Infra-red Thermal Imaging of the Inner Canthus: Correlates with the Temperature of the Injured Human Brain

Introduction: Infra-red (IR) thermometry is a safe and valid method to determine internal and surface temperature in human subjects. Under conditions of brain damage (head injury or stroke) knowledge of changes in the temperature of intracranial tissue is justified because of the vulnerability of neurons to accelerated damage at temperatures at the upper end of the febrile range. Aim: To determine the temperature at the inner canthus (IC) of the eye as a potential surrogate for brain temperature. Methods: Invasive monitoring of deep brain structures, lateral ventricle and deep white matter. IR temperature readings obtained at right and left IC. Results: ?Strong correlations were evident between R and L IC and brain. Close, as well as poor, agreement between?? sites was shown in some patients and at some times. For right hemispheric lesions four had a better correlation between TbrV and TRIC when compared to TLIC.? When the correlation between TbrV and TLIC was better compared to TbrV and TRIC, four had a predominant right hemispheric lesion. Conclusions: Improved techniques for IR thermal imaging accuracy at the bedside has the potential to improve temperature measurement agreement. The predominant lesion side may have a bearing on maximum ipsilateral IC temperature Further studies are ongoing in this pilot study population.

Risk factors for persistent epiphora following successful canalicular laceration repair

AIM:To identify the risk factors of epiphora in patients with anatomical patency after surgical repair of canalicular laceration.METHODS:This retrospective case series included 178 cases of canalicular laceration repair from 2005 to 2012.Demographic data collected from each patient included age,sex,type of injury,distance from the distal lacerated end of the canaliculus to the punctum,the severity score for the structural abnormity of the medial canthus,the duration of stent placement,and the timing of surgery.The risk factors for epiphora were evaluated using Logistic regression models.RESULTS:Among the 178 cases,45(25.3%)with lacrimal patency after irrigation had symptomatic epiphora at the final follow-up.Patients'sex,age,type of injury,duration of stent placement,timing of surgery,and concurrent trauma were not found to be significantly associated with symptomatic epiphora after surgical repair of the lacerated canaliculus(P>0.05).A distance of more than 5 mm from the distal cut end to the punctum was closely and significantly associated with symptomatic epiphora after surgical repair of the lacerated canaliculus(P<0.01).Symptomatic epiphora was significantly more frequent in patients with higher severity scores for structural abnormities of the medial canthus(P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Our results indicate that the risk factors for postoperative symptomatic epiphora include a further distance between the distal cut end and the lacrimal punctum and a higher severity score for structural abnormities of the medial canthus.These findings could be used to prognosticate postoperative symptomatic epiphora.