Optical Scattering from Vitreous Floaters.

Vitreous "floaters" are a common entoptic phenomenon that can result in significant reduction in quality of life in a proportion of sufferers. The authors use a computational mathematical model based on Fourier optics and reflection and transmission coefficients calculated for a planar type II collagen opacity suspended in aqueous to show that floaters are perceived by the patient through interference effects that result in significant variations in intensity on the retina when viewing a constant brightness surface. The model also predicts that backscattered intensity from floaters is ten thousand to one million times lower than the variations in intensity produced on the retina, which demonstrates that the visible effects of floaters for the patient can be highly significant, whereas clinical observation of the vitreous may be entirely unremarkable.

Successful treatment of choroidal neovascularization secondary to sorsby fundus dystrophy with intravitreal bevacizumab.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the response of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in Sorsby fundus dystrophy to intravitreal bevacizumab.

Methods: Three eyes of 2 patients with CNV as a result of Sorsby fundus dystrophy were treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injections (0.05 mL, 1.

Prognostic factors that determine visual outcome following cataract surgery complicated by vitreous loss.

Purpose: To identify prognostic factors that determine visual outcome following phacoemulsification cataract surgery complicated by vitreous loss.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study. All cases of vitreous loss during phacoemulsification surgery at a university hospital, between June 2000 and December 2005, were identified from the hospital computer database.

Scleral hydraulic conductivity and macromolecular diffusion in patients with uveal effusion syndrome.

Purpose: To determine whether uveal effusion syndrome (UES) is caused by altered scleral permeability to water and large molecules.

Methods: Transscleral water movement was measured using surgically removed sclera clamped in a modified Ussing chamber and connected to a water column set at intraocular pressure. Sclera was also clamped between two hemichambers, and transscleral diffusion of FITC-dextrans (4.

Combined phacovitrectomy for macular hole: long-term results.

Background And Objective: To present the long-term results of patients undergoing combined phacovitrectomy surgery for idiopathic macular hole at a single center.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective review of the records for 57 eyes of 53 consecutive patients who underwent combined phacovitrectomy for idiopathic macular hole during an 18-month period was completed at the Southampton Eye Unit.

Results: In 45 of 57 eyes (78.

Late intraocular pressure rise following intravitreal triamcinolone injection.

Most ophthalmologists are aware of the risk of elevated intraocular pressure developing 1 or 2 months after an intravitreal injection of triamcinolone. However, the two cases reported here demonstrate that such a rise can occur significantly later than this. All patients who have had intravitreal steroid injection should therefore have prolonged intraocular pressure monitoring.

Reduced secretion of fibulin 5 in age-related macular degeneration and cutis laxa.

Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is the leading cause of irreversible visual loss in the Western world, affecting approximately 25 million people worldwide. The pathogenesis is complex and missense mutations in FBLN5 have been reported in association with ARMD. We have investigated the role of fibulin 5 in ARMD by completing the first European study of the gene FBLN5 in ARMD (using 2 European cohorts of 805 ARMD patients and 279 controls) and by determining the functional effects of the missense mutations on fibulin 5 expression.