Artificial Cornea: Past, Current, and Future Directions.

Corneal diseases are a leading cause of blindness with an estimated 10 million patients diagnosed with bilateral corneal blindness worldwide. Corneal transplantation is highly successful in low-risk patients with corneal blindness but often fails those with high-risk indications such as recurrent or chronic inflammatory disorders, history of glaucoma and herpetic infections, and those with neovascularisation of the host bed. Moreover, the need for donor corneas greatly exceeds the supply, especially in disadvantaged countries.

Confocal and Histological Features After Poly(Ethylene Glycol) Diacrylate Corneal Inlay Implantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the in vivo biocompatibility of photopolymerized poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) intrastromal inlays in rabbit corneas.

Methods: Sixty-three eyes of 42 New Zealand rabbits were included. Manual intrastromal pockets were dissected in 42 eyes.

Magnetic detection of sentinel nodes in oral squamous cell carcinoma by means of superparamagnetic iron oxide contrast.

The aim was to evaluate sentinel node detection capacity by means of a magnetic probe in 11 patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma at stages T1-T2 received submucosal injections of a superparamagnetic iron oxide contrast agent (SPIO). A magnetic probe was used for sentinel node biopsy. The use of SPIO and magnetic probes in the early stages of oral cancer may offer an alternative to conventional radioisotope techniques and/or elective neck dissection.

Bilateral Retrobulbar Optic Neuropathy Associated With Golimumab.

We report the first documented case of retrobulbar optic neuropathy associated with golimumab. A 48-year-old man was admitted with a 3-week history of progressive visual loss of his left eye. He had received a second infusion of golimumab for ankylosing spondylitis 10 days before admission.

Objective optical quality analysis using double-pass technique in pterygium surgery.

Purpose: To analyze objective optical quality changes after pterygium surgical excision using the Optical Quality Analysis System.

Methods: Forty eyes with primary pterygium suitable for surgical treatment were included. Uncorrected distance visual acuity, corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), objective scattering index (OSI), and cutoff frequency of the modulation transfer function (MTFcutoff) were recorded preoperatively and at 1 and 6 months postoperatively.

Sentinel node biopsy in relation to survival in floor of the mouth carcinoma.

Promising results have been obtained with sentinel node biopsy (SNB) in early oral carcinoma, but the floor of the mouth remains a site at risk of misdiagnosis. A retrospective and prospective study was designed to test the safety of SNB by comparing survival among patients with early stage carcinoma of the floor of the mouth (FOM) undergoing SNB, to a control group managed traditionally by a combination of clinical observation and elective neck dissection (END). A total of 63 patients with early stage carcinoma of the FOM were treated between 1991 and 2005.

[Pigmentary epitheliopathy multifocal acute placoid associated with paralysis of VI cranial par].

Clinical Case: We report the case of a 24-year-old patient who attended our hospital with an acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) which was later confirmed by fluorescein angiography. One month after presentation the patient developed a right VI nerve palsy.

Discussion: APMPPE is an acute-onset bilateral inflammatory disease causing impaired vision.

Automatized large diameter lamellar keratoplasty and stem cell transplantation for the treatment of ocular surface diseases with limbal insufficiency.

Purpose: To report a new surgical procedure for the treatment of ocular surface diseases associated with severe limbal insufficiency.

Methods: A retrospective review of four patients with severe ocular surface disease who required stem cell transplantation and keratoplasty for the correction of limbal insufficiencies. They underwent large diameter lamellar keratoplasty with microkeratome.

[Progressive geographic chorioretinopathy associated with Alagille syndrome].

Case Report: We report the case of a patient with the genetic diagnosis of Alagille Syndrome, who has attended our hospital since 1992, and has shown a progressive bilateral chorioretinopathy with severe deterioration in visual acuity.

Discussion: Ocular abnormalities associated with Alagille Syndrome are variable and can affect most ocular structures. Although severe visual threat or progressive ocular disease associated with Alagille syndrome have not yet been described, our patient has shown a marked decrease in visual acuity and a clear progression of the chorioretinal atrophy.

[Prospective randomized trial comparing Discovisc versus Healon in phacoemulsification].

Objective: To compare the intraoperative behaviour of both, DisCoVisc and Healon used as viscoelastics in cataract surgery.

Method: We prospectively evaluated 35 patients with cataracts who underwent phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation. Patients were randomized into two groups.

[Floppy-iris syndrome associated with tamsulosin. A prospective case-control study].

Objective: The main objectives of this study were: To assess the incidence of the intraoperative floppy-iris syndrome associated with tamsulosin and to analyse the incidence of intraoperative and postoperative complications as compared to a control group. Secondary objectives were: to describe the pupillary modifications associated with tamsulosin and to quantify the endothelial cell loss.

Methods: A prospective review of 38 eyes of 38 patients was performed.

[Retrobulbar optic neuritis associated with Infliximab].

Case Report: We report the case of a 76-year-old woman who attended our hospital because of a sudden loss of visual acuity in her left eye. The problem appeared to be that of retrobulbar optic neuritis. However, the age of the patient together with the simultaneous use of Infliximab to treat her rheumatoid arthritis, suggests the demyelination may have been associated with the Infliximab use.