Comparisons of choroidal blood flow velocity between initial-onset acute uveitis associated with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and acute central serous chorioretinopathy.

Objectives: Acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease in the acute uveitic phase are characterized by serous retinal detachment caused by dysfunction of the choroid. The aim of this study is to compare blood flow velocity and pulse waveform parameters in the choroid between these two diseases.

Methods: In this study, 25 patients (50 eyes) with VKH disease, 21 patients (27 eyes) with CSC and 15 healthy controls (30 eyes) were studied.

Role of oxidative stress, inflammation, hypoxia and angiogenesis in the development of diabetic retinopathy.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a retinal disease which is one of the most severe complications occuring due to diabetes mellitus and is a major cause of blindness. Patients who have diabetes mellitus for number of years develop characteristic group of lesions in the retina which leads to Diabetic retinopathy. It is a multifactorial condition occuring due to complex cellular interactions between biochemical and metabolic abnormalities taking place in all retinal cells.

Endophthalmitis Due to after Pars Plana Vitrectomy with Devastating Outcome.

Postoperative infectious endophthalmitis is rare, yet devastating loss of vision or loss of the eye can occur due to a highly purulent microorganism or uncontrolled endophthalmitis that may spread to all coats of the eye. We report, herewith, a case of rapidly progressive postoperative endophthalmitis after pars plana vitrectomy which ended up with enucleation. The isolated microorganism was which has not been reported as causative bacteria of postoperative infections following pars plana vitrectomy.

Lack of association between polymorphism rs540782 and primary open angle glaucoma in Saudi patients.

Background: To investigate whether polymorphism rs540782 on chromsome 1, in close proximity to the Zona Pellucida Glycoprotein 4 (ZP4) gene, is a risk factor for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG).

Method: The study genotyped 92 unrelated POAG cases and 95 control subjects from Saudi Arabia using Taq-Man® assay.

Results: The genotype frequency distribution did not deviate significantly from the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium (p > 0.

ENDOGENOUS ENDOPHTHALMITIS CAUSED BY BRUCELLA MELITENSIS.

Purpose: Brucella is an intracellular gram-negative pathogen that acts as a facultative parasite. B. Melitensis endogenous endophthalmitis is quite rare.

Intraocular pressure trends after intravitreal injections of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents for diabetic macular edema.

Purpose: To study intraocular pressure (IOP) trends and risk factors of IOP elevation after intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections in diabetic macular edema.

Methods: A retrospective review of 760 eyes treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections for diabetic macular edema was performed. The rate and risk factors of IOP elevation were assessed.

The angiogenic biomarker endocan is upregulated in proliferative diabetic retinopathy and correlates with vascular endothelial growth factor.

Purpose/aim: Endocan is a proteoglycan specifically secreted by endothelial cells, is a marker of angiogenesis and endothelial cell activation in response to proangiogenic signals. The aim of this study was to measure the levels of endocan in the vitreous fluid from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and to correlate its levels with clinical disease activity and the levels of the angiogenic biomarkers vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), soluble vascular endothelial-cadherin (sVE-cadherin) and soluble endoglin (sEng). In addition, we investigated the expression of endocan and correlated it with the level of vascularization in PDR epiretinal membranes.

High-mobility group box-1 induces decreased brain-derived neurotrophic factor-mediated neuroprotection in the diabetic retina.

To test the hypothesis that brain-derived neurotrophic factor-(BDNF-) mediated neuroprotection is reduced by high-mobility group box-1 (HMGB1) in diabetic retina, paired vitreous and serum samples from 46 proliferative diabetic retinopathy and 34 nondiabetic patients were assayed for BDNF, HMGB1, soluble receptor for advanced glycation end products (sRAGE), soluble intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1), and TBARS. We also examined retinas of diabetic and HMGB1 intravitreally injected rats. The effect of the HMGB1 inhibitor glycyrrhizin on diabetes-induced changes in retinal BDNF expressions was studied.

Acute endophthalmitis caused by Staphylococcus lugdunesis after intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin) injection.

Purpose: To report a case of culture-positive endophthalmitis after intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (Avastin) resulting in a devastating visual outcome.

Method: A retrospective case report of a 51-year-old diabetic women who presented with further decrease in her vision, redness, and mild pain in her eye 3 days after intravitreal injection of Avastin for macular edema due to a branch retinal vein occlusion.

Results: Clinical diagnosis of endophthalmitis was made and, after obtaining a vitreous tap, intravitreal antibiotics were administered.

Prognostic factors in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

Purpose: To identify prognostic factors for final visual outcome, development of complications, and recurrent inflammation in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease.

Methods: All patients diagnosed with acute uveitis associated with VKH disease at the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital and King Abdulaziz University Hospital between January 1999 and February 2004 were reviewed. Data collected included age, gender, initial and final visual acuities, clinical findings at presentation, interval between onset of disease and starting treatment, treatment received, complications, number of recurrences, extraocular manifestations, and duration of follow-up period.