Browsing by Author "Singh, Sanjay K."

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    Delay in accessing definitive care for patients with microbial keratitis in Nepal
    (Frontiers in Medicine, 2022) Hoffman, Jeremy J.; Yadav, Reena; Das Sanyam, Sandip; Chaudhary, Pankaj; Roshan, Abhishek; Singh, Sanjay K.; Mishra, Sailesh K.; Arunga, Simon; Hu, Victor H.; Macleod, David; Leck, Astrid; Burton, Matthew J.
    The aim of this study was to describe the health-seeking journey for patients withmicrobial keratitis (MK) in Nepal and identify factors associated with delay. Methods: Prospective cohort study where MK patients attending a large, tertiary-referral eye hospital in south-eastern Nepal between June 2019 and November 2020 were recruited. We collected demographic details, clinical history, and examination findings. Care-seeking journey details were captured including places attended, number of journeys, time fromsymptomonset, and costs.We compared “direct” with “indirect” presenters, analyzing for predictors of delay. Results: We enrolled 643 patients with MK. The majority (96%) self-referred. “Direct” attenders accounted for only 23.6% (152/643) of patients, the majority of “indirect” patients initially presented to a pharmacy (255/491). Over half (328/643) of all cases presented after at least 7 days. The total cost of care increased with increasing numbers of facilities visited (p < 0.001). Those living furthest away were least likely to present directly (p < 0.001). Factors independently associated with delayed presentation included distance >50 km from the eye hospital [aOR 5.760 (95% CI 1.829–18.14, p = 0.003)], previous antifungal use [aOR 4.706 (95% CI 3.139–5.360)], and two or more previous journeys [aOR 1.442 (95% CI 1.111–3.255)]. Conclusions: Most patients visited at least one facility prior to our institution, with time to presentation and costs increasing with the number of prior journeys. Distance to the eye hospital is a significant barrier to prompt, direct presentation. Based on these findings, improving access to eye care services, strengthening referral networks and encouraging early appropriate treatment are recommended to reduce delay, ultimately improving clinical outcomes.
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    Topical Chlorhexidine 0.2% versus Topical Natamycin 5% for the Treatment of Fungal Keratitis in Nepal: A Randomized Controlled Noninferiority Trial
    (Ophthalmology, 2022) Hoffman, Jeremy J.; Yadav, Reena; Sanyam, Sandip D.; Chaudhary, Pankaj; Roshan, Abhishek; Singh, Sanjay K.; Singh, Sanjay K.; Mishra, Sailesh K.; Arunga, Simon; Hu, Victor H.; Macleod, David; Leck, Astrid; Burton, Matthew J.
    To investigate if topical chlorhexidine 0.2%, which is low cost and easy to formulate, is noninferior to topical natamycin 5% for the treatment of filamentous fungal keratitis. Design: Randomized controlled, single-masked, noninferiority clinical trial. Participants: Adults attending a tertiary-level ophthalmic hospital in Nepal with filamentous fungal infection confirmed on smear or confocal microscopy. Methods: Participants were randomly allocated to receive topical chlorhexidine 0.2% or topical natamycin 5%. Primary analysis (intention-to-treat) was by linear regression, using baseline logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA) and treatment arm as prespecified covariates. Mixed fungal-bacterial infections were excluded from the primary analysis but included in secondary analyses and secondary safety-related outcomes. The noninferiority margin was 0.15 logMAR. This trial was registered with ISRCTN, number ISRCTN14332621. Main Outcome Measures: The primary outcome measure was BSCVA at 3 months. Secondary outcome measures included perforation or therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty by 90 days. Results: Between June 3, 2019, and November 9, 2020, 354 eligible participants were enrolled and randomly assigned: 178 to chlorhexidine and 176 to natamycin. Primary outcome data were available for 153 and 151 of the chlorhexidine and natamycin groups, respectively. Of these, mixed bacterial-fungal infections were found in 20 cases (12/153 chlorhexidine, 8/151 natamycin) and excluded from the primary analysis. Therefore, 284 patients were assessed for the primary outcome (141 chlorhexidine, 143 natamycin). We did not find evidence to suggest chlorhexidine was noninferior to natamycin and in fact found strong evidence to suggest that natamycin-treated participants had significantly better 3-month BSCVA than chlorhexidine-treated participants, after adjusting for baseline BSCVA (regression coefficient, 0.30; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.42 to 0.18; P < 0.001). There were more perforations and emergency corneal grafts in the chlorhexidine arm (24/175, 13.7%) than in the natamycin arm (10/173, 5.8%; P ¼ 0.018, mixed infections included), whereas natamycin-treated cases were less likely to perforate or require an emergency corneal graft, after adjusting for baseline ulcer depth (odds ratio, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.15e0.79; P ¼ 0.013). Conclusions: Treatment with natamycin is associated with significantly better visual acuity, with fewer adverse events, compared with treatment with chlorhexidine. Natamycin remains the preferred first-line monotherapy treatment for filamentous fungal keratitis. Ophthalmology 2022;129:530-541 ª 2021 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.