Objective: To determine the role of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking and positive family history of diabetes and hypertension in the development of diabetic retinopathy. Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted at the Department of Chemical Pathology, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Rawalpindi over 2 years period from June 2014 to June 2016. One hundred consecutive diabetic patients with no signs of diabetic retinopathy and good glycemic control (HbA1c<6.5%) were registered by non-probability convenient sampling after taking written informed consent. They were evaluated for hypertension, hyperlipidemia and smoking status. These patients were then followed 6 monthly for 2 years to look for the development of diabetic retinopathy. Results: The mean age of the patients was 50.72±9.29 years and there were 57 (57%) male and 43 (43%) female patients. Majority (82%) of the patients had NIDDM. The mean duration of diabetes was 8.31±6.83 years. 11% of the patients were smoker, 37% were hypertensive, 6% had hyperlipidaemia, 62% had family history of diabetes and 30% had family history of hypertension. At the end of follow-up, 9 (9.0%) patients had diabetic retinopathy. The frequency of diabetic retinopathy increased with increasing age of the patient; however, the difference was statistically insignificant. A comparatively higher frequency of diabetic retinopathy was also seen in patients with IDDM and those with positive family history of diabetes and hypertension yet again, the difference was statistically insignificant. Also, no significant difference was noted among male and female genders and smokers vs. non-smoker. However, the frequency of diabetic retinopathy increased significantly with increasing duration of diabetes. It was also higher among those with hypertension and hyperlipidemia. Conclusion: Higher patient age (≥50 years), increasing duration of diabetes (≥20 years), insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and positive family history of diabetes and hypertension were found to be associated with increased frequency of diabetic retinopathy. How to cite this:Anwar SB, Asif N, Naqvi SAH, Malik S. Evaluation of multiple risk factors involved in the development of Diabetic Retinopathy. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(1):---------. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.1.279 This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Objective:To determine the Efficacy of Corneal Crosslinkage (CXL), using Corneal Topography, in eyes with progressive Keratoconus.Methods:This randomized control trial was conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from October 2013 to April 2014. A total of 60 eyes of 30 patients were included who presented with bilateral progressive Keratoconus. Each eye of the patient was randomized either to a treatment group (Group-A) or control untreated group (Group-B) of 30 eyes each. A written informed consent was obtained from each patient, following which corneal crosslinkage (CXL) with topical riboflavin eye drops was performed. Follow up visit was done at three months post operatively, Corneal topography was repeated and recorded.Results:The mean age of the patients was 23.13±7.62 years (range 13 to 39 years). There were 26 males and 34 females patients. The mean simK value at the start of study was 50.94±4.84 diopters in Group-A and 49.73±5.24 diopters in Group-B. At three months follow-up, the mean simK value was significantly lower in Group-A (48.28±4.47) as compared to Group-B (51.11±4.85). Keratoconus improved/ remained stable in 34 (56.7%) eyes while progressive disease was noted in 26 (43.3%) eyes. When compared between the groups, the frequency of efficacy was significantly higher in Group-A (86.7% vs. 26.7%; p=.000) as compared to Group-B.Conclusion:Corneal Crosslinking was found effective in causing regression or halting the progression of disease in patients with progressive Keratoconus at three months follow-up, however, the efficacy of corneal crosslinking was unaffected by patient’s age and gender.

Objective:To determine the etiology and severity of various forms of ocular war injuries in patients presenting at an Army Hospital in Pakistan.Methods:This cross sectional study was conducted at the Department of Ophthalmology, Combined Military Hospital, Peshawar over four years period from June 2012 through March 2016, Two hundred ten consecutive soldiers who presented with ocular war injuries were included for analysis after taking written informed consent. A predesigned proforma was used to record patient’s demographic details along with the cause, side, type and severity of injury, ocular trauma score was also recorded at presentation.Results:The mean age of the patients was 29.34±5.35 years. All of them were males. Left side was more frequently involved (n=126, 60.0%) and the most frequent underlying cause was IED blast injury (n=114, 54.3%). Closed globe injuries were more frequent and were recorded in 120 (57.1%) patients. Upon assigning Ocular Trauma Score, Grade-V (28.6%) injuries were the most frequent followed by Grade-I (25.7%), Grade III (25.7%), Grade II (11.4%) and Grade IV (8.6%). When stratified for the type of injury, OTS Grade I injuries were highest (60.0%) among patients with open globe injuries, hence poorer prognosis, while OTS Grade V injuries were highest (50.0%) among patients with closed globe injuries (p=0.000).Conclusion:IED blast injuries are most frequently encountered ocular war injuries often involving soldiers in the age group 20-30 years. These open globe injuries had worst clinical presentation to begin with and poorer prognosis than closed globe injuries.

Objective:To determine mean change in visual acuity, corneal astigmatism and clinical appearance of pterygium after intralesional injection of 5-Fluorouracil.Methods:This was a Quasi experimental study conducted at Armed Forces Institute of Ophthalmology, Rawalpindi, Pakistan from June 2014 to May 2015. Total 68 eyes of 54 patients were included in the study. Patients were treated by injecting 0.1 ml of 5-FU (5mg) weekly injections for 04 weeks. All the patients underwent ophthalmic clinical examination that included Uncorrected distant visual acuity (UCVA), corrected distant visual acuity (CDVA), keratometery with Auto Ref-keratometer (RK-F1, Canon) and slit lamp examination before and 04 weeks after the last injection.Results:Total 68 eyes of 54 patients (18 females and 36 males) were treated with intralesional injection of 5 FU. Out of total, 30 were right eyes while 38 were left eyes. Age of patients ranged from 23 to 53 years with mean age of 39.2 ± 4.90 years. Mean UCVA and corneal astigmatism before treatment were 0.162 ± 0.167 and 2.12 ± 1.53 respectively while the same parameters 04 weeks after last injection of 5 FU were 0.166 ± 0.168 and 1.92±1.45 respectively. The magnitude of induced change in astigmatism was (0.235 ± 1.35). Ninety seven percent of the patients showed improvement in clinical appearance.Conclusion:Intralesional 5-FU injection results in significant clinical and cosmetic improvement of primary pterygium.

To determine the efficacy of 5-Fluorouracil (FU) in the treatment of pterygium. Methodology After meeting the inclusion criteria 101 patients were enrolled in this study. Informed consent and demographic information was taken from all the patients. Patients underwent ophthalmic clinical examination that included slit lamp examination to grade pterygium. Before starting 5-FU injections, all topical medication was stopped. After four weeks the effects of 5-FU and its efficacy was noted. The patients were reviewed again after six months to note any recurrence. All the collected data was entered and analyzed on Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). Results In our study the mean age of the patients was 37.74 ± 10.15 years, male to female ratio of the patients was 1.06:1. The primary type of pterygium was noted in 54 (53.5%) and recurrent was noted in 47 (46.5%) patients. The efficacy achieved in 88 (87.13%) patients, four had recurrence of pterygium and of 101 patients 26 underwent surgical excision. Conclusion The use of 5-FU is safe and effective for the treatment of pterygium and it can be implemented as a primary treatment especially in the hot temperate zone where it is very common and aggressive with high recurrence rate. 5-FU not only halts its progression but also reduces the size and vascularity thus decreasing the need for surgery and steroid use and preventing recurrence.