Tamoxifen side effects, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or cancer associated retinopathy (CAR)?

Purpose: Differential diagnosis of maculopathies can be difficult but is important if patients also suffer from other diseases such as breast cancer treated with antiestrogens. The main possible diagnoses, especially in the elderly, are age-related macular degeneration, tamoxifen and cancer-associated retinopathy (CAR).

Methods: We describe an 84-year-old patient with breast and colon cancer, who complained of a decrease in visual acuity after treatment with low-dose antiestrogens.

Pupillary light reflexes in patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

Background: According to a recent pupillographic study, patients with Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) show the same pupillary behaviour as normals. Because this raises many questions concerning the real nature of LHON and challenges our concept of the afferent pupillary system, we tried to verify the results of this study.

Methods: Pupillary function was assessed in 34 normal subjects and 40 patients with LHON.

Interaction of the indirectly acting topical sympathomimetics cocaine and pholedrine.

In suspected Horner's syndrome, cocaine eye drops are applied to verify the diagnosis. Subsequent application of hydroxyamphetamine or pholedrine eye drops allows localization of the site of the interruption in the oculosympathetic pathway. In the present study the influence of cocaine on subsequent pholedrine testing was examined.