Namperumalsamy Venkatesh Prajna

Objective: To compare oral voriconazole with placebo in addition to topical antifungals in the treatment of filamentous fungal keratitis.

Design, Setting, and Participants: The Mycotic Ulcer Treatment Trial II (MUTT II), a multicenter, double-masked, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial, was conducted in India and Nepal, with 2133 individuals screened for inclusion. Patients with smear-positive filamentous fungal ulcers and visual acuity of 20/400 (logMAR 1.3) or worse were ...

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the susceptibility of filamentous fungi isolated from keratitis to amphotericin B, natamycin, caspofungin acetate, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole.

METHODS: Ninety isolates from fungal keratitis cases at Aravind Eye Hospital in South India were tested using macrobroth dilution for susceptibility to amphotericin B, natamycin, caspofungin, itraconazole, voriconazole, and posaconazole. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) median and 90th ...

OBJECTIVE: To compare topical natamycin vs voriconazole in the treatment of filamentous fungal keratitis.

METHODS: This phase 3, double-masked, multicenter trial was designed to randomize 368 patients to voriconazole (1%) or natamycin (5%), applied topically every hour while awake until reepithelialization, then 4 times daily for at least 3 weeks. Eligibility included smear-positive filamentous fungal ulcer and visual acuity of 20/40 to 20/400.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome ...

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a therapeutic exploratory clinical trial comparing clinical outcomes of treatment with topical natamycin vs topical voriconazole for fungal keratitis.

METHODS: The multicenter, double-masked, clinical trial included 120 patients with fungal keratitis at Aravind Eye Hospital in India who were randomized to receive either topical natamycin or topical voriconazole and either had repeated scraping of the epithelium or not.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome was ...

OBJECTIVE: To determine the incidence of acute-onset postcataract endophthalmitis, identify risk factors, and determine clinical outcomes in a tertiary eye care center in South India.

DESIGN: Retrospective, interventional, observational case series.

PARTICIPANTS: All patients who underwent cataract extraction from January 2002 to December 2003 at Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai.

METHODS: The records of patients with acute endophthalmitis after cataract surgery were reviewed.

MAIN OUTCOME ...

PURPOSE: To characterize human limbal epithelial cells based on the expression levels of nuclear protein p63 and the nucleus-to-cytoplasm (N/C) ratio.

METHODS: Limbal, peripheral, and central corneal epithelia were separated from the stroma by Dispase II and subsequently were treated with trypsin to obtain single-cell suspensions. Cytospin smears of the cell suspensions were double immunostained for p63 and then stained for any one of the markers (acidic cytokeratins [AE1], K5, K3, or ...

PURPOSE: To determine the diagnostic accuracy of in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) for moderate to severe microbial keratitis (MK).

DESIGN: Double-masked prospective cohort study.

PARTICIPANTS: Consecutive patients presenting to Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, India, between February 2012 and February 2013 with MK (diameter ≥3 mm, excluding descemetocele, perforation, or herpetic keratitis).

METHODS: Following examination, the corneal ulcer was scanned by IVCM (HRT3/RCM, Heidelberg ...

BACKGROUND/AIMS: To study the susceptibility of Fusarium and Aspergillus isolated from keratitis to amoxicillin, cefazolin, chloramphenicol, moxifloxacin, tobramycin and benzalkonium chloride (BAK).

METHODS: 10 isolates of Fusarium and 10 isolates of Aspergillus from cases of fungal keratitis at Aravind Eye Hospital in South India were tested using microbroth dilution for susceptibility to amoxicillin, cefazolin, chloramphenicol, moxifloxacin, tobramycin and BAK. The minimum inhibitory ...

PURPOSE: Till date there is no exclusive marker for human corneal epithelial stem cells (CESCs). In this study, our strategy is to combine high expression of ABCG2, a putative SC marker with high N/C ratio to develop a specific method for identification of CESCs.

METHODS: Limbal/corneal epithelial cells (LECs/CECs) were isolated from cadaver eyes by enzymatic treatment and the cytospin smears/cryosections were immunostained for ABCG2, p63, or connexin-43 (Cx-43) and counterstained with ...

PURPOSE: To analyze the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of isolates from fungal keratitis to natamycin and voriconazole and to assess the relationship between organism, MIC, and clinical outcome.

METHODS: Data were collected as part of a randomized, controlled, double-masked clinical trial. Main outcome measures included best spectacle-corrected visual acuity, infiltrate/scar size, time to reepithelialization, and perforation. Speciation and analysis of MIC to natamycin and ...

PURPOSE: To describe the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of fungal isolates to natamycin and voriconazole, and to compare these MICs to previous ocular susceptibility studies.

DESIGN: Experimental laboratory study using isolates from a randomized clinical trial.

METHODS: The Mycotic Ulcer Treatment Trial I was a randomized, double-masked, multicenter trial comparing topical natamycin and voriconazole for fungal keratitis treatment. Susceptibility testing to natamycin and ...

BACKGROUND: Filamentous fungi of the genera Aspergillus and Fusarium are major causes of corneal ulcers in the United States and in the developing world and result in significant visual impairment and blindness.

METHODS: RNA was extracted from 110 patients with corneal ulcers in southern India within 1 week of infection with either Fusarium solani or Aspergillus flavus, and gene expression was determined by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Posttransplant corneas from later stage ...

PURPOSE: To compare the efficacy and safety of ofloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution with ciprofloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution in patients with culture-positive bacterial keratitis.

METHODS: Patients with a microbiologic diagnosis of bacterial keratitis were included in this double-masked, parallel-group study and were randomized to treatment with either ofloxacin 0.3% or ciprofloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution. One drop of the study medication was instilled during the daytime according to ...

PURPOSE: To estimate the cumulative incidence of posterior capsule opacification 4 years after surgery in patients who participated in the Madurai Intraocular Lens Study and had extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation.

METHODS: In the Madurai Intraocular Lens Study, 1,700 patients with best-corrected visual acuity 20/120 or worse in the better eye had extracapsular cataract extraction with posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation, and ...

PURPOSE: To determine risk factors and clinical signs that may differentiate between bacterial, fungal, and acanthamoeba keratitis among patients presenting with presumed infectious keratitis.

DESIGN: Hospital-based cross-sectional study.

METHODS: We examined the medical records of 115 patients with laboratory-proven bacterial keratitis, 115 patients with laboratory-proven fungal keratitis, and 115 patients with laboratory-proven acanthamoeba keratitis seen at Aravind Eye Hospital, ...