A prospective multicenter study on genome wide associations to ranibizumab treatment outcome for age-related macular degeneration.

We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) on the outcome of anti-VEGF treatment for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a prospective cohort. Four hundred and sixty-one treatment-naïve AMD patients were recruited at 13 clinical centers and all patients were treated with 3 monthly injections of ranibizumab followed by pro re nata regimen treatment for one year. Genomic DNA was collected from all patients for a 2-stage GWAS on achieving dry macula after the initial treatment, the requirement for an additional treatment, and visual acuity changes during the 12-month observation period.

SLC1A1 Gene Variants and Normal Tension Glaucoma: An Association Study.

Background: It has been hypothesized that dysfunction of the solute carrier family 1, member1 gene (SLC1A1), which encodes the glutamate aspartate transporter, may play a role in normal tension glaucoma. In this study we investigate whether SLC1A1 is associated with normal tension glaucoma in Japanese patients.

Methods: A total of 292 Japanese patients with normal tension glaucoma and 500 healthy control subjects were recruited.

The expression of syntaphilin is down-regulated in the optic nerve after axonal injury.

The impairment of mitochondrial function is an important pathogenic factor in glaucoma and other optic neuropathies in which retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death is the fundamental pathology. Syntaphilin was recently discovered as a docking protein that affects mitochondrial mobility. However, no reports have investigated the involvement of syntaphilin in the visual system.

Evaluating dissociated optic nerve fiber layer appearance using en face layer imaging produced by optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: To investigate the incidence of and risk factors for a dissociated optic nerve fiber layer (DONFL) appearance after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 189 eyes that underwent PPV with internal limiting membrane removal and judged the presence/absence of an apparent DONFL based on en face layer images produced by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Results: An apparent DONFL was observed in 47 (24.

Rat chronic glaucoma model induced by intracameral injection of microbeads suspended in sodium sulfate-sodium hyaluronate.

Purpose: To establish a rat glaucoma model with chronic intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation induced by microbeads suspended in sodium sulfate-sodium hyaluronate.

Methods: Chronic elevation of IOP was induced unilaterally by injecting polystyrene microbeads, suspended in 4 % sodium sulfate and 3 % sodium hyaluronate, into the anterior chamber. The microbead suspension was injected through either the clear corneal (CC) or sclerocorneal (SC) tunnel.

A case of choroidal neovascularization secondary to unilateral retinal pigment epithelium dysgenesis.

Aim: To report a case of choroidal neovascularization secondary to unilateral retinal pigment epithelium dysgenesis (URPED), which was resistant to posterior subtenon injection of triamcinolone acetonide (STTA) and intravitreal bevacizumab injection (IVB).

Case Report: An 8-year-old boy was referred to us because of a unilateral unique clinical appearance on funduscopic examination in his left eye (OS). A geometric lesion at the retinal pigment epithelium level of the interpapillomacular area was disclosed OS.

Sera from patients with seropositive neuromyelitis optica spectral disorders caused the degeneration of rodent optic nerve.

Neuromyelitis optica (NMO) is an autoimmune inflammatory, neurodestructive disease primarily targeting the optic nerve and spinal cord. An autoantibody against water channel protein aquaporin-4 (AQP4), which is expressed at endofeet of astrocytes has been implicated in the pathogenesis of NMO. We evaluated the impact of sera of seropositive patients with NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSDs) on the rodent optic nerve and retina.

Common variants in the complement factor H gene confer genetic susceptibility to central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To investigate whether complement factor H (CFH) gene DNA variants are associated with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Participants: A case-control group of 140 CSCR subjects and 2 different control groups: 934 population-based controls and 335 hospital-based controls.

Predicting visual outcome following surgery for idiopathic macular holes.

Since Kelly and Wendel [Arch Ophthalmol 1991;109:654-659] first reported successfully treating macular holes (MHs) using pars plana vitrectomy in 1991, MH surgery has been constantly improved. For example, introducing the removal of the internal limiting membrane considerably increased the closure rate of MHs, and the advent of microincision vitrectomy surgery reduced surgical trauma and decreased patient discomfort after surgery. As modern MH surgery can achieve a higher anatomical success rate and alleviate patients' postoperative distress, postoperative visual outcomes have lately become the primary concern.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: clinical features and genetic predisposition.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) is currently recognized as a phenotype of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). PCV is believed to be a type of choroidal neovascularization, although some cases of PCV show a distinct vascular abnormality of the choroidal vessels. PCV often shows several unique clinical manifestations which are apparently different from typical neovascular AMD (tAMD).

The ability of macular parameters and circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer by three SD-OCT instruments to diagnose highly myopic glaucoma.

Purpose: To compare the ability of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness and macular parameters obtained by three spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) instruments to detect highly myopic glaucoma.

Methods: In this study, 84 glaucomatous eyes, 53 normal eyes with high myopia, and 86 normal eyes (not highly myopic) were enrolled. Each participant was imaged using Cirrus, RTVue, and 3D OCT to evaluate the average and quadrant cpRNFL thicknesses.

Comparison of the effect of ranibizumab and verteporfin for polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: 12-month LAPTOP study results.

Purpose: To compare the effect of photodynamic therapy (PDT) and intravitreal ranibizumab in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Design: Randomized clinical trial.

Setting: Multicenter.

Comparative assessment for the ability of Cirrus, RTVue, and 3D-OCT to diagnose glaucoma.

Purpose: We compared the ability of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness and macular parameters obtained by three spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) instruments to detect glaucoma.

Methods: We enrolled 87 normal eyes and 145 glaucomatous eyes (75 early glaucomatous eyes (EGs), mean deviation > -6 dB). Each participant was imaged using Cirrus, RTVue, and 3D-OCT to evaluate the average and quadrant cpRNFL thicknesses.

[New insights into the study of optic nerve diseases].

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) provides a new dimenstion in ophthalmology because it allows evaluation of the pathology in vivo, and provides information to assist the management of macular disease and glaucoma. It is necessary to differentiate the diagnosis of glaucoma from diseases of the optic nerve and of the visual pathway. This study evaluates the usefulness of OCT in detecting disorders of the optic nerve and visual pathway.

Effects of oral bisphosphonates on myopic choroidal neovascularisation over 2 years of follow-up: comparison with anti-VEGF therapy and photodynamic therapy. A pilot study.

Background: Choroidal neovascularisation is often associated with pathological myopia. Bisphosphonates (BP), the preferred drug for treatment of osteoporosis, are known to have anti-angiogenic effects.

Objective: To compare the therapeutic effects of oral BP with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy (anti-VEGF) and photodynamic therapy (PDT) for myopic choroidal neovascularisation (mCNV) over 2 years of follow-up.

Structure-function relationship among three types of spectral-domain optical coherent tomography instruments in measuring parapapillary retinal nerve fibre layer thickness.

Purpose: To compare the relationships of parapapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness among three spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) instruments with visual field sensitivity (VFS).

Methods: One hundred and thirteen eyes of 113 Japanese subjects with glaucoma (mean deviation in standard automated perimetry = -8.9 ± 6.

Assessment of IcareONE rebound tonometer for self-measuring intraocular pressure.

Purpose: To evaluate the precision of the IcareONE rebound tonometer, which was developed for self-measuring intraocular pressure (IOP) and to compare IcareONE measurement with Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT).

Methods: Twenty-four healthy eyes and 81 glaucomatous eyes were enrolled. IOP measurements (three times per session) with IcareONE were made in a random order by an ophthalmologist (Icare(O)) and by the subject (Icare(S)).

IgG4-related skin manifestations in patients with IgG4-related disease.

We describe two cases of IgG4-related disease associated with skin manifestations with IgG4-positive plasma cells. The first patient was a 52-year-old woman with a 3-year history of IgG4-related sialadenitis who presented with pruritic, indurated erythematous lesions on the auricle, postauricular and submandibular regions and neck. A skin biopsy showed infiltration of IgG4-positive plasma cells in the subcutaneous tissue.

Effectiveness of intravitreal ranibizumab in exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD): comparison between typical neovascular AMD and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy over a 1 year follow-up.

Background: The effects of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) against exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may be different associated with the lesion phenotype. This study was conducted to compare the outcomes of IVR between two different phenotypes of exudative AMD: typical neovascular AMD (tAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of 54 eyes from 54 subfoveal exudative AMD patients (tAMD 24, PCV 30 eyes).

Visual outcome of photodynamic therapy for typical neovascular age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy over 5 years of follow-up.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term effects of photodynamic therapy (PDT) on typical neovascular age-related macular degeneration (tAMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Methods: This was a multicenter prospective study of 139 eyes from 136 patients (tAMD: 74 eyes; PCV: 65 eyes) who underwent PDT as the initial treatment. The change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), predictive factors for the BCVA at 60 months, frequency of recurrence, and mean recurrence period were analyzed.

Loss of aquaporin 9 expression adversely affects the survival of retinal ganglion cells.

Aquaporin 9 (AQP9), an aquaglyceroporin belonging to the AQP water channel family, is permeable not only to water but also to noncharged solutes such as lactate. In neurons, lactate presumably acts as an energy substrate and as a source of NADH (the reduced form of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide), a scavenger of reactive oxygen species (ROS). We previously reported that retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) express AQP9 and that elevated intraocular pressure reduces AQP9 expression and increases death of neurons in the retinal ganglion cell layer of rodents.

Predictive value of preoperative optical coherence tomography for visual outcome following macular hole surgery: effects of imaging alignment.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of reproducibility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) measurements and imaging alignment on predictive performance for visual outcome following macular hole (MH) surgery.

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 50 eyes that underwent MH surgery. Preoperative cross-sectional images through the center of the MH (on-center image) and through an off-center point (off-center image) were obtained from the OCT data.