Restoration of vision by combined experimental antithymocyte therapy, and orbital radiation with high-dose steroids for severe, acute, steroid-refractory, congestive thyroid orbitopathy.

Purpose: We report diagnostic and therapeutic dilemmas in the difficult case of compressive optic neuropathy with severe visual acuity and visual field loss with subsequent visual recovery in both eyes, in a patient with Graves' orbitopathy (GO) by a combination of experimental antithymocyte therapy, orbital radiotherapy with high-dose steroids.

Methods: A 72-year-old man presented with severe vision loss in both eyes. The visual symptoms had appeared over a year before the GO diagnosis.

Age-Related Macular or Retinal Degeneration?

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease that leads to progressive vision loss. Its prevalence has been increasing due to population aging. Previously, it was commonly believed that the disease affects the central retina, that is, the macula.

Ocular features in Aicardi syndrome: A case report.

Rationale: Aicardi syndrome is a genetic malformation syndrome with a triad of dysgenesis or agenesis of the corpus callosum, distinctive chorioretinal lacunae and infantile spasms. It is a rare developmental disorder first described in 1965. The disease affects 1 in 100,000 live births.

Phenotypic Variation of Autosomal Recessive Leber Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (arLHON) in One Family.

Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) is a rare disease with a prevalence of 1 in 25,000 births. LHON usually presents in young males, with painless loss of visual acuity in one or both eyes. Recently an autosomal recessive form of the disease (arLHON or LHONAR) has been described, which is caused by a biallelic mutation in the DNAJC30 gene (usually a missense mutation c.

Visual evoked potentials as a method for the prospective assessment of tacrolimus neurotoxicity in patients after kidney transplantation.

Introduction: Neurotoxicity, including optic nerve injury, is one of the most common adverse effects of tacrolimus, the principal calcineurin inhibitor used after kidney transplantation (KTx). The electrophysiologic measurements of both pattern visual evoked potentials (PVEP) and flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP) are valuable when drug-induced optic neuropathy is suspected.

Objectives: To determine whether VEP measurement is a sensitive and repeatable method for monitoring tacrolimus neurotoxicity.

Combined central retinal vein and cilioretinal artery occlusion in a 25-year-old woman.

We report a case of a 25-year-old woman with sudden and painless diminution in vision and central scotoma in her left eye (LE). She was a smoker and had been taking combined oral contraceptive (COC) pills for 1 year. On admission, the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 1,5/50 in the LE.

Acute Zonal Occult Outer Retinopathy in a Patient Suffering from Epilepsy: Five-Year Follow-Up.

We report an unprecedented case of a young patient with epilepsy coexisting with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR), a rare white dot syndrome of unknown etiology, associated with damage to the large zones of the outer retina. Recently, it has been established that epileptic episodes contribute to an inflammatory response both in the brain and the retina. A 13-year-old male patient with epilepsy was referred by a neurologist for an ophthalmologic consultation due to a sudden deterioration of visual acuity in the left eye.

Ocular Toxoplasmosis Associated with Unilateral Pigmentary Retinopathy That May Mimic Retinitis Pigmentosa: Diagnostic Dilemmas.

We report a unique case of coexisting pigmentary retinopathy and ocular toxoplasmosis in a young male patient. A 23-year-old man presented with sudden visual deterioration in the left eye (LE). The fundus findings revealed bone spicule-shaped pigment deposits, a slightly pale optic disc, arteriole constriction, cystoid macular edema with an epiretinal membrane, and two small inflammatory chorioretinal scars in the right eye, with a concentric narrowing of the visual field and a nonrecordable multifocal electroretinogram (ERG).

The Effect of Maintenance Treatment with Twice-Daily or Prolonged Once-Daily Tacrolimus Formulation on Visual Evoked Potentials in Stable Kidney Transplant Recipients.

In kidney transplant recipients (KTRs), uraemia-induced central nervous system damage partly subsides, while the long-lasting exposure to tacrolimus may cause pathologic visual evoked potentials (VEP) findings, which have not been investigated yet. Thus, the aim of the present study was to assess the effect of tacrolimus maintenance treatment on bioelectrical function of optic nerves in stable KTRs. Sixty-five stable KTRs were enrolled, including 30 patients treated with twice-daily (Prograf) and 35 patients treated with prolonged once-daily (Advagraf) tacrolimus formulation.

A Rare Mutation in The Gene Associated with Neurological Manifestations in Familial Hypobetalipoproteinemia.

Clinical phenotypes of familial hypobetalipoproteinemia (FHBL) are related to a number of defective apolipoprotein B () alleles. Fatty liver disease is a typical manifestation, but serious neurological symptoms can appear. In this study, genetic analysis of the gene and ophthalmological diagnostics were performed for family members with FHBL.

Flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP) in various stimulation conditions.

Aim: To compare flash visual evoked potentials (FVEP) elicited using a Ganzfeld bowl (G), Mini Ganzfeld (MG) and Flash Goggles (GG) with eyes open and closed.

Patients And Method: The study group comprised 17 volunteers with mean age of 30 years; all of them were examined with the Roland Consult electrophysiological diagnostic system. Active electrodes were placed at O and O.

The Effect of a Decrease in Intraocular Pressure on Optic Nerve Function in Patients with Optic Nerve Drusen.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to compare optic nerve function in eyes with brinzolamide-reduced intraocular pressure (IOP) and the fellow eyes of patients with optic disk drusen (ODD).

Methods: The study comprised 34 patients with bilateral ODD but no signs of any other ocular disease. The eyes with more advanced optic neuropathy were selected for treatment with an IOP-lowering drug, carbonic anhydrase inhibitor (brinzolamide); the fellow eyes served as the control.

Autosomal recessive cone-rod dystrophy can be caused by mutations in the ATF6 gene.

Inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) are clinically and genetically highly heterogeneous, making clinical diagnosis difficult. The advances in high-throughput sequencing (ie, panel, exome and genome sequencing) have proven highly effective on defining the molecular basis of these disorders by identifying the underlying variants in the respective gene. Here we report two siblings affected by an IRD phenotype and a novel homozygous c.

Differences in serum oxidative status between glaucomatous and nonglaucomatous cataract patients.

Background: Oxidative stress contributes to both intraocular pressure regulation and glaucomatous neuropathy. The systemic redox status (solitary determination) was examined in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients with cataract and nonglaucomatous cataract patients. Cataract-matched group comparisons appear more precise in the context of oxidative stress evaluation.

Visual evoked potentials in diagnostics of optic neuropathy associated with renal failure.

Chronic renal failure is associated with many neurological complications. Due to accumulation of uremic neurotoxins axonal degeneration with its secondary demyelination occurs, which results in development of polineuropathy in 60‑100% of patients with chronic renal failure. One of the most severe peripheral neuropathy is optic neuropathy.

Diagnostic methods in ocular argyrosis: case report.

Purpose: The aim of this report is to present a case of a patient, metal foundry worker, who had been exposed to industrial silver salts for over 20 years. It is well established that chronic exposure to silver compounds can cause accumulation of silver deposits in various tissues. This condition is referred to as argyrosis or argyria, whereas changes related to eye tissues are defined as ocular argyrosis.

Determination of Serum Ceruloplasmin Concentration in Patients with Primary Open Angle Glaucoma with Cataract and Patients with Cataract Only: A Pilot Study.

BACKGROUND The aim of this article was to describe the role of ceruloplasmin and to report preliminary results of ceruloplasmin concentrations in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) with cataract and in patients with only cataract. Glaucoma, a neurodegenerative disease, is a heterogeneous group of conditions characterized by loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGC), their axons, progressive optic nerve damage, and visual field deterioration. MATERIAL AND METHODS The POAG group included 30 patients and the cataract group included 25 patients.

Oxidative stress in the red blood cells of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma.

Background: This study was designed to examine oxidative and antioxidative changes in the red blood cells (RBCs) of patients presenting with glaucomatous degeneration.

Methods: The experimental design was a case-control study of strictly selected patients who required antiglaucomatous surgery during primary open-angle glaucoma despite relatively regulated intraocular pressure (IOP) (POAG group, n = 30) and patients who underwent an operation for nonpathological cataracts (cataract group, n = 25). The activities of total superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPX), and catalase (CAT), as well as the concentration of malondialdehyde (MDA), were measured.

Different Impacts of Luminosity on Contrast Vision in Eyes with Transparent Optic Media and with Cataract Simulation.

Objective: To evaluate the effect of luminous intensity on contrast vision under different ocular conditions.

Materials And Methods: Ninety eyes of 45 persons were included in this study as follows: 30 healthy eyes, 30 eyes with cataract simulation (using translucent glasses), and 30 myopic eyes. Contrast sensitivity was examined using 5 spatial frequencies (1.

An automatic saccadic eye movement detection in an optokinetic nystagmus signal.

A saccade is one of the characteristic types of eye movements. The accurate detection and location of saccades in the signal representing the movement activity of the eyes are essential in medical applications. The main purpose of this paper is to present a new, robust approach to the detection of saccadic eye movements.

Visual-evoked potentials in patients with brain circulatory problems.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to find out if local brain circulatory problems may influence visual-evoked potentials (VEP).

Patients And Methods: Thirty-eight patients were divided into the following groups: (I) those with hemianopsia or quadrantanopsia and hemiparesis after brain stroke; (II) those with hemianopsia or quadrantanopsia without paresis after brain stroke; and (III) those with amaurosis fugax. The control group consisted of 38 patients.

A new method of saccadic eye movement detection for optokinetic nystagmus analysis.

The analysis of eye movements is valuable in both clinical work and research. One of the characteristic type of eye movements is saccade. The accurate detection of saccadic eye movements is the base for further processing of saccade parameters such as velocity, amplitude and duration.

Retrospective analysis of pattern VEP results in different ocular and systemic diseases.

Purpose: Significantly increased latency of VEP assessment in various ocular and systemic disorders and discussion of VEP interpretation problems in patients with sudden loss of visual acuity.

Material And Methods: A retrospective analysis of pattern VEP in 352 patients with suspected retrobulbar optic neuritis and 892 patients with significantly increased (more than three standard deviations) P100 latency was performed. Transient pattern VEP (PVEP) was recorded in accordance with ISCEV standards with the use of two active electrodes in the occipital region (from left and right sides).