Pediatric Non-Infectious Uveitis: Long-Term Outcomes and Complications.

Purpose: To describe the long-term prevalence of ocular complications and visual prognosis in patients with pediatric uveitis.

Methods: Demographics, etiology and location of uveitis, type of complications, treatment and visual outcomes were recorded in 296 children at first examination and at 1-, 2-, 3-, 5- and 10-year time points.

Results: Αnterior uveitis represented 53.

Prognostic value of average home blood pressure and variability: 19-year follow-up of the Didima study.

Objective: The current general population study explored the prognostic value of home blood pressure (HBP) average and variability (BPV) versus office measurements (OBP).

Methods: In 1997, 665 adults of Didima, Argolida, Greece were evaluated with OBP (two visits, six readings) and HBP (3 days, 12 readings) measurements. Total mortality and cardiovascular morbidity and mortality (CVD) were assessed after 19.

Biologic Treatment Options for Retinal Neovascularization in Behçet's Disease.

Purpose: Relapsing ocular inflammation occurs in about 70% of patients with Behçet's disease (BD) and can lead to permanent loss of vision. Neovascularization of the optic disc (NVD) or elsewhere in the retina (NVE) is a relatively uncommon but severe complication that lacks standardized treatment.

Methods: We report on the therapeutic use of anti-TNF monoclonal antibodies for BD-associated NVD and NVE in one pediatric patient (subcutaneous adalimumab) and one young man (intravenous infliximab).

Retinal microcirculation in association with caffeinated and alcoholic drinks in subjects at increased cardiovascular risk.

Objectives: The association of caffeinated and alcoholic drinks with microcirculation is poorly investigated. The aim of the study was to investigate the associations of daily consumption of caffeinated and alcoholic drinks with retinal vessel calibers.

Methods: In consecutive adults at increased risk but free of CVD and diabetes mellitus, (n=181, age: 51.

Phenotypes of office systolic blood pressure according to both brachial and aortic measurements: frequencies and associations with carotid hypertrophy in 1861 adults.

Background/aim: Aortic SBP (aSBP) associates with arterial damage more consistently than brachial SBP (bSBP). However, it is unknown how often aSBP is normal in the presence of elevated bSBP, and vice versa; if SBP phenotyping on the basis of bSBP and aSBP cut-off values improves cardiovascular risk stratification. We tested the frequency of four office SBP phenotypes: type I (both normal bSBP and aSBP); type II (high bSBP but normal aSBP); type III (normal bSBP but high aSBP), and type IV (both high bSBP and aSBP), the probability of each phenotype to be associated with increased arterial damage, using type Ia (i.

The Keith-Wagener-Barker and Mitchell-Wong grading systems for hypertensive retinopathy: association with target organ damage in individuals below 55 years.

Background: The usefulness of the hypertensive retinopathy classification by Keith-Wagener-Barker (KWB) in clinical practice remains controversial. The simplified Mitchell-Wong grading, combining the two initial KWB' grades in one stage, is proposed as an alternative method; both systems are poorly validated regarding their association with target organ damage.

Objective: In a population free of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, we aimed to investigate the interobserver and intraobserver agreement of both grading systems, their association with aortic stiffness, carotid hypertrophy or plaques and the role of age and sex on this association.

Ambulatory Aortic Stiffness Is Associated With Narrow Retinal Arteriolar Caliber in Hypertensives: The SAFAR Study.

Background: Arterial stiffness measured under static conditions reclassifies significantly cardiovascular (CV) risk and associates with narrower retinal arterioles. However, arterial stiffness exhibits circadian variation, thus single static stiffness recordings do not correspond to the "usual" 24 hr, awake, and asleep average arterial stiffness. We aimed to test the hypothesis that ambulatory 24 hr, awake, and asleep aortic (a) pulse wave velocity (PWV) associate with retinal vessel calibers, independently of confounders and of static arterial stiffness, in hypertensive individuals free from diabetes and CV disease.

Intact calibers of retinal vessels in patients with systemic sclerosis.

Objective: A primary endothelial cell dysfunction is thought to be involved in systemic sclerosis (SSc)-associated fibroproliferative vasculopathy of the microcirculation and small arterioles, even in sites not affected by fibrosis. Because the role of fibroblasts in pathologic modifications and vascular wall remodeling is relatively unclear, and because the retina provides a unique opportunity to assess microcirculation in the absence of resident fibroblasts, we systematically evaluated retinal vessels in patients with SSc.

Methods: Digital retinal images were obtained from both eyes of 93 consecutive patients with fully characterized SSc and 29 healthy controls matched 1:1 for age and sex with selected patients without diabetes, hypertension history, or antihypertensive treatment.