9 research outputs found
Treatment of Extra-Foveal Choroidal Neovascularization in Pathological Myopia With Photodynamic Therapy – Two Year Results
No full textMultimodal imaging and diagnosis of myopic choroidal neovascularization in Caucasians
No full textTo investigate myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) by fluorescein angiography (FA), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), near-infrared (NIR) reflectance, and autofluorescence (AF)
Maribor - prizorišče dogajanja v pogrešani operi "La sorella di Mark" italijanskega skladatelja Giacoma Setacciolija
No full textV tedniku Slovenski gospodar št. 25 z dne 25. julija 1986 je bil natisnjen članek jezikoslovnega in slovstvenega publicista Franca Solčavskega. V njem avtor poroča, da je libretist Enrico Golisciani izbral Maribor oziroma njegovo okolico za kraj dogajanja v operi "La sorella di Mark", ki jo je uglasbil italijanski skladatelj Giacomo Setaccioli (1868-1925).From the text of the article published in "Slovenski gospodar", July 25th 1986 by the philological and literary publicist Franc Solčavski (Franc Štiftar) it is evident that the author of the libretto Enrico Golisciani had chosen Maribor (Marburg an der Drau) for the scene of action in the opera "La sorella di Mark", by the Italian composer Giacomo Setaccioli (1868-1925)
Only first intravitreal bevacizumab injection achieves statistically significant visual improvement in naïve myopic choroidal neovascularization
No full textPaolo Milani, Amedeo Massacesi, Stefano Ciaccia, Marco Setaccioli, Stefania Moschini, Fulvio BergaminiDipartimento di Oculistica, Istituto Auxologico Italiano, Milano, ItalyBackground: The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab when administered on an as-needed basis for the treatment of myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV), and to assess visual changes upon treatment.Methods: This study was designed as a retrospective, interventional case series, for which the inclusion criteria were pathologic myopia, and documentation of untreated active macular CNV on fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography. Monthly changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), visual gain after each treatment, and correlation with refraction, age, location, and dimension of CNV were considered. The data were analyzed using the one-tailed, paired Wilcoxon test.Results: Nineteen naive eyes were found suitable for the study. The mean number of treatments was 3.32 ± 2.36 (confidence interval 2.25–4.37) during a mean follow-up period of 18.95 ± 8.3 months. At baseline, mean BCVA was 0.58 ± 0.37 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) units. At 12 months, mean BCVA was 0.39 ± 0.35 logMAR and at 24 months was 0.39 ± 0.40. Mean improvement in BCVA from baseline was +0.17 ± 0.25 logMAR (P < 0.05) at month 12, +0.14 ± 0.25 logMAR (P = 0.1) at month 18, and +0.09 ± 0.32 logMAR (P = 0.5) at month 24. Improvement on pretreatment BCVA was significant (+0.16 logMAR, P < 0.01) after the first injection, but not after the second (−0.01 logMAR, P = 0.5) or third (+0.02 logMAR, P = 0.5) injections. There was a statistically significant correlation between age and number of treatments, and between improvement in BCVA of foveal versus extrafoveal location of CNV.Conclusion: The use of intravitreal bevacizumab "as needed" is an effective treatment for myopic CNV, but visual gain is statistically significant only after the first injection and decreases in the second year.Keywords: choroidal neovascularization, macular degeneration, pathologic myopia, bevacizumab, optical coherence tomograph
Multimodal imaging and diagnosis of myopic choroidal neovascularization in Caucasians
No full textPaolo Milani,1 Amedeo Massacesi,1 Stefania Moschini,1 Marco Setaccioli,1 Ennio Bulone,1 Gemma Tremolada,1 Stefano Ciaccia,1 Elena Mantovani,1 Daniela Morale,2 Fulvio Bergamini1 1Ophthalmology Department, Istituto Auxologico, 2Institute of Mathematics, Universita’ degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy Purpose: To investigate myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) by fluorescein angio­graphy (FA), spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), near-infrared (NIR) reflectance, and autofluorescence (AF). Methods: This retrospective study included 65 eyes of 62 Caucasian patients with a mean age of 66.72 years (95% confidence interval [CI] 63–70 years) and a mean refraction of -9.72 diopters (95% CI -8.74 to -10.70 diopters). Results: Most of the mCNV cases were foveal-juxtafoveal (60/65, 92.3%), with thickening of the corresponding retina (62/65, 95.3%) and leakage on FA (44/65, 67.6%). No retinal fluid was detectable in 32 (49.2%) eyes and there was no hemorrhage in 25 (38.4%) eyes. Papillary chorio­retinal atrophy was evident in 58 (89.2%), a shadowing effect in 48 (73.8%), and an epiretinal membrane in 38 (58.4%) eyes. If an area of macular chorioretinal atrophy was present, mCNV frequently developed adjacent to it and was hyperfluorescent rather than with leakage (P<0.001). In eyes with edema or hemorrhage, hyper-reflective foci were more frequent (P<0.005). NIR and AF features were indeterminable in 19 (29.2%) and 27 (41.5%) eyes, respectively. The predominant feature was black or grayish on NIR (34/65, 52.3%) and patchy (hypo- and hyperfluorescence was observed) on AF (25/65, 38.4%). FA and SD-OCT correctly detected mCNV in 49 (75.3%) and 48 (73.8%) eyes, respectively, whereas NIR and AF exhibited limited diagnostic sensitivity. Doubtful diagnosis was associated with hyperfluorescent mCNV (P<0.001), absence of retinal fluid and epiretinal membrane (P<0.05), and presence of macular chorioretinal atrophy (P<0.01). Conclusion: Tomographic, angiographic, AF, and NIR features of mCNV are described in this study. Combination of SD-OCT and FA is recommendable for diagnosis. Keywords: myopic neovascularization, pathologic myopia, fluorescein angiography, SD-OCT, imaging, CN
Association between visual acuity and medical and non-medical costs in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration in France, Germany and Italy
No full textINTRODUCTION: Exudative ('wet') age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is the major cause of blindness in Western developed countries. Treatments aimed at preserving vision are already available and new compounds are under development. Micro-economics information will be pivotal to justifying forthcoming investment.
OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate the costs of exudative ARMD in patients who were actively treated at ophthalmology referral centres in three European countries: France, Germany and Italy.
METHOD: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted in France, Germany and Italy in 2004. The following data were collected: ARMD description, visual acuity (VA), and the medical and non-medical resources used for ARMD in the preceding year. The economic perspective was that of society. ANOVA for cost
variables estimated the impact of ARMD per eye, adjusted for sex and age. Both hospital and ambulatory eye centres were included. Patients with exudative ARMD were stratified into four levels of severity using VA thresholds of 20/200 for the worst eye (WE) and 20/40 for the best eye (BE). The main outcome measure was
medical and non-medical costs.
RESULTS: 360 patients were included (females 60%; mean age 77 years; mean interval since diagnosis 2.3 years). The two groups with the greatest difference in severity of VA loss consisted of BE >or= 20/40, WE >or= 20/200 (27.2% of patients) and BE <20/40, WE <20/200 (25.5% of patients). Total cost was two-thirds medical and one-third non-medical. Total costs increased with ARMD severity and were 1.1-2 times greater for severe disease compared with less
severe disease. Average medical costs (2004 values) in France were euro 3714, compared with euro 1810 in Germany and euro 2020 in Italy, and showed slight increases with ARMD severity. Non-medical costs were significantly higher for patients with severe disease and highest in Germany.
CONCLUSION: The impact of ARMD on costs was considerable and a positive correlation was found between total costs and ARMD severity. Differences among countries were partly explained by differences in customary care delivery
Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) in Retinal Angiomatous Proliferation (RAP)
No full textPurpose To verify the utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for diagnosing retinal angiomatous proliferations (RAP) in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods Multiple cross-sections were taken with OCT from 41 eyes of 39 consecutive patients with AMD and RAP. The presence and the location of the angiomatous complexes had already been documented by fluorescein angiography (FA) and high-speed confocal indocyanine green videoangiography (ICGA). Results RAP was detectable by OCT scans in all 41 eyes, appearing as a focal hyper-reflecting area in the neuroretinal layers; it was frequently located close to the inner surface of the retinal pigment epithelium (29 eyes [70.7%]). All eyes had either no or only a low-reflecting OCT signal surrounding the RAP, caused by serous intraretinal edema. Only 13 eyes (31.7%), however, had large serous retinal detachment (SRD). OCT detected pigment epithelium detachment in 31 eyes (75.6%), but none had underlying choroidal neovascularization. Conclusions OCT findings confirm the intraretinal localization of the RAP which are always associated with impressive exudative phenomena. OCT is therefore a useful diagnostic tool, adding information to FA and high-speed ICGA. </jats:sec
Anxiety and depression prevalence rates in age-related macular degeneration
No full textPURPOSE. To estimate the prevalence rates of depression and anxiety in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and the relationship with visual acuity and to develop a simple algorithm for depression screening. METHODS. This cross-sectional, prospective, observational, multicenter study was performed in France, Germany, and Italy. Retina specialists at 10 centers per country each enrolled 12 consecutive patients with wet ARMD. Patients were stratified into four severity groups by using best eye (BE) and worst eye (WE) visual acuity (VA) thresholds (BE:VA 20/40 and WE:VA 20/200). Patients rated themselves on the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Analysis of variance was performed to estimate the effect of VA severity levels on HADS scores adjusted on age, gender, and country. RESULTS. Patients (females 60%) were recruited, with a mean age of 77 years and 2.3 years' disease duration. Mean BE:VA at inclusion was 0.49 logMar (logarithm of the minimum angled of resolution) and WE:VA 1.0 logMar. The prevalence of severe depression increased from 0% (BE:VA ≥ 20/40+WE:VA ≥ 20/200) to 7.6% (BE:VA < 20/40+WE:VA < 20/200), whereas anxiety was unrelated to VA loss. Moreover, total depression scores were strongly associated with VA severity (P = 0.006), but not total anxiety scores (P = 0.840). Responses to two HADS items ("I still enjoy things I used to enjoy"; "I can enjoy a good book or radio or television program") identified 95% of severely to moderately depressed patients. CONCLUSIONS. Self-rated depression in patients with AMD was associated with VA severity level. It should, therefore, be relatively easy for ophthalmologists to implement the screening procedure and refer identified patients to psychiatrists for proper assessment and treatment. Copyright © Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
Dexamethasone Intravitreal Implant as Adjunctive Therapy to Ranibizumab in Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration: A Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial.
No full textPURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dexamethasone intravitreal implant 0.7 mg (DEX) as adjunctive therapy to ranibizumab in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD). PROCEDURES: This was a 6-month, single-masked, multicenter study. Patients were randomized to DEX implant (n = 123) or sham procedure (n = 120) and received 2 protocol-mandated intravitreal ranibizumab injections. The main outcome measure was injection-free interval to first as-needed ranibizumab injection. RESULTS: DEX increased the injection-free interval versus sham (50th percentile, 34 vs. 29 days; 75th percentile, 85 vs. 56 days; p = 0.016). 8.3% of DEX versus 2.5% of sham-treated patients did not require rescue ranibizumab (p = 0.048). Visual acuity and retinal thickness outcomes were similar in DEX and sham-treated patients. Only reports of conjunctival hemorrhage (18.2 vs. 8.5%) and intraocular pressure elevation (13.2 vs. 4.2%) were significantly different in the DEX versus the sham treatment groups. CONCLUSION: DEX reduced the need for adjunctive ranibizumab treatment and showed acceptable tolerability in nvAMD patients
