Shaker Alreshidi

Introduction: Infectious Keratitis is one of the most common ocular emergencies seen by ophthalmologists. Our aim is to identify the risk factors and clinical features of Acanthamoeba Keratitis (AK). Methods: This retrospective chart review study was conducted at King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and included all the microbial keratitis cases, male and female patients of all ages. The main outcome is the differentiation between various microbial keratitis types. Results: We included 134 consecutive eyes of 126 persons. We had 24 cases of acanthamoeba keratitis, 22 bacterial keratitis, 24 fungal keratitis, 32 herpetic keratitis, and 32 bacterial co-infection. Contact lens wear was found in 33 eyes (24.6%). Among acanthamoeba keratitis patients, 73% were ≤ 39 years of age, and 73% were females (P <0.001). Also, in AK cases, epithelial defect was found in all cases (100%), endothelial plaques were found in 18 eyes (69.2%), 12 cases had radial keratoneuritis (46.2%), and ring infiltrate was found in 53.8% of AK cases. Conclusions: We determined the factors that increase the risk of acanthamoeba infection and the clinical characteristics that help distinguish it from other types of microbial keratitis. Our findings suggest that younger females and patients who wear contact lenses are more likely to develop acanthamoeba keratitis. The occurrence of epitheliopathy, ring infiltrate, radial keratoneuritis, and endothelial plaques indicate the possibility of acanthamoeba infection. Promoting education on wearing contact lenses is essential to reduce the risk of acanthamoeba infection, as it is the most significant risk factor for this infection.

Diabetes mellites (DM) is one of the most common systemic disorders in Saudi Arabia and worldwide. Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a potentially blinding ophthalmic consequence of uncontrolled DM. The early detection of DR leads to an earlier intervention, which might be sight-saving. Our aim in this cross-sectional study is to assess patients’ knowledge and practices regarding DR, and to detect the barriers for eye screening and receiving a check-up from an ophthalmologist. The study included 386 diabetic patients. One hundred and thirty-one patients (33.9%) had T1DM and 188 (48.7%) had T2DM. Most of the diabetic patients (73.3%) know that they must have an eye check-up regardless of their blood sugar level. DM was agreed to affect the retina in 80.3% of the patients, 56% of patients agree that DM complications are always symptomatic, and 84.5% know that DM could affect their eyes. The fact that blindness is a complication of diabetic retinopathy was known by 65% of the diabetic patients. A better knowledge was detected among patients older than 50 years of age (54.9%) compared to those aged less than 35 years (40.9%), which was statistically significant (p = 0.030). Additionally, 61.2% of diabetic patients who were university graduates had a significantly better knowledge in comparison to 33.3% of illiterate patients (p = 0.006). Considering the barriers to not getting one’s eyes screened earlier, a lack of knowledge was reported by 38.3% of the patients, followed by lack of access to eye care (24.4%). In conclusion, there is a remarkable increase in the awareness of DR among the Saudi population. This awareness might lead to an earlier detection and management of DR.

Amblyopia is a reduced best-corrected visual acuity of one or both eyes that cannot be attributed to a structural abnormality; it is a functional reduction in the vision of an eye caused by disuse during a critical period of visual development. It is considered the leading cause of visual defects in children. With early diagnosis and treatment, children with amblyopia can significantly improve their vision. However, if it is neglected and not treated during childhood, unfortunately, it permanently decreases vision. Therefore, prevention, detection, and treatment largely depend on parents. This article explores parents’ perspectives on amblyopia and routine examination of their children’s eyes. A cross-sectional study used an electronic questionnaire consisting of five main sections to assess the level of awareness of amblyopia among parents. As a result, a total of 325 participants were included in our analysis. 209 (64.3%) were mothers, and 116 (35/7%) were fathers. The age groups were 35–50 years of age (61.5%), 20–34 years (23.4%), and older than 50 years (15%). Participants with a history of amblyopia numbered 23 (7.1%), and 39 had an amblyopic child (12%). A good awareness level of amblyopia among parents was found in only 10 (3%) participants, a fair awareness level in 202 (62%), and 113 (35%) participants were classified as having a poor awareness level of amblyopia. Only 13.8% of the parents took their children for yearly routine eye exams, while the majority (72%) took their children only if they had a complaint, and 14.2% took them for eye checkups only before school entry. In conclusion, parents’ awareness of amblyopia in Tabuk City, KSA, was low. In addition, a limited proportion of parents reported consistently taking their children for routine eye exams. Therefore, raising awareness should be considered in public education regarding the disease.