/to the nest, respectively) was computed for each month. A significant circannual rhythm in activity duration was validated. The peak of activity rhythm occurred on 22nd June with a spread between 19th June and 25th June. The activity duration was the shortest in winter and the longest in summer. The daily activity duration was positively correlated to the day length, sunset time, and morning and evening temperatures; whereas negatively correlated with the sunrise time, and morning and evening humidity. The multiple linear regression models suggest that day length alone explains 96% of the total variance in activity duration, whereas only 0.5% variance was attributable to evening temperature. We conclude that the day length is the strongest predictor of circannual variation in daily activity duration of the colony of Indian cliff swallow; whereas the evening temperature has very little effect. Further, we recommend that comparable studies under natural conditions might be very helpful to explore the effect of environmental cues on other intriguing behavioral decisions made by this and other avian species.