AIM:To compare the pattern electroretinogram (PERG) and pattern visual evoked potential (PVEP) between obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA) patients and controls.METHODS: This was a prospective cross-sectional study involving 40 OSA patients and 31 control subjects in Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia.Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of OSA who had no ocular pathology were randomly selected to participate in the study.The apnoea-hypopnoea index (AHI) was obtained from their records and used for stratification of OSA severity.Electrophysiological tests (PVEP and PERG) were performed on each patient by a trained technician in the electrophysiology laboratory of the Department of Ophthalmology, USM.The results obtained were recorded as median values.Data analysis was done using IBM Statistics Version 21.0.RESULTS: Among OSA patients, we observed a significant reduction of the PERG amplitude P50 (P<0.001) and the PVEP amplitude P100 (P<0.001) compared to the control group.OSA patients also had a significant increase in PVEP time to peak P100 (P=0.003) and time to peak N75 (P=0.004).However, no significant differences were detected in PERG time to peak between OSA patients and controls.There were likewise no significant differences in PVEP or PERG between OSA patients with different disease severity.CONCLUSION: OSA patients have significant abnormalities in PVEP amplitude and time to peak, as well as PERG amplitude.This may reflect subclinical optic nerve dysfunction in OSA.Further research is needed to determine the association between the severity of OSA and the degree of optic nerve dysfunction.

AIM: To identify factors predicting visual improvement post vitrectomy for sequelae of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of pars plana vitrectomy indicated for sequelae of PDR from Jan.to Dec.2014 in Hospital Sultanah Bahiyah,Alor Star,Kedah,Malaysia.Data collected included patient demographics,baseline visual acuity (VA) and post-operative logMAR best corrected VA at 1y.Data analysis was performed with IBM SPSS Statistics Version 22.0.RESULTS: A total of 103 patients were included.The mean age was 51.2y.On multivariable analysis,each pre-operative positive deviation of 1 logMAR from a baseline VA of 0 logMAR was associated with a post-operative improvement of 0.859 logMAR (P<0.001).Likewise,an attached macula pre-operatively was associated with a 0.374 (P=0.003) logMAR improvement post vitrectomy.Absence of iris neovascularisation and absence of post-operative complications were associated with a post vitrectomy improvement in logMAR by 1.126 (P=0.001) and 0.377 (P=0.005) respectively.Absence of long-acting intraocular tamponade was associated with a 0.302 (P=0.010) improvement of logMAR post vitrectomy.CONCLUSION: Factors associated with visual improvement after vitrectomy are poor pre-operative VA,an attached macula,absence of iris neovascularisation,absence of post-operative complications and abstaining from use of long-acting intraocular tamponade.A thorough understanding of the factors predicting visual improvement will facilitate decision-making in vitreoretinal surgery.

Isolated optic neuritis as a presenting sign of tuberculosis in children is uncommon. We report a case of an immunocompetent child who displayed features of bilateral optic neuritis secondary to presumed tuberculosis. It is essential to highlight this alarming presentation in a child, as the presence of tuberculosis has re-emerged as a serious public health problem especially in developing countries.

Although few studies concerning optic neuritis (ON) in Asian countries have been reported, there is no report about ON in Malaysia particularly within the Malay population. We aimed to determine the clinical manifestation, visual outcome and aetiology of ON in Malays, and discussed the literature of ON studies in other Asian populations. This was a retrospective study involving 31 consecutive patients (41 eyes) with ON treated at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia commencing from July 2005 till January 2010 with a period of follow-up ranging from 18-60 months. The clinical features, laboratory results, possible aetiology, and visual acuity after one year were analysed. Females were the predominant group. The age of the patients ranged between 3-55 years and peaked between 21-30 years old. 67.7% of the patients had unilateral involvement. Pain on ocular movement was observed in 31.7% of the affected eyes. 73.3% of 41 involved eyes showed visual acuity equal 6/60 or worse on presentation. Paracentral scotoma was the most common visual field defect noted. Optic disc papillitis proved more widespread compared to the retrobulbar type of ON. The aetiology was idiopathic in more than 50%, while the risk of multiple sclerosis was extremely low (3.2%) in our series. 66.0% demonstrating visual acuity improved to 6/12 or better at one year after the attack. 16.1% showed evidence of recurrence during follow-up. In conclusion, the clinical profile and aetiology of ON in Malay patients are comparable to other ON studies reported by other Asian countries.

AIM: To report a rare case of optic perineuritis secondary to syphilis infection with severe visual loss showing a dramatic improvement following treatment with corticosteroids.METHODS: Case report.RESULTS: A 66-year-old Malay lady presented to us with sudden onset of unilateral loss of vision and pain on eye movement. Her vision had no perception of light and marked relative afferent pupillary defect (RAPD) was present over the right eye. Serological and radiological investigation showed evidence of syphilitic optic perineuritis. She was treated with intramuscular benzathine penicillin and intravenous methyl prednisolone, followed by oral steroid with tapering dose for long period. Her visual acuity improved remarkably after the treatment. She regained the vision of 6/18 and there was no sign of recurrence or steroid related side effects during 4 months follow-up.CONCLUSION: Accurate diagnosis and prompt treatment of this case has converted a poor vision to a better visual outcome.

·Acquired uniocular blindness in pediatric group deserves an urgent attention. The blindness usually results from mechanical injury to the globe. It is one of the leading causes of acquired blindness in this group. Most of the ocular injuries were accidental and resulted from mechanical trauma. Firecracker is one of the potential causes for acquired uniocular blindness. The nature of injury varies from mild to severe, penetrating or blunt trauma, chemical or thermal. The irreversible nature of the visual loss is preventable. Public awareness will be one of the main contributors in preventing the ocular morbidity.

We describe a 27-year-old gentleman who presented with sudden loss of left vision after a football match. As there was no improvement with previous treatment, he was referred to us for second opinion three weeks after initial presentation. Examination showed a quiet left eye with large whitish lesion with fluid level in the macula. It posed a dilemma in diagnosis as possibility of infectious cause could not be ruled out.Pars plana vitrectomy with vitreous biopsy was done and it showed old organised blood from premacular haemorrhage resulted from valsalva retinopathy.

Background: A thymectomy is considered effective for patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). Although a few studies have described the role of a thymectomy in the treatment of MG in Asians countries, there are no published data on the application of this surgical approach for MG in Malaysia. We aimed to describe the clinical outcomes of MG patients who underwent a thymectomy and the factors affecting these outcomes. Methods: This was a retrospective study involving 16 patients with MG who underwent a thymectomy at the Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia (HUSM) from January 2002 until December 2012, with a follow-up period ranging from 3–120 months. Results: The study consisted of 16 patients aged 22–78 years, 10 of whom were males. The overall remission/improvement rate was 87.5%, and the rate of clinical outcomes classified as unchanged/ worsened was 12.5%. Thymomamatous or non-thymomamatous MG, histology features, Osserman stage and the duration of follow-up were not significant prognostic factors. Post-operative mortality was 6.2% (1 of 16 patients died of septic shock). Conclusion: A thymectomy seems to be an effective treatment for MG, with low surgical morbidity. Patients with a lower Osserman stage and those with/without thymomas had favourable outcomes.

·AIM: To evaluate the clinical manifestations and visual outcome of syphilitic uveitis patients. ·METHODS: Case series of three patients with syphilitic uveitis were managed in Hospital USM.·RESULTS: Three patients were diagnosed to have uveitis secondary to syphilis. All three patients were not known to have syphilis prior to presentation but had positive history of sexual promiscuity.Allpatients presented with progressive blurring of vision for average of one-month duration. Two of them had association with fever,ocularpainandfloaters.Visualacuityat presentation ranged from 6/12 to hand movement. Mild anterioruveitis( non-granulomatous),vitritisand papillitis were present in all the patients. First patient had multifocal chorioretinitis with exudative retinal detachment. The second patient presented with exudative retinaldetachmentwhilethethirdpatienthad chorioretinitis only. All the patients were treated with intramuscular benzyl-penicillin 2.4 MU weekly for 4 weeks and two of them received oral doxycycline 200mg twice daily for 3 months. The uveitis responded well to the treatment and two of them showed dramatic visual improvement from 6/120 to 6/21 and 6/12 to 6/6. The one with worse outcome was confirmed to have positive retroviral.·CONCLUSION: Ocular syphilis presented here as non granulomatous inflammation associated with exudative retinal detachment, Final visual outcome is generally good despite slow improvement after treatment.

·AIM: To evaluate the clinical presentations of traumatic optic neuropathy and to assess the visual outcome of three groups of patients managed differently (conservative, intravenous corticosteroids only and combination of intravenous and oral corticosteroids) at an academic tertiary care referral centre.·METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted involv-ing 24 consecutive patients (27 eyes) with traumatic optic neuropathy attending Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia from January 2007 till December 2009.·RESULTS: Twenty-four patients (27 eyes) were included. All cases involved were male. Mean age was 33 years old. Motor vehicle accident was the major cause (83%). Both eyes were equally involved. Most of the eyes had poor vision on presentation (HM-NPL, 82%) with associated periorbital haematoma (22 eyes) and subcon-junctival haemorrhage (20 eyes). Majority of patients (19 patients, 79%) presented with more than one bony fracture of skull or orbit and 5 patients (21%) had no fractures. None of the patients had evidence of optic nerve compression on CT scans or MRI done. Eleven patients (46%) had been treated with intravenous and oral corticosteroids. The other 7 patients (29%) were treated conservatively and the third group (6 patients, 25%) was on intravenous corticosteroids only. Eleven of 12 eyes (92%) treated with intravenous and oral corticosteroids had showed 1 line improvement of visual acuity. Those eyes treated conservatively (78%) had showed 1 line improvement of visual acuity. As for patients treated with intravenous corticosteroids only, four patients remained NPL, one patient had mild visual improvement and the other one's vision remained the same. The visual improvement in patients treated with conservative management was not significant (P=0.386). Patients treated with intravenous corticosteroids alone have shown no statistical visual improvement (P<0.05). Patients treated with intravenous followed by oral corticosteroids had significant visual improvement (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in visual outcome between patients treated with corticoster-oids and patients treated conservatively (P=0.368). No patient underwent surgical decompression of the optic nerve. In this series, the follow-up ranged from 6 months to 3 years.·CONCLUSION: Most of the traumatic optic neuropathy patients are presented with periorbital haematoma, subconjunctival haemorrhage and orbital wall fractures. Patients treated with intravenous followed by oral corti-costeroids have better visual outcome compared to conservative management.