Corneal staining patterns in vernal keratoconjunctivitis: the new VKC-CLEK scoring scale.

Aim: To propose a new scoring system in the assessment of ocular surface epithelial damage in vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

Methods: 25 consecutive patients with VKC (50 eyes) were evaluated using the Quality of Life in children with VKC (QUICK) questionnaire and objective clinical measures: fluorescein and lissamine green staining and cornea confocal microscopy (Heidelberg Retina Tomography 3). Oxford, Van Bljsterweld and a new system, the VKC-Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus study (CLEK) (VKC-CLEK) scores, were used to evaluate the epithelial damage after staining.

Allergic conjunctivitis: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Ocular allergy is a common disease in daily practice.

Objectives: A cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate clinical aspects of and therapeutic approaches to ocular allergy in Italy.

Methods: Of the 3685 patients affected by ocular allergy and enrolled by 304 ophthalmologists nationally, 3545 were eligible to be included in the statistical analysis.

Small fiber peripheral neuropathy in Wilson disease: an in vivo documentation by corneal confocal microscopy.

Purpose: Wilson disease (WD) is a disorder of hepatic copper metabolism leading to copper accumulation in hepatocytes and in extrahepatic organs, as the brain and cornea. The aim of this study was to investigate central corneal changes and in particular to assess the parameters of corneal subbasal nerve plexus (SBNP) in patients affected by WD, using corneal confocal microscopy (CCM).

Methods: A total of 24 patients affected by WD and 24 healthy control subjects were included in this cross-sectional comparative study.

Vernal keratoconjunctivitis-like disease in adults.

Purpose: To identify clinical, demographic, immunologic, and health-related quality-of-life data from a cohort of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) patients with the onset of the disease after puberty (VKC-like disease).

Design: Retrospective, observational case series.

Methods: Forty-nine patients with late-onset VKC-like disease from among 600 consecutive VKC patients.

Cytostatic and cytotoxic effects of 5-fluorouracil on human corneal epithelial cells and keratocytes.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of various 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) concentrations, exposure times, and application techniques on in vitro-cultured human corneal cells.

Methods: Human corneal epithelial cell (HCEC) and human corneal keratocyte (HCK) cultures were exposed to different 5-FU concentrations (0.025%-1%) and incubation durations (5 minutes to 2 hours).

Confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope in the retromode imaging modality in exudative age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To evaluate the ability of confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (cSLO) in the retromode imaging modality in detecting retinal changes secondary to exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: Seventeen eyes of 13 consecutive patients affected by CNV secondary to AMD were evaluated with optical coherence tomography (OCT) to detect neuroretinal detachment (NRD), pigment epithelial detachment (PED), cystoid macular edema (CME), and epiretinal membranes (ERM). All eyes were examined with a cSLO equipped with infrared retromode (RM) imaging modality.

Corneal confocal microscopy in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis.

Purpose: To compare corneal morphologic features using in vivo confocal microscopy in vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) patients compared with normal subjects.

Design: Prospective, comparative study.

Participants: Thirty-two VKC patients (26 males, 6 females; mean age, 17.

Cytokine and chemokine levels in tears and in corneal fibroblast cultures before and after excimer laser treatment.

Purpose: To measure multiple cytokine and chemokine production in tears of myopic patients before and after laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) and in human corneal fibroblast (HCF) cultures before and after excimer laser treatment.

Setting: Department of Neuroscience, Ophthalmology Unit, University of Padua, Italy and Vissum-Instituto de Oftalmológico de Alicante, Alicante, Spain

Methods: Tear samples were obtained from 15 myopic patients before LASIK and 1 and 24 hours after LASIK. Quiescent HCF cultures were treated using the same laser energy.

Clinical and biological efficacy of preservative-free NAAGA eye-drops versus levocabastine eye-drops in vernal keratoconjunctivitis patients.

Aims: This comparative and randomised pilot study assessed the clinical and biological efficacy of Naaxia Sine(R) eye-drops versus levocabastine eye-drops in the treatment of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

Methods: Twenty-three VKC patients were randomised and treated bilaterally for 28 days with N-acetyl-aspartyl-glutamate (NAAGA) or levocabastine (LEVO) eye-drops. The primary efficacy variable, overall evolution of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) tear concentrations, was assessed in a masked fashion on D0, D7 and D28.

Peripapillary fundus perimetry in eyes with glaucoma.

Aims: To evaluate, with fundus perimetry, the peripapillary differential light threshold (DLT) in eyes with glaucoma and ocular hypertension (OHT), and compare it with peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness.

Methods: 35 glaucomatous, 29 OHT and 24 control eyes were included. Peripapillary DLT at 1 degrees from the optic nerve head was quantified with fundus perimetry; peripapillary RNFL thickness was measured over the same area by optical coherence tomography.

Case series of 406 vernal keratoconjunctivitis patients: a demographic and epidemiological study.

Purpose: To evaluate the specific allergic sensitization and epidemiological characteristics of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

Methods: This retrospective non-comparative case series included 406 VKC patients. Data included patient and family histories, and results of allergic tests.

Th1- and Th2-type cytokines in chronic ocular allergy.

Background: Previous reports have suggested that Th2-type cytokines are important in the pathogenesis of ocular allergic diseases. The purpose of this study is to measure levels and mRNA expression of Th1- and Th2-type cytokines in patients with active vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC) and atopic keratoconjunctivitis (AKC).

Methods: Tear samples and tear-isolated cells were obtained from 9 healthy participants (CT--controls), 28 VKC, and 6 AKC patients.

In vitro effects of fluoroquinolone and aminoglycoside antibiotics on human keratocytes.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the cytotoxic effects of the fluoquinolone ofloxacin and the aminoglycoside netilmicin on stromal human keratocytes in vitro.

Methods: Cultured human keratocytes were exposed to various concentrations of ofloxacin or netilmicin (0.16-5.

Histamine-induced cytokine production and ICAM-1 expression in human conjunctival fibroblasts.

Purpose: Conjunctival fibroblasts stimulated with histamine (H) may be directly involved in the inflammatory and remodeling processes of chronic allergic conjunctival diseases.

Methods: Proinflammatory cytokine and growth factor production, and the expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) were studied in conjunctival fibroblast cultures challenged with different concentrations of H (from 10(-9) M to 10(-) (4) M). Interleukin (IL)-1, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor-alfa (TNF-alpha), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGFbeta-1) were measured in supernatants.

Effects of Th2 cytokines on expression of collagen, MMP-1, and TIMP-1 in conjunctival fibroblasts.

Purpose: To determine whether cytokines involved in chronic allergic conjunctival disorders may affect formation of giant papillae and tissue remodeling.

Methods: Conjunctival fibroblast cultures were challenged with different concentrations of human recombinant interleukin (IL)-4, IL-13, interferon (IFN)-gamma and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha. Procollagens I (PIP) and III (PIIIP), matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-1 and -9, and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 were measured in supernatants, and their respective mRNAs were evaluated by RT-PCR.

Effects of cyclosporin A on human conjunctival fibroblasts.

Objective: To evaluate the effects of cyclosporin A (CsA) on cytokine and/or collagen production, cell growth, and apoptosis in conjunctival fibroblast cultures.

Methods: Fibroblast cultures derived from normal subjects and patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis and pemphigoid were exposed to different concentrations of CsA for either 24 hours or 30 days. The effects were evaluated by the colorimetric MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide) test to assess cell proliferation, and by the measurement of procollagen I (PIP) and procollagen III (PIIIP) cytokines and total protein in culture medium.

Anti-inflammatory and antiallergic effects of ketorolac tromethamine in the conjunctival provocation model.

Aim: To study the effect of the topical anti-inflammatory drug, ketorolac, on (1) the clinical allergic reaction induced by the conjunctival provocation test (CPT); (2) the release of tryptase in tears; and (3) the expression of adhesion molecules on the conjunctival epithelium.

Methods: 10 allergic but non-active patients were challenged in both eyes with increasing doses of specific allergen to obtain a positive bilateral reaction and rechallenged, after 1 week, to confirm the allergic threshold dose response. After 2 weeks, a third CPT was then performed bilaterally 30 minutes after topical application of ketorolac in one eye and placebo in the contralateral eye in a double blind fashion.

Histamine effects on conjunctival fibroblasts from patients with vernal conjunctivitis.

Histamine, an important mast cell mediator in allergic disorders, may affect extracellular matrix production and cell growth in vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC). In the present study, the histamine reactivity of conjunctival fibroblasts derived from VKC patients was investigated in vitro. Conjunctival fibroblast cultures were derived from biopses of 8 tarsal VKC patients and 5 normal subjects.

Tear histamine and histaminase during the early (EPR) and late (LPR) phases of the allergic reaction and the effects of lodoxamide.

The objectives of this study were two-fold: to identify tear histamine content and its relationship to changes in tear histaminase activity during the early (EPR) and late phases (LPR) of the allergic reaction induced by a conjunctival provocation test (CPT) and to evaluate the effects of lodoxamide on histamine release and allergic signs and symptoms during EPR and LPR. A baseline CPT was administered to 20 allergic patients with no baseline signs or symptoms of allergy. Clinical signs and symptoms were evaluated after 20 minutes and 6 hours.

Histaminase activity in patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis.

Purpose: To investigate the activity of histamine-degradating enzymes in tears and plasma of patients with vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

Method: Tear and plasma samples were collected from patients with VKC and from age-matched control subjects. Histamine was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in acid samples treated with perchloric to deactivate histaminase and in untreated samples.

Clinical-economic audit of electrophysiologic examinations in ophthalmology.

To assess the diagnostic efficiency and direct costs of electrophysiologic tests, times and clinical data (admittance, diagnosis, final diagnosis and clinical reports) of 144 patients were recorded and statistically analyzed. Capital outlay on equipment and personnel costs were also evaluated to determine the economic impact of the tests. Electrophysiologic tests were found to play an important role in diagnosis and choice of therapy.

[Specific IgE in the gastric and duodenal mucosa. An epiphenomenon or pathogenetic mechanism of some forms of "peptic" ulcer?].

Allergic mechanisms have been shown to induce gastric and intestinal damage in animal models. It has been demonstrated that people allergic to food may complain of gastrointestinal disorders. Furthermore food allergens can induce gastric mucosal damage in sensitized people.

Histopathology and ultrastructure of rabbit lenses exposed 'in vitro' to lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC).

Permeability changes which take place in the lens in the course of uveitis are probably due to 'Lens Permeability Factors' present in the inflammatory aqueous. One of these 'factors', lysophosphatidyl-choline (LPC), has been shown to damage the lens in vitro: a leakage of Rb(86) and proteins, and an increase of Na(+) and water content indicate a dose-related membrane lytic effect. Damaging levels of LPC (up to 10μg/ml of aqueous humor) were found in the anterior chamber of inflamed eyes in the course of experimental uveitis in rabbits, and also in humans during uveitis.

Antigen sensitivity evaluated by tear-specific and serum-specific IgE, skin tests, and conjunctival and nasal provocation tests in patients with ocular allergic disease.

The potential for ocular allergic patients to have a site-specific antigen sensitisation was investigated using various diagnostic tests of allergen sensitivity in subjects with allergic conjunctivitis (AC: n = 135), vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VK: n = 20), rhinoconjunctivitis (n = 20) or rhinitis (N = 10). In the AC and VK patients, skin tests and conjunctival provocation tests (CPT) were performed, and the levels of specific IgE in serum and in tears were identified. A subgroup of 36 patients was also challenged with a nasal-specific provocation test (NPT).