1,720,981 research outputs found
Idiopathic Macular Telangiectasia Associated With Large Soft Drusen And Retinal Angiomatous Proliferation
No full textIdiopathic macular telangiectasia type 2 is a rare retinal condition usually characterized by parafoveal telangiectatic vessels, hyperplastic pigment plaques and seldom a full thickness macular hole or a retinal neovascularisation. Herein we describe an atypical presentation of this disease.
Methods
Review of the patient’s clinical and angiographic records.
Results
A 87-year-old white man was diagnosed with idiopathic macular telangectasia type 2. Ophthalmological and angiographic examination disclosed telangiectasia of the parafoveal capillaries together with extensive bilateral granular soft drusen and unilateral retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP). Initially photodynamic therapy with verteporfin (PDT) and subsequently intravitreal injections of bevacizumab were used to treat RAP lesion. This approach provided visual acuity stabilization up to 24 months.
Conclusion
This case of ours shows that drusen may be a feature of macular teleangiectasia type 2. It also emphasizes that PDT and anti-VEGF therapy are both safe and effective for treating neovascular complications of this disease
Comment of article by Matsumoto Y
No full textDear Editor: We read with interest the article by Matsumoto et al 1 in a recent issue of Retina. They described three patients with macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion who had initial resolution of edema after bevacizumab injection followed by rebound edema. Matsumoto et al hypothesized that blockage of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pathway by bevacizumab may inhibit and/or stimulate some molecular processes in the VEGF cascade, resulting in increased edema. In support of this hypothesis, we describe a 74-year-old woman who was diagnosed with branch retinal vein occlusion in the right eye and treated with bevacizumab.
It would be of interest to perform molecular studies on ocular fluids from patients undergoing antiangiogenic treatments in an attempt to better identify the phenomenon. Unfortunately, difficulty in accessing the ocular cavities and concerns about the ethicality of this surgical procedure make this task scarcely feasible at this point
Cheratectomia fotorifrattiva (PRK) customizzata per il trattamento del cheratocono.
No full textPurpose: To assess the efficacy and safety of customized photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) to correct the refractive error in patients with keratoconus.
Methods: 3 eyes of 3 patients with keratoconus (2 stage 2, 1 stage 4) underwent topographically guided PRK. MEL 70 G scan excimer laser with TOSCA program and TSA system was used for the treatment. The follow-up time was at least 6 months (range 6 - 24 months). Visual acuity, manifest refraction, corneal topography, corneal pachymetry and Hartmann-Shack aberrometry were recorded before the surgery and during the follow-up.
Results: in each patient the laser procedure reduced the refractive error, improved the topographic indeces and the ocular aberrations and increased the visual acuity. No keratoconus progression was observed in the follow-up time.
Conclusions: Topographically guided PRK was safety and provided excellent visual outcome in the small series of patients with keratoconus of this study, avoiding or at least delaying the need for corneal transplant. Further investigation in a larger patient population is needed to confi rm our preliminary data
Complicanze della cheratectomia fotorifrattiva con laser ad eccimeri = Complications of excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy
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Total aniridia after nonperforating trauma of a pseudophakic eye: ultrasound biomicroscopic findings
No full textIn pseudophakic eyes, isolated total aniridia following a nonperforating blunt trauma, without any apparent dehiscence or extension of the cataract incision, has been rarely reported in the literature. Here we describe a case of posttraumatic massive hyphema followed by complete aniridia in a patient who had undergone cataract surgery 18 months before. A comprehensive diagnostic assessment, including ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM; i.e. 50-MHz single-element mechanical sector scanner), has been performed within few days from the hyphema reabsorption. To our knowledge, UBM findings of this condition have not been documented previously.
There are two possible explanations for the hitherto described aniridia secondary to traumatic iridodialysis: (1) the iris was expulsed through the quickly transient opening of the cataract incision; and (2) the iris remained within the eye and then it was phagocyted by macrophages and/or trabecular meshwork cells. The first hypothesis has already been suggested by other authors, who have reported similar posttraumatic outcomes but always in eyes with recent cataract surgery. However, our UBM images, revealing a band of echogenic particles at the level of the anatomical iris position, cannot definitely rule out the second deduction. This intriguing possibility has been also indirectly suggested by Ball et al as well as speculatively supported by several findings observed in experimental models of phagocytosis. In fact, the phagocytic properties of both macrophages and trabecular meshwork cells could theoretically explain the missing disinserted iris which, even partially or totally remaining within the eye, should be identified as a nonself material
Comparison of the Efficacy of Dexamethasone, Nepafenac, and Bromfenac for Preventing Pseudophakic Cystoid Macular Edema: an Open-label, Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial
No full textPurpose: To evaluate the incidence of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (PCMO) in patients treated with corticosteroids alone or in combination with bromfenac or nepafenac eyedrops after uneventful cataract surgery.Materials and Methods: Prospective, randomized, open-label, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Patients who underwent routine cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) implant were randomly divided into three groups receiving either bromfenac or nepafenac in association with dexamethasone or dexamethasone alone (control group) postoperatively. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurement, slit lamp and fundus examination and optical coherence tomography (OCT) were performed preoperatively, 1 and 5 weeks after surgery. Primary outcome was defined as patients (%) in whom macular edema developed within 5 weeks after cataract surgery; secondary end points were patients (%) with BCVA improvement from pre-op through 5 weeks after surgery and corneal toxicity.Results: A total of 144 patients completed the study, 48 for each group. In all groups, mean central subfield thickness at OCT increased significantly 5weeks after surgery (p < 0.01). However, at this time point, four patients (8.3%) of the control group and none in nepafenac and bromfenac groups developed PCMO (p = 0.016). Compared with baseline, mean BCVA significantly improved both at 1 and 5 weeks in all groups (p < 0.01). At 1week, the nepafenac group showed a mean BCVA significantly lower compared with both the control (p = 0.038) and bromfenac group (p = 0.002).Conclusions: Co-administration of nepafenac or bromfenac and steroids in patients who underwent routine cataract surgery is associated with a lower incidence of PCMO compared with steroid monotherapy
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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