Following the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a large number of people continue to report Post-COVID symptoms (PCS). A wide variety of symptoms are described, including fatigue, post-exertional malaise and cognitive impairment. However, adequate objective diagnostic tests for PCS are not yet available.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe association of stroke and late-onset epilepsy (LOE) is discussed with special regard to its diagnosis, pathogenesis, and prevention. In addition to epidemiological data, including those from different age groups, the mechanisms for the development of acute symptomatic and remote symptomatic seizures are reviewed. The risk factors associated with seizures and post-stroke epilepsy (PSE) are considered, along with the methodological limitations of the study.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPrcies: Empowering glaucoma patients to access their individual glaucoma related health data by using a digital health application leads to a significant improvement in quality of life and adherence.
Purpose: Evaluate the effectiveness of improvement of glaucoma associated quality of life and adherence in patients using a digital health application.
Patients And Methods: A prospective randomized monocentric controlled study of 77 patients with primary open angle glaucoma.
In 2019, we faced a pandemic due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), with millions of confirmed cases and reported deaths. Even in recovered patients, symptoms can be persistent over weeks, termed Post-COVID. In addition to common symptoms of fatigue, muscle weakness, and cognitive impairments, visual impairments have been reported.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground And Purpose: Retinal pathologies are an independent risk factor for ischaemic stroke, but research on the predictive value of retinal abnormalities for recurrent vascular events in patients with prior stroke is inconclusive. We investigated the association of retinal pathologies with subsequent vascular events.
Methods: In a substudy of the Intensified secondary prevention intending a reduction of recurrent events in TIA and minor stroke patients (INSPiRE-TMS) trial, we enrolled patients with recent transient ischaemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke with at least one modifiable risk factor.
Prcis: COVID-19 underlines the importance of telemedical diagnostics. The smartphone-based campimetry (Sb-C) is a newly developed digital application allowing visual field testing using a head-mounted device and a smartphone. It enables visual field screening remotely from a clinic.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe visual depth perception is composed of monocular and binocular depth cues. Studies show that in absence of binocular depth cues the performance of visuomotor tasks like pointing to or grasping objects is limited. Thus, binocular depth cues are of great importance for motor control required in everyday life.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Optimal visual abilities including stereo acuity seem to be an important issue in sports. There is increasing evidence that stereo acuity can be sustainably improved by digital vision training even for people with good stereo acuity.
Study Design And Test Methods: In this study 31 male and female tennis players (professionals, young professionals, coaches and former professionals) completed at least 6 training units each with 192 dynamic stereoscopic tasks (N = 1152) within 6 weeks including a 4-option test with different levels of difficulty on a 3D screen at a distance of 5 m.
Annu Int Conf IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc
November 2021
Strabismus is a visual disorder characterized by eye misalignment. The extent of ocular misalignment is denoted as the deviation angle. With the advent of Virtual Reality (VR) Head-Mounted-Displays (HMD) and eye tracking technology, new possibilities measuring strabismus arise.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: We showed that seniors can improve their stereoscopic ability (stereoacuity) and corresponding reaction time with repetitive training and, furthermore, that these improvements through training are still present even after a longer period of time without training.
Methods: Eleven seniors (average age: 85.90 years) trained twice a week for six weeks with dynamic stereoscopic perception training using a vision training apparatus (c-Digital Vision Trainer).
Using mobile OCT equipment and remote ophthalmological diagnosis of n = 1538 diabetics in 17 diabetes practices in Germany, we found diabetic macular edema in 10.1% of the patients and retinal bleedings or microaneurysms in 15.6%.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSpectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) represents a reliable tool for retinal layer volume and thickness measurement. The aim of this study was to evaluate retinal changes indicating neurodegenerative processes in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) compared to healthy controls. This was a cross-sectional, single-center study comprising 32 ESRD patients and 38 controls.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: Initiation of antihypertensive drug treatment in low-risk individuals with grade 1 hypertension is under debate. The aim of this study was to examine the impact of mildly elevated blood pressure (BP) on early neurodegenerative processes independent of ageing.
Methods: Sixty-two individuals were included in this study: 25 young (aged <40 years) and 37 older (aged ≥40 years) individuals at low cardiovascular risk and grade 1 hypertension at most.
MR Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) enables visualisation of the visual system in glaucoma; it has been shown that the atrophy of the optic radiation is more pronounced in glaucoma than in age-matched controls. The atrophy of the optic radiation thereby correlates with OCT and visual field measures. Diffusion tensor imaging permits quantification of the axonal integrity of the optic radiation by calculation of fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: There is evidence that glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease involving the whole visual pathway. We prospectively examined potential benefits of volumetry of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) using a new 7T scanner.
Methods: 20 patients with normal tension glaucoma and 16 control individuals were examined.
Objectives: To measure the density of retinal vessels from digitized fundus photographs in patients with recent stroke and age-matched controls. To investigate whether the parameter retinal vascular density (RVD) served as a quantitative marker for cerebrovascular events.
Methods: Digitized fundus photographs of n = 158 subjects with stroke or transient ischemic attack within 1 year at the time of examination and n = 1,250 age-matched controls without any remarkable medical history were examined.
Purpose: Retinal microcirculation represents an easily accessible, non-invasive, in-vivo possibility to assess early microvascular changes. In addition to the assessment of functional (e.g.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRetinal image quality assessment (RIQA) is essential to assure that the images investigated by ophthalmologists or automatic systems are suitable for reliable medical diagnosis. Measure-based RIQA techniques have several advantages over the more commonly used binary classification-based RIQA methods. Numeric quality measures can aid ophthalmologists in associating a degree of confidence to the diagnosis performed through the investigation of a certain retinal image.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRestor Neurol Neurosci
April 2018
Background: Current studies revealed the importance of perceptual training for the treatment of amblyopia. To improve stereo vision on a higher level, visual tasks have to be completed within a limited time window like in repetitive visual function tests. "Processing time" as the reaction time in which the absence or presence of depth was identified correctly, is of better predictive value for perceiving the depth than the stereo threshold only.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFRetinal image quality assessment (RIQA) is an essential step in automated screening systems to avoid misdiagnosis caused by processing poor quality retinal images. A no-reference transform-based RIQA algorithm is introduced that assesses images based on five clarity and content quality issues: sharpness, illumination, homogeneity, field definition, and content. Transform-based RIQA algorithms have the advantage of considering retinal structures while being computationally inexpensive.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Eutrophic and hypertrophic remodeling are major vascular hallmarks for hypertension and diabetes-associated microvascular end-organ damage in peripheral arterioles. The aim of this study is to compare retinal arterioles of diabetic, hypertensive, and healthy individuals.
Methods: Retinal parameters were assessed in 99 patients with T2DM, 158 hypertensive, and 149 healthy individuals.
The aim of the study is to telemedically assess the prevalence of simple optic nerve atrophy and retinal arteriolar anomalies in subjects who have had a minor stroke or TIA within 14 days, and to compare these results with an age-matched control group. By using a mobile examination unit, retinal photographs were taken with a 45° non-mydriatic colour fundus camera (KOWA NM-45, non-mydriatic-alpha) in patients who had suffered from a minor stroke or TIA within 14 days of the time of the examination. Retinal photographs were focused on the optic nerve head region.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Recent studies suggest vascular benefits of dipeptidylpeptidase IV (DPP-IV) inhibition in patients with diabetes mellitus. Only little is known about potential vascular effects of DPP-IV inhibitors in nondiabetic individuals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of DPP-IV inhibition in a nondiabetic hypertensive population.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGraefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol
November 2015
Purpose: To measure the wall-to-lumen ratio (WLR) and the cross-sectional area of the vascular wall (WCSA) of retinal arterioles by an Adaptive Optics (AO) retinal camera.
Methods: Forty-seven human subjects were examined and their medical history was explored. WLR and WCSA were measured on the basis of retinal arteriolar wall thickness (VW), lumen diameter (LD) and vessel diameter (VD) assessed by rtx1 Adaptive Optics retinal camera.