Unsedated colonoscopy utilizing virtual reality distraction: a pilot-controlled study.

Background: Sedation increases colonoscopy risks and prolongs recovery time. We examined whether virtual reality (VR) can substitute for sedation. The primary outcome was the overall satisfaction of patients who underwent colonoscopy with VR headset compared with patients who underwent standard sedation.

Rapid Antigen Tests For Safe School Opening in the COVID-19 Pandemic Era.

Background: Since the beginning of the Sever Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic, school closure as a mitigating measure was at the center of a public and professional debate. While the negative effects of school closure cannot be ignored, accumulating data suggested that it is necessary for reducing community transmission. Our study presents an optional strategy for safe school opening during a pandemic, implemented in selected Israeli high schools by a special task force constructed by the Sheba Medical Center (SMC).

Impact of BNT162b2 Vaccination and Isolation on SARS-CoV-2 Transmission in Israeli Households: An Observational Study.

Several studies have characterized the effectiveness of vaccines against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections. However, estimates of their impact on transmissibility remain limited. Here, we evaluated the impact of isolation and vaccination (7 days after the second dose) on SARS-CoV-2 transmission within Israeli households.

First reported nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in a hospital-based laundry facility.

Nosocomial severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) outbreaks among health care workers have been scarcely reported so far. This report presents the results of an epidemiologic and molecular investigation of a SARS-CoV-2 outbreak among laundromat facility workers in a large tertiary centre in Israel. Following the first three reported cases of SARS-CoV-2 among laundromat workers, all 49 laundromat personnel were screened by qRT-PCR tests using naso- and oropharingeal swabs.

Automated Direct Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty: First Prospective Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Direct selective laser trabeculoplasty (DSLT) is a rapid, noncontact automated procedure performed directly through the limbus without gonioscopy. In this first nonrandomized clinical trial we assessed its safety and ability to reduce intraocular pressure (IOP).

Methods: Fifteen patients (15 eyes: 10 with open-angle glaucoma [OAG], 4 with ocular hypertension, and 1 with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma), naive or after medication washout, with an IOP ≥22 mm Hg, underwent DSLT by irradiation with 100 or 120 sequential noncontact 532-nm, Q-switched laser shots (0.

Characteristics of Clinically Asymptomatic Patients with SARS-CoV-2 Infections, Case Series.

Up until now, there is much debate about the role of asymptomatic patients and pauci-symptomatic patients in severe acute respiratory syndrome novel coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmission, and little is known about the kinetics of viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) shedding in these populations. This article aims to describe key features and the nature of asymptomatic and pauci-symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infected patients. The cohort consisted of six participants, three pairs, which were infected with SARS-CoV-2 during February 2020 on board the Diamond Princess.

Non-contact direct selective laser trabeculoplasty: light propagation analysis.

Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), used to treat glaucoma and ocular hypertension, requires the use of a gonioscope placed on the cornea to visualize and irradiate the trabecular meshwork (TM). Alternatively, non-contact direct SLT (DSLT) irradiates the TM through the overlying tissues. Here we analyze this innovative procedure using analytical modeling and Monte Carlo simulations to quantify the laser energy reaching the TM through the overlying tissues.

Overuse and Underuse of Visual Field Testing Over 15 Years.

Unlabelled: PRéCIS:: A 15-year analysis of 198,843 visual field (VF) tests revealed a growing trend for their performance for nonglaucoma indications. Adherence to glaucoma management guidelines was suboptimal. Guidelines for referral to VF assessments should be established.

Global characterization of in vivo enzyme catalytic rates and their correspondence to in vitro kcat measurements.

Turnover numbers, also known as kcat values, are fundamental properties of enzymes. However, kcat data are scarce and measured in vitro, thus may not faithfully represent the in vivo situation. A basic question that awaits elucidation is: how representative are kcat values for the maximal catalytic rates of enzymes in vivo? Here, we harness omics data to calculate kmax(vivo), the observed maximal catalytic rate of an enzyme inside cells.

High-intensity focused ultrasound treatment in refractory glaucoma patients: results at 1 year of prospective clinical study.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of the ultrasonic circular cyclo-coagulation procedure using high-intensity focused ultrasound by a miniaturized annular device containing 6 piezoceramic transducers in patients with refractory glaucoma.

Methods: This was a prospective interventional noncomparative study of 20 eyes of 20 patients with refractory glaucoma. All eyes were treated with 6 activated transducers operating at 21 MHz.

Gold Micro-Shunt Implants Versus Ahmed Glaucoma Valve: Long-term Outcomes of a Prospective Randomized Clinical Trial.

Purpose: To compare long-term outcomes of Ahmed glaucoma valve (AGV), 24 μm Gold Micro-Shunt (GMS), and 48 μm GMS implantation for treatment of refractory glaucoma.

Patients And Methods: This was a 3-armed randomized interventional prospective clinical trial. Within an institutional setting, 29 adults (29 eyes) with refractory glaucoma [mean baseline intraocular pressure (IOP) ≥ 22 mm Hg on maximal medication, status post at least 1 failed trabeculectomy, defined visual field defect, and without recent glaucoma-related surgery] were randomly assigned to AGV, 24 μm GMS, or 48 μm GMS implantation.

CO2 laser-assisted deep sclerectomy in glaucoma patients.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of CO2 laser-assisted deep sclerectomy surgery (CLASS) in patients with open angle glaucoma.

Design: A prospective single-arm, nonrandomized clinical investigation for the evaluation of technology.

Methods: Fifteen eyes of 15 consecutive patients diagnosed with either primary open angle glaucoma or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma who were the candidates for glaucoma filtration surgery were included.

Postoperative treatment with topical diclofenac versus topical dexamethasone after combined phacotrabeculectomy with mitomycin C.

Objective: The objective of the study was to compare the efficacy and safety of topical dexamethasone sodium phosphate 0.1% (Sterodex) to diclofenac sodium 0.1% (Voltaren Ophthalmic) after combined phacotrabeculectomy with mitomycin C.

Selective laser trabeculoplasty in uncontrolled pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.

Background And Objective: To assess the efficacy and safety of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in uncontrolled pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEXG).

Patients And Methods: Fifty-seven eyes (57 patients) with uncontrolled PEXG and intra-ocular pressure (IOP) greater than 23 mm Hg underwent SLT. All received ophthalmic evaluation preoperatively and at intervals postoperatively.

Intraocular pressure measurements and biomechanical properties of the cornea in eyes after penetrating keratoplasty.

Purpose: To compare intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements obtained using the Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT; Haag-Streit), the Tono-Pen XL (Reichert, Inc), and the ocular response analyzer (ORA; Reichert Ophthalmic Instruments), and to determine the influence of corneal factors on IOP measurements in eyes that had undergone penetrating keratoplasty (PK).

Design: Consecutive, prospective study.

Methods: Study population.

Titanium:sapphire laser trabeculoplasty versus argon laser trabeculoplasty in patients with open-angle glaucoma.

Background And Objective: To compare the medium-term outcome of titanium:sapphire laser trabeculoplasty (TLT) (SOLX, Inc., Waltham, MA) to argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) in patients with uncontrolled open-angle glaucoma.

Patients And Methods: Thirty-seven patients with open-angle glaucoma who had uncontrolled intraocular pressure and no previous filtration surgery participated.

Efficacy and safety of gold micro shunt implantation to the supraciliary space in patients with glaucoma: a pilot study.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of Gold Micro Shunt (GMS) implantation to the supraciliary space in patients with glaucoma.

Methods: A total of 38 patients with glaucoma with uncontrolled intraocular pressure (IOP) underwent implantation of the GMS in this prospective 2-center study.

Main Outcome Measures: Intraocular pressure and surgical complications.

Intraocular pressure elevation within the first 24 hours after cataract surgery in patients with glaucoma or exfoliation syndrome.

Objective: To investigate whether eyes with glaucoma or exfoliation syndrome without glaucoma are prone to exhibit intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation shortly after cataract surgery and, if so, whether timolol maleate 0.5% reduces these spikes.

Design: Prospective randomized double-masked clinical trial.

Diurnal IOP control with bimatoprost versus latanoprost in exfoliative glaucoma: a crossover, observer-masked, three-centre study.

Aim: To evaluate the diurnal intraocular pressure (IOP) control and safety of bimatoprost versus latanoprost in exfoliative glaucoma (XFG).

Methods: One eye of 129 consecutive patients with XFG (mean (SD) age 66.5 (8.

Donor scleral patch for treating hypotony due to leaking and/or overfiltering blebs.

Objective: To report a modified technique of bleb revision with the use of a donor scleral patch in cases in which scleral melting did not allow effective suturing and closure of the aqueous leak. The suturing technique ensures tight adaptation of the scleral patch over the leaky region, and allows better-controlled aqueous flow with loose suturing of the posterior edge of the scleral patch.

Methods: Records of patients who underwent bleb revision with donor scleral graft from 1997 to 2003 were reviewed retrospectively.

Scanning laser Doppler flowmetry of nonperfused regions of the optic nerve head in patients with glaucoma.

Background And Objective: To examine the reliability of scanning laser Doppler flowmetry in measuring capillary flow in regions of the optic nerve head, which are manifested differently by confocal tomographic angiography.

Patients And Methods: Capillary blood flow of the optic nerve head was measured in 16 eyes of 13 patients who had glaucoma with moderate to severe visual field defects. Blood flow measurements were taken by the scanning laser Doppler flowmeter and analyzed using the automatic full-field perfusion image analyzer (AFFPIA).

[Early detection of glaucoma by a mobile unit--results from 10,000 examinees].

Glaucoma, the third leading cause of blindness in the western world, is characterized by painless, gradual loss of visual fields which may lead to severe visual impairment or even blindness. In 4 years of operation of a mobile glaucoma unit for screening and early diagnosis of glaucoma, 10,037 subjects aged 18-95 years were screened (4504 women, 45%); 55% were under 50 years (Graph 1). Ocular hypertension was diagnosed in 8.

Fornix-based trabeculectomy with mitomycin-C.

Background And Objective: Mitomycin-C (MMC) has been shown to improve the surgical success of trabeculectomy; however, the advantages of MMC have been evaluated almost entirely as an adjunct to limbal-based trabeculectomy. This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of fornix-based trabeculectomy with MMC for glaucomatous patients.

Patients And Methods: Between January 1993 and April 1995, 71 patients underwent fornix-based trabeculectomy with topical application of 0.