[Therapy of advanced amoeba keratitis with keratoplasty à chaud and adjuvant cryotherapy].

Background: Since the mid-1980s acanthamoeba keratitis has been diagnosed with increasing frequency, especially in contact lens wearers. The assignment to specialized centers is often delayed many months and there is hardly any chance of controlling the disease by conservative treatment alone. In these cases, penetrating keratoplasty offers the only chance for rehabilitation.

Atheromatous and atheroma-like lesions of the central retinal artery: histopathological correlations.

Arteriosclerosis is very rare in the distal central retinal artery (CRA) of aged eyes devoid of significant ocular pathology. Nevertheless, atheromatous and atheroma-like lesions are occasionally observed in routine ophthalmic pathology. We investigated the histopathologic correlations of the eyes and vessels involved.

Tophus-like, conglomerated, crystalline calcification of the sclera.

The clinical history and the pathohistological findings of a peculiar form of multifocal scleral calcification in 3 globes of 2 patients are described. It consisted of globular drusen of rod-like crystals, fusing into large, tophus-like conglomerates. The crystals consisted of monoclinic and triclinic calcium pyrophosphate.

Dystrophic calcification of an implanted hydroxyethylmethacrylate intraocular lens.

Hydroxyethylmethacrylate is a biomaterial still under clinical trial for use in foldable intraocular lenses. We observed a patient in whom a geographic opacification developed within an implanted hydroxyethylmethacrylate lens, together with granular deposits on the posterior lens capsule and in the scar of a paracentesis. The intraocular lens and posterior lens capsule were removed because of impaired visual acuity.

[Granuloma annulare of the eyelid].

Background: Granuloma annulare is a chronic inflammatory disease of connective tissue, manifested clinically by small, firm nodules. It is observed only rarely around the eyes.

Patients And Methods: We present four patients aged 33 to 66 years with papulomatous lesions of the eyelids.

Ocular pathology in light chain deposition disease.

Light-chain deposition disease (LCDD), a rare form of monoclonal gammopathy, is characterized by deposits of amorphous light-chain material, mainly in the kidneys but also in various other organs. Here we present the first report of a light-, electron microscopic and immunohistochemical study of the globes of a patient suffering from LCDD secondary to multiple myeloma. Massive deposits of kappa light chains similar to those typically present in the kidneys were found beneath the basement membrane of the ciliary pigment epithelium, on vessels of the ciliary body, within the collagenous zones of Bruch's membrane, and in the innermost part of the choroid.

[Inflammatory cellular infiltration in scleritis].

Background: Scleritis can be a destructive disease frequently associated with autoimmune disorders. It is believed that primary vasculitis plays an important role in its pathogenesis, but little is known about the cellular effector mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to analyze the inflammatory cellular infiltrate in scleritis.

Ocular involvement in keratosis follicularis associated with retinitis pigmentosa. Clinicopathological case report.

In 1988, Itin et al. published the combination of keratosis follicularis (KF; Darier-White disease), an autosomal-dominantly transmitted genodermatosis, and retinitis pigmentosa (RP) in two brothers. One of these patients died unexpectedly at the age of 54 years.

Cell death and disposal in retinoblastoma: an electron microscopic study.

Background: Tumor necrosis and cell death are common features of retinoblastoma. In non-malignant retinal cells after ischemia, as well as in many non-retinal tumors, cell death occurs in at least two ways. We investigated whether similar patterns of cell death could be demonstrated in retinoblastoma cells.

Bubbles in the bleb--troubles in the bleb? Molteno implant and intraocular tamponade with silicone oil in an aphakic patient.

A 14-year-old aphakic girl who had had previous bilateral glaucoma surgery with a Molteno implant underwent pars plana vitrectomy and silicone-oil tamponade for proliferative-vitreoretinopathy retinal detachment in both eyes. The filtering bleb of the left eye was functional for 5 months before becoming available for histologic examination. We found numerous foreign-body granulomas coating the inner surface of the bleb, as well as intracellular and extracellular deposits of emulsified silicone oil in the wall of the bleb.

Cells perpetuating the inflammatory response in scleritis.

Scleritis can be a destructive disease frequently associated with autoimmune disorders. It is believed that primary vasculitis plays an important role in its pathogenesis, but little is known about the cellular effector mechanisms. The purpose of this study was to analyse the inflammatory cellular infiltrate in scleritis.

Primary gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy in a white woman. A pathologic, ultrastructural, and immunohistochemical study.

A white female with primary gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy (PGDD) was followed from the ages of 8 to 37 years. During this time, she underwent repeated lamellar and penetrating keratoplasties on both sides due to relapsing bilateral corneal opacifications. The diagnosis of PGDD was based on the histology of the corneal specimens obtained at 10 and 36 years of age, as well as on the characteristic clinical appearance and course.

Conjunctivalization of Meibomian glands following cryosurgery for basal cell carcinoma of the eyelid.

Cryosurgery on the eyelids destroys the cellular elements in the frozen region, but preserves the collagenous supporting structures. Cells from the neighborhood colonize this framework during wound healing. The Authors describe a peculiar change in the Meibomian glands, which obviously developed by this mechanism in a lid treated by cryotherapy for a basal cell carcinoma.

Immunopathological findings in posterior scleritis.

Posterior scleritis can present with a variety of symptoms, and its clinical diagnosis is therefore difficult. Little is known about the pathogenesis and the cellular effector mechanisms. This case report presents the immunopathological findings of posterior scleritis in the enucleated eye of a 28-year-old female with no known underlying disease.

[Pathology of the vitreous body. Primary aspects and principles].

Due to its simple structure, the vitreous body exhibits only a limited spectrum of pathological reactions. This structure undergoes age-related changes and degeneration throughout life. Modification in the relation between collagen and hyaluronic acid causes condensation of the vitreous fibrils, forming tractus, membranellae, and strands next to formations of clefts, lacunae, and detachments.

The diameter of the ciliary sulcus: a morphometric study.

Based on a precise definition of boundaries of the ciliary sulcus, a new anatomical method was used to measure the diameter of the ciliary sulcus in postmortem eyes. In each of 41 globes, 24 different ciliary sulcus diameters were measured and were compared with the axial length, measured by ultrasonography. The mean ciliary sulcus diameter was 11.

Common histopathological changes in aged human orbital arteries.

The physiology of the orbital arteries supplying the eye is currently under intensive investigation. However, while the anatomical distribution of these vessels in humans is well known, their normal histology and age-related or other pathologic alterations have hardly been studied. We obtained at autopsy 10 orbits from persons aged > or = 74 years, and two orbits from a person aged 47 years.

Failure to control AIDS-related CMV-retinitis with intravenous ganciclovir.

Between January 1988 and May 1991 intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) treatment was administered to eight male AIDS-patients with unilateral cytomegalovirus (CMV)-retinitis. Despite of continuous therapy with at least the recommended dose of GCV, three patients developed slowly progressive CMV-retinitis in the fellow eye after 4 to 13 months. The progression could not be stopped by GCV and thus bilateral blindness resulted after 12 to 22 months.

Distended optic nerve sheaths in Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy.

Distension of the optic nerve sheaths is a feature of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) that has attracted attention only recently. We followed a patient with LHON for 23 years and obtained his eyes for pathological examination after death. We report the first histologic description of distension of the optic nerve sheaths, together with typical histopathological findings of LHON.

[Orbitocranial plasmacytoma: a case report].

A female patient aged 79 years suffered from a unilateral, slowly progressive and painless exophthalmus. The investigations lead to the diagnosis of a voluminous plasma cell tumor involving the fossa infratemporalis, a part of the lateral orbit, as well as the middle and anterior cerebral fossae. This rare case is described and placed in its clinico-pathological context.

[Morphologic aspects of therapy-resistant cytomegalovirus retinitis].

Intravenous ganciclovir treatment was performed in eight male AIDS patients with primary unilateral CMV-retinitis. Three patients developed slowly progressive CMV-retinitis in the fellow eye despite adequate dose of ganciclovir. These different CMV-manifestations are shown in a sequence of fundus pictures.

Bietti's corneal-retinal dystrophy. A 16-year progression.

Bietti's crystalline corneal-retinal dystrophy is characterized by deposits of crystals in the marginal cornea and the paracentral and peripapillary retina. To date, only three cases with long term follow-up have been reported. The case of another patient, who has been observed for 16 years, is reported here.

Microvasculopathy in the ocular fundus after bone marrow transplantation.

Objective: To determine the incidence and time course of retinal and optic-disk ischemia after bone marrow transplantation and to describe the clinical, fluorescein-angiographic, and histologic findings in patients with these ischemic fundus lesions.

Design: Prospective cohort study; standardized clinical and ophthalmologic evaluation of all patients before bone marrow transplantation and 3, 6, and 12 months after transplantation (and when indicated).

Setting: University hospitals in Basel, Switzerland.

[Adenoma of the pigmented epithelium of the iris with endothelialization and descemetization in the horse].

The authors describe peculiar tumors with brown-white piebald anterior surface, which had grown bilaterally from the corpora nigra (C.N.) of an adult horse and occluded the pupils.

[Simultaneous corneal transplantation in mucopolysaccharidosis].

We report the case of a 14 year old girl who obtained simultaneous penetrating keratoplasty for corneal opacity with functional loss as a consequence of a mucopolysaccharidosis typ Hurler/Scheie. Postoperatively, the host cornea displayed partial clearing. We discuss mechanisms possibly involved.