Eye Diseases Seen in Sub-Saharan Africa
Chlorhexidine solution is effective against fungal infections. As well against corneal ones. There is a cost-effective way to produce such drops, which can be stable over a long term.
👍🏾Readily available antifungal drops, cool idea.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36705928/
There’s a new study from Canada, where they found, that around 3% of excised pterygia are appeared to be pcular surface squamous neopleasia histologically. In endemic regions of Africa this percent schould be much higher.
“The characteristic facial expression of the onchocerciasis patients is also based on the interstitial keratitis, which prefers a horizontal axis and creates a vertical positioned ovular bow in the ribbon shaped degeneration of the cornea”. (c) Dr. Guido Kluxen’s excellent reasearch book “Dr. Jean Hissette’s Research Expeditions to Elucidate River Blindness”, 2011
I think I had never seen onchocerciasis patients in Zambia. Although onchocerciasis is not endemic there, one sees daily unclear corneal opacities as a result of various keratitides or uveitides. Some patients travel from Angola, Namibia and Congo. The latter should still be endemic… So I decided to google these corneas, as the description is not too descriptive.
Dr. Jean Hissette’s cataract surgery in Kasai in the Belgian Congo, 1930
Photo from Dr. Guido Kluxen’s excellent reasearch book “Dr. Jean Hissette’s Research Expeditions to Elucidate River Blindness”, 2011
Interestingly, Dr. Hissette performed his cataract OPs using large conjunctival peritomies and additionally – iridectomies. Many surgeries were complicated with synechias, which were typicall for onchocerciasis induced uveitis.
I found interesting as well, how the doctor treated assistance during these OPs: “I did the surgeries without assistance, as I believe that if you do not have adequate assistance, it is better to operate without any”. May be often the case in the tropical setup.
