[Occupational medical aspects of COVID-19 pandemic containment: experiences from a large chemical company].

Introduction: With the present paper we aim to describe the experience of a large chemical company in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, we describe the timing and content of implemented measures and outline the course of the pandemic from the company's perspective.

Methods: We describe the infection protection measures and the pandemic course at the company's main site in Ludwigshafen (Germany) from March 2020 to May 2022.

[Subcutaneous cervical and left thoracic emphysema in a 49-year-old woman on ventilation].

We report the case of a 49-year-old woman who was admitted with community-acquired pneumonia. The medical state worsened despite administration of antibiotics. She was intubated and ventilated because of respiratory distress.

[Hyponatremia-induced life-threatening cerebral edema after ecstasy use].

Ecstasy, a psychoactive amphetamine derivative, is a popular party drug. We report the cases of 2 young adults who developed cerebral edema due to hyponatremia. One patient was released from the hospital without any sequelae, whereas the second patient died due to cerebral edema.

Treatment optimization of aortocoronary dissection as a complication after heart catheterization using coronary computerized tomographic angiography.

We present the case of a 71-year-old patient with a chronic total occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA) resulting in a retrograde aortic dissection as a complication of coronary intervention. Acute therapy consisted of coronary stent implantation into the proximal RCA to cover the dissection's entry. One day after, computed tomography-guided angiography revealed a progression of the intramural aortic hematoma with a residual dissection at the RCA ostium.

The value of multimodality imaging for detection, characterisation and management of a wall adhering structure in the right atrium.

The case presents a wall adherent structure in the right atrium in a young patient with peripheral t-cell lymphoma followed by successful prolonged lysis therapy resulting in the resolution of the thrombus is presented. This case highlights the utility of multimodality imaging in an accurate assessment of the right atrium thrombus and the effectiveness of prolonged lysis therapy.

Surgical management of macular holes: a report by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Objective: The document describes macular hole surgery and examines the available evidence to address questions about the efficacy of the procedure for different stages of macular hole, complications during and after surgery, and modifications to the technique.

Methods: A literature search conducted for the years 1968 to 2000 retrieved over 400 citations that matched the search criteria. This information was reviewed by panel members and a methodologist, and it was evaluated for the quality of the evidence presented.

Retinopathy of prematurity: evaluation of risk factors.

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine what risk factors play a role in the development of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Study Design: Data were collected on 157 infants born and cared for in one institution between January 1991 and July 1994. Initially we evaluated all children enrolled in the study to determine potential risk factors for the development of ROP.

Evaluation of a telerobotic system to assist surgeons in microsurgery.

A tool was developed that assists surgeons in manipulating surgical instruments more precisely than is possible manually. The tool is a telemanipulator that scales down the surgeon's hand motion and filters tremor in the motion. The signals measured from the surgeon's hand are transformed and used to drive a six-degrees-of-freedom robot to position the surgical instrument mounted on its tip.

Surfing-related ocular injuries.

Purpose: This report evaluates the clinical characteristics of surfing-related ocular trauma to learn the nature of such injuries and propose possible preventive measures.

Methods: The authors reviewed 11 cases of surfing-related eye injuries caused by direct trauma from the surfboard, studying their mechanism of injury, the associated ocular complications, and the anatomic and visual outcomes of surgical repair.

Results: Surfing-related ocular injuries occurred exclusively in young males (mean age, 24.

Chloride transport in cultured fetal human retinal pigment epithelium.

This study identifies bumetanide-sensitive chloride transport in cultured fetal human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Ion flux and electrophysiologic studies were performed on fetal human RPE grown to confluence on microporous culture wells mounted in modified Ussing chambers. Unidirectional transepithelial Cl- fluxes were measured along with the transepithelial potential (TEP), resistance (Rt), and short circuit current (Isc).

Choroidal hypoperfusion after surgical excision of subfoveal neovascular membranes in age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To study the choroidal circulation after surgical excision of subfoveal choroidal neovascular membranes (SFCNVM) in age-related macular degeneration (ARMD).

Methods: Twelve eyes of eleven patients with ARMD that underwent surgical excision of SFCNVMs were evaluated with stereoscopic color fundus photography, stereoscopic fluorescein angiography (FA) and scanning laser ophthalmoscope-indocyanine green videoangiography (SLO-ICGv). The patients were followed for a mean of 7.

Accidental Nd:YAG laser injuries to the macula.

Purpose: To study the clinical course of accidental, single-focus Nd:YAG laser injuries to the macula.

Methods: We reviewed the clinical course of five eyes (four patients) that sustained macular injuries from a Nd:YAG laser. All patients were examined within 24 hours of injury and were observed without surgical intervention for a mean of 20 months (range, 12 to 32 months).

Relation of the functional and structural fundus changes after submacular surgery for neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Aims: This study was carried out to investigate the precise pattern of visual loss associated with subfoveal choroidal neovascular membranes and the mechanism by which vision is stabilised or improved after submacular surgery.

Methods: Preoperative and postoperative quantitative microperimetry using the scanning laser ophthalmoscope was performed on six eyes of five patients with age-related macular degeneration who underwent subfoveal choroidal neovascular membrane excision. The relation of the microperimetry findings to the preoperative and postoperative fluorescein angiographic features was also assessed.

Macular edema in chronic Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome.

Background: Macular edema is relatively rare in the Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome, in contrast to many other syndromes of chronic intraocular inflammation, in which macular edema is relatively common. Five eyes of three patients with chronic VKH syndrome and macular edema are described.

Methods: The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical and fluorescein angiographic records of 27 patients with chronic VKH syndrome (duration of disease more than 3 months) and identified three patients (five eyes) who had macular edema.

Delayed macular choriocapillary circulation in age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To investigate the macular choriocapillary circulation (MCC) in eyes with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and to correlate these findings with the associated clinical and angiographic drusen characteristics.

Methods: Scanning laser ophthalmoscope fluorescein videoangiography was performed on 34 eyes with age-related macular degeneration and eight age-matched normal volunteers. Drusen characteristics were assessed using the Wisconsin age-related maculopathy grading scale.

Potassium conductances in cultured bovine and human retinal pigment epithelium.

Purpose: To identify K+ conductances on the apical and basolateral membranes in cultured monolayers of fetal bovine and human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).

Methods: Bovine and human RPE cells were grown on a permeable substrate for an average of 4 and 25 months, respectively, mounted in a modified Ussing chamber that allowed rapid solution changes at both membranes, and perfused with modified Ringer's solutions. Conventional microelectrode recording techniques were used to record intracellularly from RPE cells.

Localization of NaK ATPase on cultured human retinal pigment epithelium.

Purpose: To localize NaK ATPase sites on cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).

Methods: Cultured human RPE from fetal, 2-year-old, and 21-year-old donors was grown to confluence in microporous culture wells for 4 months to 2 years, mounted in a small-volume Ussing chamber, and perfused with growth medium. Ouabain (10(-5)-M) was applied to the basal and apical sides of the RPE.

Encircling panretinal laser photocoagulation may prevent macular detachment after vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy.

Macular detachment due to peripheral retinal tears that occur after pars plana vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy can result in severe visual loss despite successful retinal reattachment. The authors reviewed the records of three patients who developed peripheral sclerotomy-related rhegmatogenous retinal detachments one to six months after vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy, despite the absence of detectable sclerotomy-related retinal tears by indirect ophthalmoscopy and scleral depression at the conclusion of surgery. All three patients had received standard panretinal laser photocoagulation in a complete encircling pattern either prior to or during the initial vitrectomy.

Stereoscopic photography with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope.

Digital fundus angiography has advantages over conventional photography. However, digital angiography as it is normally performed, provides no stereoscopic information. Because stereoscopic data can be crucial in the evaluation of conditions such as age-related macular degeneration, we developed methods to record stereoscopic information during video angiography with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope and to produce high-quality static stereoscopic images.

Beta adrenergic receptors on cultured human retinal pigment epithelium.

Cultured fetal human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) was grown on a permeable substrate and sealed in an Ussing chamber. The average electrical resistance (R) was 330 ohm-cm2, the average transepithelial voltage (Ve) was 3.0 mV (apical side positive), and the average short circuit current (Isc) was 9.

Furosemide-sensitive Cl transport in bovine retinal pigment epithelium.

Bovine retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-choroid explants were sealed in an Ussing chamber. Typical preparations produced a transepithelial voltage (Ve) of 12 mV (retina side positive) and had an electrical resistance (R) of 300 ohm-cm2. These values can be attributed to the RPE.

Precocious retinal adhesion is affected by furosemide and ouabain.

A "precocious" adhesive force develops between the neurosensory retina (NSR) and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) 15-30 minutes after eyes are removed from day 15 embryonic chickens and incubated at 37 degrees C. Precocious adhesion has been reported to be blocked by exposure to cold but to be unaffected by exposure to furosemide and ouabain. Since RPE transport is thought to play a major role in the adhesion between the RPE and NSR of adult mammals, and since ouabain and furosemide block RPE transport in embryonic chickens, it has been thought that precocious adhesion in embryonic chickens is not a good model for studying adhesion between the RPE and the NSR of adult mammals.