Preservation of the Photoreceptor Inner/Outer Segment Junction in Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treated by Rheohemapheresis.

Aim. To evaluate the long-term effect of rheohemapheresis (RHF) treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on photoreceptor IS/OS junction status. Methods.

Transient branch retinal artery occlusion in a 15-year-old girl and review of the literature.

Background: Retinal artery occlusion is an extremely rare diagnosis in the pediatric population and the etiology with risk factors of retinal artery occlusion are poorly understood in younger individuals.

Methods And Results: This case report a rare case of transient branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) in a healthy young girl. A fifteen-year-old girl presented with painless decreased vision in her right eye.

Long-term outcomes of rheohaemapheresis in the treatment of dry form of age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose. Determining long-term effects of rheohaemapheresis on the dry form of age-related macular degeneration. Methods.

Cost and effectiveness of therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration in routine clinical practice.

Purpose: Evaluation of the cost and effectiveness of therapy for patients with the wet form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in routine clinical practice.

Methods: A retrospective multicentre evaluation of changes in the best-corrected visual acuity in applied kinds of therapy and a comparison with the cost of individual therapeutic procedures.

Results: An overall total of 788 eyes of 763 patients with an average age of 73.

Dynamics of blood count after rheohemapheresis in age-related macular degeneration: possible association with clinical changes.

Background: Rheohemapheresis (RHF) is a method that can stop the activity of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The pathophysiologic mechanisms are not well understood, and the effects of the RHF procedures extend beyond the time of the individual procedures.

Patients And Methods: We present the data for 46 patients with AMD treated with a series of 8 rheohemapheretic procedures.

Effects of treatment change in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration; results from the Czech National Registry.

Aims: To determine the effectiveness of second line treatments in patients with neovascular AMD who did not respond adequately to primary treatment.

Methods: Retrospective, multicentre assessment. The frequency of primary treatment failure and outcomes of subsequent secondary treatment were assessed according to the type of primary treatment, type of CNV and change in BCVA over a 12 month period.

The importance of rheological parameters in the therapy of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration with rheohaemapheresis.

To date, rheological treatment is the only chance to control the advanced dry form of age-related macular degeneration and arrest its progression to legal blindness. Rheohaemapheresis can change the main rheological parameters, blood and plasma viscosity, as well as change erythrocyte aggregability, improve erythrocyte flexibility and lead to substantial improvement when other methods of therapy fail. In this study, we describe changes in the levels of rheological efficacy indicators after rheohaemapheresis and their clinical significance in the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

One-step multiplex PCR method for the determination of pecan and Brazil nut allergens in food products.

Background: A one-step polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method for the simultaneous detection of the major allergens of pecan and Brazil nuts was developed. Primer pairs for the amplification of partial sequences of genes encoding the allergens were designed and tested for their specificity on a range of food components.

Results: The targeted amplicon size was 173 bp of Ber e 1 gene of Brazil nuts and 72 bp of vicilin-like seed storage protein gene in pecan nuts.

Visual functions after laser photocoagulation in central serous chorioretinopathy.

The authors evalute the visual functions of patients with unilateral central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and compare them with their non-affected eye and with a control group. Fourteen patients with CSC treated with direct laser-photocoagulation were examined preoperatively and followed-up, up to 2 years postoperatively. Baseline best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and contrast sensitivity (CS) of both eyes of patients was significantly lower in comparison with the controls.

Haemorheopheresis could block the progression of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration with soft drusen to the neovascular form.

Purpose: To evaluate the influence of haemorheopheresis on anatomical and functional findings in patients with soft-drusen maculopathy.

Methods: We investigated 29 eyes (16 patients) and randomized 25 eyes (16 controls) with soft-drusen maculopathy [soft, confluent and reticular drusen, drusenoid retinal pigment epithelium detachment (RPED)]. Each patient received a series of eight haemorheophereses (cascade filtration of 1.

Identification of gadoid species in fish meat by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) on genomic DNA.

Identification of fish species is significant due to the increasing interest of consumers in the meat of sea fish. Methods focusing on fish species identification help to reveal fraudulent substitution among economically important gadoid species in commercial seafood products. The objective of this work was to develop a conventional PCR method for the differentiation of the following gadoid fish species in fish products: Alaska pollack ( Theragra chalcogramma), blue whiting ( Micromesistius poutassou), hake spp.

[Results of transpupillary thermotherapy by patients with age-related macular degeneration 6 months after treatment (pilot study)].

We demonstrated the effectiveness of transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) for the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) by patients with age- related macular degeneration (ARMD). CNV secondary to ARMD is a leading case of vision loss in patients older than 50 years. TTT is new promising method for the treatment CNV by ARMD.

Quantitative detection of species-specific DNA in feedstuffs and fish meals.

A sensitive and rapid method for the quantitative detection of bovine-, ovine-, swine-, and chicken-specific mitochondrial DNA sequences based on real-time PCR has been developed. The specificity of the primers and probes for real-time PCR has been tested using DNA samples of other vertebrate species that may also be present in rendered products. The quantitative detection was performed with dual-labeled probes (TaqMan) using absolute quantification with external standards of single species meat-and-bone meals.

Our experience with diagnostics of congenital disorders of glycosylation.

The aim of this study is to report our 3years experience with the screening of congenital disorders of glycosylation. A common isoelectric focusing method with immunofixation was used for analysis of serum transferrin and alpha1-antitrypsin, apart from several other procedures. A group of about 1000 individuals, both healthy controls and patients, mostly with signs of a metabolic disease were examined.

Comparison of commercially available antibodies for the detection of central nervous system tissue in meat products by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.

An indirect competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to compare four commercially available monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies prepared against the markers of central nervous system tissue: glial fibrillary acidic protein, neurofilaments, and myelin basic protein. These antibodies were investigated for their usefulness at the detection of prohibited central nervous system tissue in meat products to prevent spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy and its human form, a new variant of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. The detection limit was 2.

[Age-related macular degeneration--contemporary possibilities of treatment].

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a complex multifactorial disease, that affects the central region of the retina. AMD is a leading cause of blindness among people over 50 years of age in the industrialized world. Two types of macular degeneration exist, the "dry" form and the "wet-neovascular" form.

Identification of species-specific DNA in feedstuffs.

Due to the menace of transmission of spongiform encephalopathies, feed components intended for ruminant nutrition must be checked for the presence of ruminant-derived materials. A sensitive method for the identification of bovine- and ovine- and also swine- and chicken-specific mitochondrial DNA sequences based on Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) has been developed. The specificity of the primers for PCR has been tested using samples of DNA of other vertebrate species, which may also be present in rendering plant products intended for feed manufacture.