Cataract surgery and YAG-laser capsulotomy following vitrectomy for diabetic retinopathy.

The present study was initiated to assess time-course and risk factors for the development of cataract and posterior-capsule opacification as well as complications of cataract surgery and YAG-laser capsulotomy following vitrectomy for diabetic retinopathy. The charts of all patients undergoing vitrectomy for diabetic retinopathy during a 5-year period in a university eye hospital were retrospectively reviewed. The course of 306 consecutive eyes in which the lens was retained during vitrectomy was analyzed for subsequent cataract surgery and YAG-laser capsulotomy.

Primary vitrectomy without scleral buckling for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Background: Pars planta vitrectomy has evolved as an alternative method in the treatment of more complicated rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. We report a series of patients who underwent primary vitrectomy with gas tamponade without the use of additional scleral buckling.

Methods: A retrospective study of 53 patients with a follow-up of 6-45 months (mean 17.

Life expectancy of diabetic patients undergoing vitreous surgery.

Background: Patients with advanced diabetic eye disease are commonly in poor general health. In addition to the ocular status, life expectancy is an important factor in the decision whether and how to perform vitreous surgery. The present study investigates mortality and risk factors for survival in diabetic patients following vitrectomy.

Ocular phenotypes associated with two mutations (R121W, C126X) in the Norrie disease gene.

Purpose: To describe the ocular phenotypes associated with 2 mutations in the Norrie disease gene including a manifesting carrier.

Methods: Ophthalmological examinations were performed in 2 affected males and one manifesting carrier. Genomic DNA was analyzed by direct sequencing of the Norrie disease gene.

Long-term results of pars plana vitrectomy in the management of intermediate uveitis.

Pars plana vitrectomy is a useful tool for the management of certain complications in chronic intermediate uveitis. Media opacities obscuring the visual axis, vitreous membranes causing tractional retinal detachment, macular puckers, and ciliary traction leading to hypotony are clear indications for this approach. Furthermore, it has been suggested that vitrectomy may have a favorable long-term effect on the course of disease.

Prognostic implications of monosomy 3 in uveal melanoma.

Background: A high proportion of patients with uveal melanoma die of metastatic disease. In a subgroup of uveal melanomas there is the loss of one chromosome 3. To assess the prognostic implications of this genetic anomaly, we studied 54 patients for a median of 3.

[Long-term outcome of radiotherapy of choroid hemangioma].

The usual therapeutic approach to circumscribed choroidal hemangiomas of the posterior pole consists of scatter photocoagulation of the tumor surface. This may often require repetitive treatment or additional invasive measures prior to coagulation due to massive exudative detachment of the retina. In this study, external beam irradiation with high-energy photons (total absorbed dose: 20 Gy) was applied to 36 symptomatic patients.

Fast spin-echo MR imaging of the eye.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the eye usually includes T2-weighted images both for screening purposes and for characterization of melanoma. Conventional T2-weighted spin-echo (SE) imaging suffers both from long acquisition times and incomplete recovery of the vitreous' signal. A fast SE sequence was therefore compared prospectively with conventional sequences in 29 consecutive patients with lesions of the eye.

[Loss of brain stem auditory evoked potential waves I and II during controlled hypotension].

For surgical removal of a malignant choroid melanoma, it is necessary to reduce systolic blood pressure to around 50-60 mmHg in order to prevent choroidal haemorrhages. However, blood pressure reduction is associated with the risk of cerebral ischaemia. We report a patient with a malignant choroid melanoma in whom waves I and II of the brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEP) disappeared during surgery under controlled arterial hypotension and hypothermia (31.

Severe course of cutaneous melanoma associated paraneoplastic retinopathy.

Background: Melanoma associated retinopathy (MAR) is a paraneoplastic syndrome in metastatic cutaneous melanoma presenting with nightblindness, light sensations, mild visual loss, and reduced b-waves in the electroretinogram (ERG).

Methods: A patient with MAR was followed for a period of 25 months with repeated examinations including visual field testing and recording of standard electro-oculography, standard ERG, and photopic On and Off responses.

Results: A male patient with a very severe course of MAR is described.

Cytogenetics of twelve cases of uveal melanoma and patterns of nonrandom anomalies and isochromosome formation.

We present cytogenetic data of 12 new cases of uveal melanoma. One case showed a hypotetraploid chromosome number; the others were near-diploid. Underrepresentation or monosomy of chromosome 3 as well as multiplication of chromosomes 8, 8q, or regions of 8q was found in five cases.

Two subclones in a case of uveal melanoma. Relevance of monosomy 3 and multiplication of chromosome 8q.

Monosomy 3 and multiplication of 8q are nonrandom findings in uveal melanoma. We present a case in which two subclones could be detected. Both had monosomy 3 in common.

[Varicella zoster virus infections of the retina in patients with and without immune suppression].

Background: Infections of the retina with the varicella-zoster virus can lead to severe visual impairment. Patients with immunodeficiency are particularly predisposed to viral infections, and the alterations of the immune system may lead to a modified clinical picture.

Patients: Two cases of infections of the retina with the varicella-zoster virus in an immunocompromised and an immunocompetent patient are presented.

Histopathologic findings in large uveal melanomas after brachytherapy with iodine 125 ophthalmic plaques.

Eyes of 25 patients among a series of 100 consecutive patients who underwent iodine 125 brachytherapy for extremely large uveal melanomas measuring more than 7-8 mm in height had to be enucleated after an average interval of 1.4 years. The dose delivered to the tumor apex was 120-150 Gy.

Chromosomal gains and losses in uveal melanomas detected by comparative genomic hybridization.

Eleven uveal melanomas were analyzed using comparative genomic hybridization (CGH). The most abundant genetic changes were loss of chromosome 3, overrepresentation of 6p, loss of 6q, and multiplication of 8q. The smallest overrepresented regions on 6p and 8q were 6pter-->p21 and 8q24-->qter, respectively.

Long-term results of pars plana vitrectomy in the management of complicated uveitis.

This retrospective study evaluates the long term efficacy of pars plana vitrectomy on the preservation of vision in complicated chronic uveitis, including endogenous intermediate uveitis and other entities. Combined vitrectomy-lensectomy was performed in 10 eyes with complicated cataracts, and 18 vitrectomies were done without lensectomies. The mean follow up was 45 months.

[Ocular involvement in Whipple disease].

PATIENTS AND METHODS We present a 57-year-old white man with progressive deterioration of vision, who had a prolonged history of weakness, migratory arthralgias and loss of weight. Bilateral panuveitis, with iritis, inflammatory vitreous opacities associated with small, round, grayish retinal lesions. The duodenum showed a swollen mucosa, which was flecked over with pinpoint grayish grains.

[Retinopathy of prematurity: an analysis of risk factors].

In 29 infants with retinopathy of prematurity we retrospectively studied the influence of various clinical factors on the severity of the disease and compared this group of patients with controls without retinopathy. Infants presenting with different stages of retinopathy showed significant differences in gestational age, length of mechanical ventilation, additional supplemental oxygen, and the number of episodes of acidosis and hypocarbia. Compared with controls, hyperoxemia with paO2-levels above 100 mmHg and hypocarbia with pCO2-levels below 35 mmHg was more often observed in infants with retinopathy (p < 0.

Prognosis and treatment of disseminated uveal melanoma.

Background: The clinical course of uveal melanoma differs greatly from that of cutaneous melanoma.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with metastatic uveal melanoma (13 men and 11 women; median age at diagnosis, 56 years [range, 17-67 years]) were evaluated retrospectively.

Results: Main sites of metastases were liver (87%), lung (46%), bone (29%), and skin (17%).

Retinal lesions experimentally produced by intravitreal ultrasound.

Currently, vitreous surgical techniques combined with phakoemulsification are an established procedure for the removal of luxated natural lenses or dislocated lenticular material. This has proven to be a safe procedure, but occasionally retinal lesions have been inadvertently created. We describe the ophthalmoscopic and morphologic features of ultrasonically induced retinal lesions in rabbit eyes using a similar technique.

Radiation-induced optic neuropathy following brachytherapy of uveal melanomas.

In a prospective study the incidence of optic neuropathy following 106Ru/106Rh-brachytherapy of uveal melanomas was evaluated. Pattern visual evoked potentials (VECP) were measured before radiation and at regular follow-up intervals. Patients were grouped according to tumor location in peripheral melanomas with a central tumor margin of more than 60 degrees to the optic disc (n = 11) and central melanomas with a tumor within 15 degrees to the optic disc (n = 28).

Hexadecylphosphocholine may produce reversible functional defects of the retinal pigment epithelium.

Hexadecylphosphocholine is a synthetic phospholipid derivative that has antitumor activity due to its interference with membrane functions. Animal experiments have shown photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) degeneration after its systemic application. In a phase II trial of hexadecylphosphocholine therapy in 23 patients with advanced metastatic colorectal or lung cancer, visual acuity and color vision testing, slit-lamp examination, tonometry, fundoscopy (including photodocumentation), visual field testing, electrooculography (EOG), and electroretinography (ERG) were performed.

[Spontaneous dislocation of a silicone disk lens 4 months postoperative into the vitreous body].

We report on a patient who experienced an acute deterioration in visual acuity at night four months after implantation of a silicon-disc lens into the capsular bag. On examination, the artificial lens was localized preretinally. The capsular equator was fibrous, but had retained its circular shape.