Recognition of Glaucomatous Fundus Images Using Machine Learning Methods Based on Optic Nerve Head Topographic Features.

Prcis: Machine learning classifiers are an effective approach to detecting glaucomatous fundus images based on optic disc topographic features making it a straightforward and effective approach.

Study Design: Retrospective case-control study.

Objective: The aim was to compare the effectiveness of clinical discriminant rules and machine learning classifiers in identifying glaucomatous fundus images based on optic disc topographic features.

A refractory malignant glaucoma posttrabeculectomy in vitrectomized eye: A case report and review of the literature.

The objective of this study is to report a case of refractory malignant glaucoma post trabeculectomy in vitrectomized eye and review of previous literature in PubMed database. A 63-year-old male encountered malignant glaucoma after trabeculectomy in vitrectomized eye. We had tried vitreous tapping with peripheral iridectomy and vitreous tapping with intracameral injection of room air (Chandler procedure).

MANAGEMENT OF REFRACTORY LARGE MACULAR HOLE WITH AUTOLOGOUS NEUROSENSORY RETINAL FREE FLAP TRANSPLANTATION.

Purpose: To investigate the morphological and functional outcome of refractory large macular hole (MH) with autologous neurosensory retinal free flap transplantation.

Methods: This case series enrolled 10 patients suffering from refractory large MH at Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy, a neurosensory retinal free flap with a 1.

THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CENTRAL SEROUS CHORIORETINOPATHY AND SLEEP APNEA: A Nationwide Population-Based Study.

Purpose: To identify the association between sleep apnea (SA) and central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).

Methods: In this nationwide population-based study using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database, we enrolled adult patients with a diagnosis of SA and matched each patient to 30 age- and gender-matched control subjects without any SA diagnosis. Using Poisson regression analyses, the incidence rate of CSC was compared between SA patients and control subjects.

Dexamethasone Intravitreal Implant (Ozurdex) for Long-Term Macular Edema after Epiretinal Membrane Peeling Surgery.

Purpose: To investigate the functional and anatomical outcome of the 0.7 mg dexamethasone (Ozurdex) intravitreal implant (IVD) in eyes with long-term macular edema after macular epiretinal membrane removal.

Methods: We enrolled 40 eyes with persistent macular edema at least 12 months after epiretinal membrane removal.

Comparison of Visual Outcome and Morphologic Change between Different Surgical Techniques in Idiopathic Epiretinal Membrane Surgery.

Purpose: To investigate the morphological and functional outcomes of idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) surgery between three different surgical techniques: ERM peeling only, whole-piece ILM peeling, and maculorrhexis ILM peeling.

Patients And Methods: This is a retrospective, consecutive, and comparative study enrolling 60 patients from Kaohsiung Medical University Hospital, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Surgery performed between July 2011 and June 2012 was done with ERM peeling only (group I).

Glaucomatocyclitic Crises May Occur in Patients with Narrow or Closed Angles.

Purpose: To report cases of glaucomatocyclitic crises and discuss the possibility of occurrence in patients with narrow or closed angles.

Background: The prevalence of angle closure is much higher among Asians than among the Western population. Currently, there is no evidence for a direct relationship between the etiology and angle structure.

Ocular genetics in Taiwan.

Purpose Of Review: Ocular genetics is an emerging specialty which has accompanied the advancement of modern genetic technology. This review is to understand the current status of practice in ocular genetics in Taiwan.

Recent Findings: There is only one ocular genetics clinic in Taiwan.

Tolerability and efficacy of bimatoprost 0.01 % in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension evaluated in the Taiwanese clinical setting: the Asia Pacific Patterns from Early Access of Lumigan 0.01 % (APPEAL Taiwan) study.

Background: In randomized, controlled trials of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension (OHT), bimatoprost 0.01 % improved tolerability while retaining the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering efficacy of bimatoprost 0.03 %.

Hypoxia-induced vascular endothelial growth factor secretion by retinal pigment epithelial cells is inhibited by melatonin via decreased accumulation of hypoxia-inducible factors-1α protein.

Background: Hypoxia is the most important stimulus leading to up-regulation of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the retina via elevation of hypoxia-inducible factors-1α (HIF-1α) protein. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of melatonin on the expression of VEGF and HIF-1α in the cultured human retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells under normoxia and hypoxia.

Method: An in vitro RPE cell hypoxia model was established by placing cells under 1% oxygen pressure or by adding cobalt chloride (CoCl ) to the culture medium.

Modified internal limiting membrane peeling technique (maculorrhexis) for myopic foveoschisis surgery.

Purpose: Myopic foveoschisis occurs in 9-34% of highly myopic eyes with posterior staphyloma. The pathogenesis is still not fully understood. But the relative inflexibility of the inner retina and a tangential traction induced inward traction force in the posterior staphyloma are possible mechanisms.

5-Fluorouracil-Induced Apoptosis Changes in Cultured Corneal Epithelial Cells.

Purpose: Repeated subconjunctival injections with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) after trabeculectomy are used in glaucoma patients for the inhibition of overproliferation in wound site. Thus, a certain amount of the drug may penetrate into epithelial layer, where it causes toxicity to corneal epithelial cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxic effects of 5-FU and mechanisms of drug-induced apoptosis in cultured corneal epithelial cells.

Correlation Between the Dynamic Postoperative Visual Outcome and the Restoration of Foveal Microstructures After Macular Hole Surgery.

Purpose: To analyze the long-term dynamic healing process of outer retinal changes for 1 year in patients who underwent a standard vitrectomy procedure for idiopathic macular hole (MH) repair.

Design: Retrospective, consecutive, observational case series.

Methods: Data were collected on 60 eyes of 56 patients (30 women, 26 men) that underwent successful pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling for idiopathic MH from January 2011 to December 2012.

Management of hypotony after glaucoma filtering surgery.

A 39-year-old male with open angle glaucoma in both eyes visited our clinic. The intraocular pressure (IOP) of both eyes fluctuated between 15 mmHg and 25 mmHg. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/100 in the left eye.

The oculocardiac reflex during strabismus surgery: its relationship to preoperative clinical eye findings and subsequent postoperative emesis.

Purpose: To compare the occurrence of significant bradycardia due to the oculocardiac reflex (OCR) during strabismus surgery and its relationship to preoperative clinical eye findings and subsequent development of postoperative emesis.

Methods: The medical records of consecutive patients who underwent strabismus surgery August 2006 to June 2009 were retrospectively reviewed. OCR was defined as presence of dysrhythmia or a sudden heart rate decrease ≥ 20% after traction on the extraocular muscle.

Pharmacological implications from the adhesion-induced signaling profiles in cultured human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) plays an active and complex role in regulating cellular behaviors, including proliferation and adhesion. This study aimed at delineating the adhesion-induced signaling profiles in cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells and investigating the antiadhesion effect of antiproliferative drugs in this context. RPE R-50 cells grown on various ECM molecules, such as type I and IV collagens, fibronectin, and laminin, were used for adhesion assay and for examining the phosphorylation profiles of signaling mediators including Akt, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2, and integrin-linked kinase (ILK) using Western blotting.

Novel usage of intraocular pressure-lowering drugs as wound-healing inhibitors after trabeculectomy with cell culture and animal models.

Inhibiting the healing of wounds to ensure that the aqueous humor can drain into the scleral space unimpeded and form a filtering bleb plays a crucial role in determining the success rate of glaucoma surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the novel use, with cell culture and animal models, of some commercial intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering drugs in inhibiting the healing of fibroblast wounds. The Tenon's fibroblasts of rabbits were cultured to evaluate 13 IOP-lowering drugs for cellular proliferation, collagen formation, and migration.

Heat effect induces production of inflammatory cytokines through heat shock protein 90 pathway in cornea cells.

Purpose: Many studies have been conducted to elucidate the molecular consequences of ultraviolet irradiation, whereas little is known about the effect of infrared radiation on ocular disease. Heat is generated as a consequence of infrared irradiation, in addition to photons, and heat shock is widely considered to be an environmental stressor. Our previous study has demonstrated that heat shock (42 °C) induces apoptosis of Statens Seruminstitut Rabbit Cornea (SIRC) cells.

Pleiotropic role of atorvastatin in regulation of human retinal pigment epithelial cell behaviors in vitro.

Statins, inhibitors of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase, possess pleiotropic effects that have been extended to modulation of various cellular behaviors. This study aimed at examining whether atorvastatin (AVN) modulates cell growth, adhesion, migration, and contraction of cultured human retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. The in vitro effects of AVN on human RPE cells was analyzed in terms of cell proliferation, cell cycle, cell adhesion, migration, and contraction assays.

Heat shock induces apoptosis through reactive oxygen species involving mitochondrial and death receptor pathways in corneal cells.

Although many studies have been performed to elucidate the molecular consequences of ultraviolet irradiation, little is known about the effect of infrared radiation on ocular disease. In addition to photons, heat is generated as a consequence of infrared irradiation, and heat shock is widely considered to be an environmental stressor. Here, we are the first to investigate the biological effect of heat shock on Statens Seruminstitut Rabbit Cornea (SIRC) cells.

Mechanism of carteolol-induced cytosolic Ca2+ mobilization in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells.

An increase in cytosolic calcium concentration triggers intracellular signal transduction in vascular cells, which then regulates the vascular contraction. In the present study, the regulatory mechanism of carteolol on the intracellular free Ca(2+) ([Ca(2+)](i)) mobilization was investigated in cultured A7r5 vascular smooth muscle cells. The A7r5 cells were cultured and loaded with fura-2-AM, which was used as a Ca(2+) sensitive fluorescent probe.