NONSURGICAL RESOLUTION OF FULL-THICKNESS MACULAR HOLES WITHOUT VITREOMACULAR TRACTION.

Background/purpose: The purpose of this study was to report a case series of full-thickness macular holes without vitreomacular traction that resolved without surgery.

Methods: This study is a retrospective case series of 11 patients who demonstrated closure of full-thickness macular holes without surgical intervention.

Results: All full-thickness macular holes closed, with all patients having improvement in visual acuity.

In Situ Tremor in Vitreoretinal Surgery.

Objective: Surgeon tremor was measured during vitreoretinal microscopic surgeries under different hand support conditions.

Background: While the ophthalmic surgeon's forearm is supported using a standard symmetric wrist rest when operating on the patient's same side as the dominant hand (SSD), the surgeon's hand is placed directly on the patient's forehead when operating on the contralateral side of the dominant hand (CSD). It was hypothesized that more tremor is associated with CSD surgeries than SSD surgeries and that, using an experimental asymmetric wrist rest where the contralateral wrist bar gradually rises and curves toward the patient's operative eye, there is no difference in tremor associated with CSD and SSD surgeries.

Propranolol for Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy.

Background And Objective: To determine the effect of propranolol on retinal neovascularization due to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

Patients And Methods: For this prospective pilot, interventional, case series, patients with diabetes with PDR (n = 10 subjects; 12 eyes) were recruited at the ophthalmology clinic of the University of Wisconsin - Madison. Subjects were administered oral propranolol for 12 weeks and retinopathy and area of retinal neovascularization were monitored with fundus photography and fluorescein angiography (FA).

Response to aflibercept as secondary therapy in patients with persistent retinal edema due to central retinal vein occlusion initially treated with bevacizumab or ranibizumab.

Background: Recent advances have given practitioners options for the treatment of macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion. These options include steroid injections and implants as well as anti-vascular endothelial growth factor medications. However, there is little in the medical literature to guide secondary therapy when an initial treatment strategy is insufficient.

Diabetic macular edema: therapeutic options.

Treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) is continuously evolving with the advent of pharmacologic therapies. Focal laser photocoagulation remains the historical standard of care; however, a new wave of studies is rapidly emerging that shows the benefit of intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor medications and corticosteroids. The goal of this review is to compare the various treatment options for DME, and include data from the most recent clinical trials of therapies for this complex condition.

Intratarsal epidermal inclusion cyst.

Purpose: To report 3 cases of epidermal inclusion cyst that arose within the tarsus, an unusual site of origin.

Methods: A retrospective review of medical records of patients undergoing excision of eyelid epidermal inclusion cysts by one surgeon (MJL) over a decade revealed 3 cases of intratarsal epidermal inclusion cyst. Initially, these lesions resembled chalazia and were first addressed with incision and curettage.

A study of histopathological features of latanoprost-treated irides with or without darkening compared with non-latanoprost-treated irides.

Objectives: To study the histopathological features of latanoprost-treated irides with or without darkening, compared with non-latanoprost-treated irides.

Methods: Iridectomy specimens and patient history forms were independently examined by 3 ophthalmic pathologists in a masked fashion. Specimens were evaluated for premalignant changes and for differences in level of pigmentation and degrees of cellularity, inflammation, and vascular abnormalities.

Clinicopathologic correlation of explanted AlphaCor artificial cornea after exposure of implant.

Purpose: To describe the clinical presentation and histopathologic findings in a case of explantation of an AlphaCor artificial cornea implant caused by exposure of the skirt.

Methods: We describe the case report of a 46-year-old man who suffered trauma to the right eye, resulting in 4 failed penetrating keratoplasties (PKPs). Subsequently, an AlphaCor implantation was performed with some visual improvement.

1 alpha-Hydroxyvitamin D2 inhibits growth of human neuroblastoma.

Neuroblastoma is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood. The poor outcomes of patients with high-risk neuroblastoma have encouraged the search for new therapies. In the current study, the effect of the vitamin D analog 1alpha-hydroxyvitamin D2 (1alpha-OH-D2, doxercalciferol) was assessed in a mouse xenograft model of human neuroblastoma.

Outcomes associated with ganciclovir implants in patients with AIDS-related cytomegalovirus retinitis.

Purpose: To investigate complications associated with ganciclovir implants used to treat AIDS-related cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis, and to identify factors that predict poor outcomes.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Participants: Consecutive patients with AIDS-related CMV retinitis from 3 clinical facilities who underwent implantation procedures during the period January 1, 1995 through December 31, 2001.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome with intracranial meningioma: an as yet unreported association.

Case Report: We document a previously unreported association of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome with intracranial meningioma. A female patient with diminished vision, exudative retinal detachment, and headache was diagnosed with VKH syndrome, more precisely a Harada form of disease with intracranial meningioma, on the basis of exudative retinal detachment, typical fundus fluorescein findings, and magnetic resonance imaging. With intravenous steroid therapy, visual acuity improved and the detachment settled within a week.

Ocular changes after photodynamic therapy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify the changes in the primate visual system after a single session of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in an intact nonhuman primate retina.

Methods: As part of a larger study, PDT (wavelength 689 nm, 50 J/cm2, 600 mW/cm2, 83 seconds, 4-mm spot size) with verteporfin (6 mg/m2 intravenous infusion) was performed in one eye each of two cynomolgus monkeys. Fundus photography, fluorescein angiography (FA), indocyanine green angiography (ICG), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) were performed at baseline and 12 time points (1-283 days) after PDT.

Wet age-related macular degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible visual loss in industrialized nations for those age 65 and above. The majority of patients with severe visual loss suffer from the wet form of AMD wherein there is choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and associated manifestations such as retinal pigment epithelial detachment, subretinal hemorrhages, and fibrovascular disciform scarring. The main focus on understanding the pathogenesis of CNV has been on the hypothesis that the diffuse thickening of Bruch's membrane predisposes it to develop cracks and in-growth of new vessels from choriocapillaries with associated low-grade inflammatory response.