Blunt needle revision with viscoelastic materials via the anterior chamber for early failed filtering blebs after trabeculectomy.

Purpose: To report a new technique of blunt needle revision with viscoelastic materials via the anterior chamber for the treatment of early failed filtering blebs and elevated intraocular pressure after trabeculectomy, in which digital ocular massage and laser suture lysis have been ineffective.

Methods: A 27-gauge blunt needle attached to a syringe containing viscoelastic material was inserted into the anterior chamber from the inferior paracentesis. The needle tip was inserted into the subscleral flap space from the filtering fistula at the anterior chamber side, and the scleral flap was lifted bluntly.

Surgical results of pars plana vitrectomy combined with pars plana lensectomy with anterior capsule preservation, endophotocoagulation, and silicon oil tamponade for neovascular glaucoma.

Purpose: To report on pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) combined with pars plana lensectomy (PPL) with a preserved anterior capsule, panretinal endophotocoagulation (EPC) throughout the pars plana, and silicon oil (SO) tamponade (PPV + PPL + EPC + SO tamponade) for neovascular glaucoma (NVG).

Methods: Thirteen eyes with NVG were treated. Ten eyes also underwent SO removal and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation (SO removal + IOL).

Clarifying the mechanism of idiopathic macular hole development in fellow eyes using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

Background: To clarify the mechanism of idiopathic macular hole development, we evaluated the vitreoretinal relationship in fellow eyes of those with a macular hole and normal eyes using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Thirty-one fellow eyes and 34 normal volunteer eyes without a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) were included.

Results: WE CLASSIFIED SIX VITREOMACULAR RELATIONSHIPS: type 1, no PVD, five fellow eyes (16.

Successful treatment of young-onset adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma and preceding chronic refractory eczema and corneal injury by allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Only some carriers of human T cell lymphotropic virus type I (HTLV-1) develop adult T cell leukemia/lymphoma (ATLL) after a long latency period, and an association has been reported between chronic refractory eczema, known as infective dermatitis, and young-onset ATLL. A 25-year-old female developed ATLL and underwent allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) in non-remission. She had chronic refractory eczema and corneal injury at the onset of ATLL.

Prospective assessment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy with observations of posterior vitreous detachment.

Purpose: To study the relation between posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) and progression of diabetic retinopathy (DR), based on our observation that proliferative DR is rare in patients with complete PVD.

Methods: The medical records of 403 patients with diabetes were reviewed for the relation between progressive DR and the status of PVD and HbA(1c) over 3 years. PVD was classified into none, complete PVD with collapse, complete PVD without collapse, partial PVD with a thickened posterior vitreous cortex, and partial PVD without a thickened posterior vitreous cortex.

Characteristics of diabetic retinopathy in SDT rats.

Background: We previously reported a new diabetic strain of the Sprague-Dawley rat, named the Spontaneously Diabetic Torii (SDT) rat. The purpose of the present study was to report the histologic and ultrastructural characteristics of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in a new animal model, the SDT rat.

Methods: Fifty-three eyes of 43 SDT rats of various ages (35-82 weeks) were examined, of which 33 underwent histopathologic examination, 15 eyes fluorescein-dextran microscopy, and five eyes the trypsin digestion method.

Sex-related effect on gene expression in the mouse meibomian gland.

Purpose: Sex-related differences have been identified in the anatomy and physiology of the meibomian gland. We hypothesize that these differences are due, at least in part, to variations in gene expression. This study's objective was to determine whether sex-related differences do exist in meibomian gland gene expression.

Distinct populations of dendritic cells in the normal human donor corneal epithelium.

Purpose: To characterize dendritic cells (DC) in normal human corneal epithelium.

Methods: Normal human donor corneal epithelium was examined by fluorescence microscopy with single and double staining for multiple markers. Morphologic studies were also performed by confocal microscopy.

Androgen regulation of gene expression in the mouse lacrimal gland.

The objective of this study was to determine the nature and extent of androgen influence on gene expression in the lacrimal gland. Lacrimal glands were obtained from orchiectomized mice that had been treated with testosterone or vehicle for 2 weeks, as well as from testicular feminized mice and their Tabby controls. Samples were pooled according to experiment, processed for the isolation of RNA, and analyzed for differentially expressed mRNAs by using primarily CodeLink Bioarrays, GEM 1 and 2 gene chips and quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) procedures.

Are women with Sjögren's syndrome androgen-deficient?

Objective: We hypothesize that androgen deficiency is a critical etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of aqueous-deficient and evaporative dry eye in Sjögren's syndrome (SS). We investigated whether women with SS have a deficiency in total androgens. We also examined whether these patients have elevated serum concentrations of estrogens.

The effects of proinflammatory cytokines on cytokine-chemokine gene expression profiles in the human corneal endothelium.

Purpose: To determine the effects of proinflammatory cytokines on differential gene expression profiles in the human corneal endothelium (HCE), by using a cDNA expression array.

Methods: A human cDNA expression array technology was used to study the simultaneous expression of HCE incubated with interleukin (IL)-1alpha and tumor necrosis factor-(TNF)-alpha. Gene-specific semiquantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were performed to examine the gene and protein expression patterns revealed by the cDNA expression array, in the presence and absence of proinflammatory cytokines.

Androgen deficiency, Meibomian gland dysfunction, and evaporative dry eye.

Objective: We have recently discovered that women with primary and secondary Sjögren's syndrome are androgen-deficient. We hypothesize that this hormone insufficiency contributes to the meibomian gland dysfunction, tear film instability, and evaporative dry eye that are characteristic of this autoimmune disorder. If our hypothesis is correct, we predict: (1) that androgens regulate meibomian gland function, control the quality and/or quantity of lipids produced by this tissue, and promote the formation of the tear film's lipid layer; and (2) that androgen deficiency, due to an attenuation in androgen synthesis (e.