Treatment of Geographic Atrophy with Intravitreal Sirolimus: The Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 Ancillary Study.

Objective/purpose: To evaluate efficacy and safety of monthly intravitreal injections of sirolimus, an immunosuppressive drug, for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration associated geographic atrophy (GA).

Design: Randomized, controlled, single-masked multi-center phase 2 clinical trial of intravitreal sirolimus vs. sham therapy in AREDS2 clinical centers.

Health risk of chrysotile revisited.

This review provides a basis for substantiating both kinetically and pathologically the differences between chrysotile and amphibole asbestos. Chrysotile, which is rapidly attacked by the acid environment of the macrophage, falls apart in the lung into short fibers and particles, while the amphibole asbestos persist creating a response to the fibrous structure of this mineral. Inhalation toxicity studies of chrysotile at non-lung overload conditions demonstrate that the long (>20 µm) fibers are rapidly cleared from the lung, are not translocated to the pleural cavity and do not initiate fibrogenic response.

Environmental lithium exposure in the north of Chile--II. Natural food sources.

Lithium, generally, occurs in barely trace amounts in ground water with few major exceptions. One of these is the northern area of Chile where all potable water and many of the food stuffs contain high levels of lithium. Surface water can contain between 100 and 10,000 times more than most rivers in North America.

Erionite series minerals: mineralogical and carcinogenic properties.

Erionite is a human and animal carcinogen and one of the most toxic minerals known. Erionite deposits have been reported in many countries; however, it is only in the area of three villages of Cappadocia, Turkey, that environmental exposure to erionite has been demonstrated to be the cause of an epidemic of the disease mesothelioma. In the USA, no cases of mesothelioma have been reliably proven to be the result of erionite exposure, though the possibility exists.

The health effects of chrysotile: current perspective based upon recent data.

This review substantiates kinetically and pathologically the differences between chrysotile and amphiboles. The serpentine chrysotile is a thin walled sheet silicate while the amphiboles are double-chain silicates. These different chemistries result in chrysotile clearing very rapidly from the lung (T(1/2)=0.

Surgical removal vs observation for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization, either associated with the ocular histoplasmosis syndrome or idiopathic: I. Ophthalmic findings from a randomized clinical trial: Submacular Surgery Trials (SST) Group H Trial: SST Report No. 9.

Objective: To present visual acuity findings and related outcomes from eyes of patients enrolled in a randomized trial conducted by the Submacular Surgery Trials (SST) Research Group (SST Group H Trial) to compare surgical removal vs observation of subfoveal choroidal neovascular lesions that were either idiopathic or associated with ocular histoplasmosis.

Methods: Eligible patients 18 years or older had subfoveal choroidal neovascularization (new or recurrent) that included a classic component on fluorescein angiography and best-corrected visual acuity of 20/50 to 20/800 in 1 eye ("study eye"). Patients were examined 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after enrollment to assess study outcomes and adverse events.