Valacyclovir versus acyclovir for the treatment of herpes zoster ophthalmicus in immunocompetent patients.

Background: Herpes zoster ophthalmicus affects the eye and vision, and is caused by the reactivation of the varicella zoster virus in the distribution of the first division of the trigeminal nerve. An aggressive management of acute herpes zoster ophthalmicus with systemic antiviral medication is generally recommended as the standard first-line treatment for herpes zoster ophthalmicus infections. Both acyclovir and its prodrug valacyclovir are medications that are approved for the systemic treatment of herpes zoster.

Choroidal Thickness in Open-angle Glaucoma.

Purpose: To examine choroidal thickness in open-angle glaucoma.

Methods: The hospital-based case series study included a study group with patients with open-angle glaucoma and a control group. Choroidal thickness was measured by enhanced depth imaging by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Choroidal thickness in nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.

Purpose: To examine choroidal thickness in nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION).

Design: Retrospective case control study.

Methods: In the eye clinic of the University Medical Center in Mannheim, Germany, we studied a group that consisted of patients with nonarteritic AION and a control group that consisted of individuals with normal fundus.

Ratio of primary episcleral buckling surgery versus primary vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Purpose: To assess the ratio of the frequency of primary scleral buckling procedures versus the frequency of vitrectomies performed as treatment for rhegmatogenous retinal detachments in a primary retinal surgical department.

Methods: The study included all patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachments who underwent retinal or vitreoretinal surgery in the study period from 2002 to 2006. The size of the retinal defect and the amount of proliferative vitreoretinopathy were not exclusion criteria.

Target refraction for best uncorrected distance and near vision in cataract surgery.

Purpose: To assess the target refractive error after cataract surgery to achieve best uncorrected visual acuity for both distance vision and reading vision.

Methods: The study included patients consecutively undergoing routine phacoemulsification with clear corneal incisions and implantation of a foldable monofocal intraocular lens (IOL). Uncorrected distance visual acuity (UCDVA), best-corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA), uncorrected near visual acuity (UCNVA,) and best-corrected near visual acuity were measured at 93 ± 47 days (minimum 4 weeks) after surgery.

Choroidal thickness in age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To examine choroidal thickness in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: The hospital-based case series study included patients with nonexudative or exudative AMD as study group, and the control group consisted of subjects with a normal fundus. Choroidal thickness was measured by enhanced depth imaging of spectral domain optical coherence tomography.

Intravitreal low-dosage bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity.

Purpose: To report on the therapeutic effect of intravitreal low-dose bevacizumab for treatment for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Methods: The single-centre retrospective, non-comparative case series study included all infants who consecutively underwent intravitreal injection of 0.375 mg bevacizumab (0.

Intravitreal bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity: refractive error results.

Purpose: To evaluate refractive error in infants who underwent intravitreal bevacizumab injection for treatment of threshold retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Design: Retrospective nonrandomized interventional comparative study.

Methods: The study group included all infants who consecutively received a single intravitreal bevacizumab (0.

Intravitreal bevacizumab for retinopathy of prematurity.

Background: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of a single intravitreal injection of bevacizumab for treatment of threshold retinopathy in retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

Methods: The retrospective study consisted of all infants who developed threshold ROP in fundus zone I or zone II and who consecutively received an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab (0.375 mg, 0.

Intravitreal bevacizumab for exudative age-related macular degeneration in clinical practice.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether baseline visual acuity and baseline anatomy of the macula influence visual outcome in patients receiving intravitreal bevacizumab as treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in clinical practice.

Methods: This clinical case series study included 319 patients (406 eyes) who consecutively received intravitreal injections of bevacizumab for treatment of exudative AMD. The intervals between injections were 6 weeks and postinjection examinations were performed at 4 weeks after injection.

Postoperative mycotic endophthalmitis.

Unlabelled: We report a series of 4 patients who experienced a low-grade mycotic endophthalmitis 3 to 7 months after uneventful cataract surgery. In all patients, the capsular bag was irrigated several times and amphotericin B was instilled intraocularly as well as systemically. In the fourth patient, a pars plans vitrectomy was been performed.

Toxicity assessment of intravitreal triamcinolone and bevacizumab in a retinal explant mouse model using two-photon microscopy.

Purpose: Intravitreal drug administration leads to high intraocular concentrations with potentially toxic effects on ocular tissues. This study was an assessment of the toxicity of triamcinolone and bevacizumab in living retinal explants using two-photon (2P) microscopy.

Methods: Wild-type mice received intravitreal injections of triamcinolone, bevacizumab, or vehicle.

Lens capsular bag irrigation for low-grade endophthalmitis.

Purpose: In postoperative low-grade endophthalmitis, microorganisms of low pathogenicity exhibit prolonged survival times by sequestration into the capsular bag. Thus, removal or irrigation of the capsular bag as nidus of the microorganisms is an essential therapeutic step. Correspondingly, guidelines suggest pars plana vitrectomy, capsulectomy and/or intraocular lens removal.

Minocycline delays photoreceptor death in the rds mouse through a microglia-independent mechanism.

Purpose: Minocycline, a semi-synthetic tetracycline antibiotic is reported to be neuroprotective in degenerative and ischaemic models of central nervous system disease, via mechanisms involving suppression of both cytotoxic microglial activity and caspase-dependent apoptosis. We have investigated the effect of minocycline treatment on a mouse model of retinitis pigmentosa, an inherited photoreceptor neurodegenerative disorder, and contrasted this with the effect of depleting retinal microglia using liposomal clodronate.

Methods: rds mice were treated intraperitoneally from the second postnatal day (P2) with either daily minocycline until P16, P18, P21, P24 and P27 or alternative day clodronate liposomes until P16.

Long-term evaluation of retinal function in Prph2Rd2/Rd2 mice following AAV-mediated gene replacement therapy.

Background: Prph2(Rd2/Rd2) mice have a retinal degeneration due to a null mutation for the Prph2 gene which encodes a photoreceptor-specific glycoprotein, peripherin2, essential for outer-segment formation. We have previously shown improvement of photoreceptor function at a single time point following AAV-mediated gene replacement therapy. Here we quantify the functional rescue over a 15-week time course and present a detailed analysis of the improvement in retinal function.

AAV-Mediated gene transfer slows photoreceptor loss in the RCS rat model of retinitis pigmentosa.

In the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cannot phagocytose the outer segment discs that are continually shed from photoreceptors. The resulting accumulation of debris in the subretinal space leads to a progressive loss of photoreceptors. The defect results from a mutation in the Mertk gene, which is normally expressed in the RPE.

Generation of activated sialoadhesin-positive microglia during retinal degeneration.

Purpose: The retina contains a rich network of myeloid-derived cells (microglia) within the retinal parenchyma and surrounding vessels. Their response and behavior during inflammation and neurodegeneration remain largely undefined. In the present study, the behavior of microglia was closely examined during the onset of photoreceptor degeneration in the rds mouse, to assess their role in photoreceptor apoptosis.