Charles Bonnet Syndrome Adversely Affects Vision-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) on vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) in patients with glaucoma.

Design: Cross-sectional cohort study.

Participants: Twenty-four patients with CBS and 42 matched controls without CBS out of 337 patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) with visual field (VF) loss.

Long-term Impact of Immediate Versus Delayed Treatment of Early Glaucoma: Results From the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial.

Purpose: To compare long-term visual outcomes in the 2 arms of the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial (EMGT) and determine if delayed treatment was associated with a penalty in terms of visual function.

Design: Long-term follow-up of a prospective, randomized controlled clinical trial.

Methods: EMGT was carried out at 2 centers in Sweden; 255 subjects with newly detected, untreated glaucoma were randomized to immediate treatment with topical betaxolol and argon laser trabeculoplasty or to no initial treatment as long as no progression was detected.

Threat to fixation and vision-related quality of life in early open-angle glaucoma - results from the Glaucoma Intensive Treatment Study.

Purpose: To determine the effect of glaucomatous visual field (VF) damage close to the point of fixation, called threat-to-fixation (TTF), on vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) in open-angle glaucoma.

Methods: A total of 239 patients from the Glaucoma Intensive Treatment Study (GITS) were included in this analysis. The second VF of patients with newly diagnosed primarily early glaucoma was evaluated for the presence or absence of TTF.

Charles Bonnet Syndrome in Patients with Open-Angle Glaucoma: Prevalence and Correlation to Visual Field Loss.

Purpose: To determine the prevalence and characteristics of Charles Bonnet Syndrome (CBS) and its relation to visual field loss (VFL) in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

Design: Prospective, cross-sectional study.

Participants: Adult patients (n = 337) with manifest OAG with verified VFL and without significant macular disease or extraocular conditions known to cause visual hallucinations.

Effectiveness of Elevated Intraocular Pressure as a Criterion for Glaucoma Referral After 6 Years of Follow-Up.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term predictive value of the need to treat patients referred by optometric practitioners, regarding glaucoma, in Malmö, Sweden, using intraocular pressure (IOP) as the primary referral criterion.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective study included 94 of 108 (87%) individuals referred to the Skåne University Hospital in Malmö, Sweden, for elevated IOP during 2012-2013. Data were extracted from patient records by the end of 2019.

A prospective study on effectiveness of elevated intraocular pressure as a criterion for glaucoma referrals by optometric practitioners in Sweden.

Purpose: To evaluate the outcome of referrals for suspected glaucoma based on elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) made by optometric practitioners in Sweden.

Methods: This prospective study included 95 individuals referred to the Skåne University Hospital Malmö, Sweden, during 2019, by optometric practitioners, based on elevated IOP. Positive outcome was defined as a diagnosis of glaucoma, or a diagnosis of suspected glaucoma.

Three cases of Charles Bonnet Syndrome in patients with advanced glaucomatous visual field loss but preserved visual acuity.

Purpose: To describe three cases of Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) in glaucoma patients with preserved visual acuity.

Methods: Three glaucoma patients who had taken part in a recent CBS study were interviewed about their hallucinations. The patients underwent macular optical coherence tomography (OCT) of both eyes.

Nestin-expressing vascular wall cells drive development of pulmonary hypertension.

Nestin, a well-known marker of neuronal stem cells, was recently suggested to characterise stem cell-like progenitors in non-neuronal structures during development and tissue repair. Integrating novel morphological approaches (CLARITY), we investigate whether nestin expression defines the proliferating cell population that essentially drives vascular remodelling during development of pulmonary hypertension.The role of nestin was investigated in lungs of nestin-GFP (green fluorescent protein) mice, models of pulmonary hypertension (rat: monocrotaline, SU5416/hypoxia; mouse: hypoxia), samples from pulmonary hypertension patients and human pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs).

Visual impairment and vision-related quality of life in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial after 20 years of follow-up.

Purpose: To determine the association between vision-related quality of life (VRQOL) and levels of visual function loss in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial (EMGT).

Methods: Two hundred and fifty-five patients were included in the EMGT between 1993 and 1997 and followed regularly by ophthalmic examinations. A Swedish translation of the National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire 25 (NEI VFQ-25) was self-administered at several follow-up visits until 2014.

Threat to fixation at diagnosis and lifetime risk of visual impairment in open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate whether threat to fixation (TTF) at diagnosis increases the risk of central vision loss and glaucoma blindness.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: A total of 309 patients (309 eyes) with glaucoma were followed up until death; 203 patients (65.

Histological characterization of mast cell chymase in patients with pulmonary hypertension and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Our previous findings demonstrated an increase in pulmonary mast cells (MCs) in idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension (IPAH). Also, literature suggests a potential role for MCs in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, a comprehensive investigation of lungs from patients is still needed.

Structural and functional prevention of hypoxia-induced pulmonary hypertension by individualized exercise training in mice.

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease with a poor prognosis characterized by a vascular remodeling process and an increase in pulmonary vascular resistance. While a variety of reports demonstrated that exercise training exerts beneficial effects on exercise performance and quality of life in PH patients, it is not known how physical exercise affects vascular remodeling processes occurring in hypoxia-induced PH. Therefore, we investigated the effect of individualized exercise training on the development of hypoxia-induced PH in mice.

TGF-β directs trafficking of the epithelial sodium channel ENaC which has implications for ion and fluid transport in acute lung injury.

TGF-β is a pathogenic factor in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), a condition characterized by alveolar edema. A unique TGF-β pathway is described, which rapidly promoted internalization of the αβγ epithelial sodium channel (ENaC) complex from the alveolar epithelial cell surface, leading to persistence of pulmonary edema. TGF-β applied to the alveolar airspaces of live rabbits or isolated rabbit lungs blocked sodium transport and caused fluid retention, which--together with patch-clamp and flow cytometry studies--identified ENaC as the target of TGF-β.

Lifetime risk of blindness in open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To determine the lifetime risk and duration of blindness in patients with manifest open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Methods: We studied glaucoma patients who died between January 2006 and June 2010.

Factors associated with lifetime risk of open-angle glaucoma blindness.

Purpose: To investigate factors associated with bilateral glaucoma blindness, particularly factors available at the time of diagnosis.

Methods: Retrospective chart review of all patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) or pseudoexfoliative glaucoma (PEXG) followed at the Department of Ophthalmology or Low Vision Center of Skåne University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, who died between January 2006 and June 2010. Disease stage at diagnosis was defined by a simplified version of Mills' glaucoma staging system using perimetric mean deviation (MD) to define six stages of severity.

Effects of argon laser trabeculoplasty in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial.

Purpose: To analyze reduction of intraocular pressure (IOP) by argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) in the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial and factors influencing the effect of such treatment.

Design: Cohort study based on 127 patients from the treatment group of the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial, a randomized clinical trial.

Methods: Patients randomized to the treatment arm of the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial received a standard treatment protocol (topical betaxolol hydrochloride followed by 360-degree ALT) and then were followed up prospectively at 3-month intervals for up to 8 years.

CFTR-dependent Cl- secretion in Xenopus laevis lung epithelium.

In our present study we used preparations from Xenopus laevis lungs to perform electrophysiological Ussing chamber measurements, unidirectional flux measurements, and employed molecular approaches to elucidate the presence and function of a cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) homolog in this tissue. Application of different CFTR blockers (NPPB (5-nitro-2-(3-phenylpropylamino)benzoic acid), niflumic acid (NFA), glibenclamide, lonidamine, CFTR(inh)-172) to the apical side of the tissues was able to significantly decrease the measured short circuit current (I(SC)) indicating a Cl(-) secretion due to luminal located CFTR channels. This was further supported by a net (36)Cl(-) secretion determined by radioactive tracer flux experiments.

Dysregulated bone morphogenetic protein signaling in monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension.

Background: Mutations in the bmpr2 gene, encoding the type II bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) receptor, have been identified in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), implicating BMP signaling in PAH. The aim of this study was to assess BMP signaling and its physiological effects in a monocrotaline (MCT) model of PAH.

Methods And Results: Expression of BMP receptors Ib and II, and Smads 4, 5, 6, and 8, was downregulated in lungs but not kidneys of MCT-treated rats.

Exposure to UV light causes increased biotinylation of histones in Jurkat cells.

Biotin in breakdown products of biotinylated carboxylases serves as substrate for biotinylation of histones by biotinidase. Here we determined whether biotinylation of histones might play a role in repair of damaged DNA and in apoptosis. Jurkat cells were exposed to UV light to induce DNA damage.