Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness is decreased in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral retinal vein occlusion.

Objective: To investigate whether retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness is decreased in the fellow eyes of patients with unilateral retinal vein occlusion (RVO).

Design: Observational cross-sectional study.

Participants: Seventy-nine patients with unilateral RVO and 71 age-matched control subjects.

Comparison of efficacy and safety between half-fluence and full-fluence photodynamic therapy for chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and safety of half-fluence photodynamic therapy (PDT) and conventional PDT in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Methods: A multicenter retrospective comparison study. Retrospective review of 60 patients including 29 patients (34 eyes) who received half-fluence PDT and 31 patients (33 eyes) who received conventional PDT for the treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Characterization of unknown compounds from stainless steel plates in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry.

Peaks originating from unknown compounds on stainless steel plates used in matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometers are observed around m/z 304.3, 332.3, 360.

Long-term temporal changes of macular thickness and visual outcome after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term correlation of visual outcome and macular thickness after vitrectomy for idiopathic epiretinal membrane and to identify prognostic factors for good visual outcome.

Design: Retrospective, observational case series.

Methods: We reviewed the records of 52 patients with idiopathic epiretinal membrane who were treated with vitrectomy and could be followed up for more than 12 months.

A case of sympathetic ophthalmia presenting with extraocular symptoms and conjunctival pigmentation after repeated 23-gauge vitrectomy.

Purpose: To report a case of sympathetic ophthalmia presenting with extraocular symptoms after 23-gauge sutureless vitrectomy.

Methods: Observational case report.

Results: A 29-year-old woman underwent 23-gauge sutureless vitrectomy for spontaneous rhegmatogenous retinal detachment in the right eye.

Electromechanical characteristics of the human colon in vitro: is there any difference between the right and left colon?

Purpose: We examined the electrical and mechanical characteristics of the smooth muscles in the human colon at the muscle cell, the muscle strip, and at the whole tissue levels

Methods: Conventional microelectrode recordings and tension recordings were performed.

Results: There was no difference in resting membrane potential, frequency, and amplitude of slow waves between the right and left colon; but there were significant differences in frequency and amplitude of the slow waves between inner circular muscle (CM) and longitudinal muscle (LM), and between inner CM and outer CM, but not between outer CM and LM. On tension recording of CM and LM strip and colonic segment, amplitude, frequency, and area under the curve showed no difference between the right and left colon.

Intra-arterial thrombolysis for central retinal artery occlusion: two cases report.

Central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) causes severe visual loss in affected eye and vision does not recover in more than 90% of the patients. It is believed that it occurs by occlusion of the central retinal artery with small emboli from atherosclerotic plaque of internal cerebral artery. Retina is a part of the brain, thus basically CRAO is corresponding to acute occlusion of intracerebral artery and retinal ischemia is to cerebral stroke.

Reversal of ischemic retinopathy following balloon angioplasty of a stenotic ophthalmic artery.

A 65-year-old woman who had undergone internal carotid artery stenting and was being maintained on antiplatelet therapy developed features suggesting ipsilateral reduced retinal artery perfusion. Injection of urokinase into the ophthalmic artery provided temporary improvement. When manifestations of retinal arterial ischemia recurred, angiography revealed worsening stenosis at the origin of the ophthalmic artery.

Short-term outcome of bimanual 23-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy for patients with complicated vitreoretinopathies.

Background And Objective: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of bimanual 23-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy for patients with complicated vitreoretinopathies.

Patients And Methods: Twenty-nine eyes of 27 patients that received bimanual 23-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy were prospectively enrolled. Fourteen eyes with diabetic tractional retinal detachment, 13 eyes with complicated rhegmatogeneous retinal detachment (including 3 traumatic retinal detachments), and 2 eyes with massive subretinal hemorrhage received 23-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy.

A study on hemorrhage detection using hybrid method in fundus images.

Image processing of a fundus image is performed for the early detection of diabetic retinopathy. Recently, several studies have proposed that the use of a morphological filter may help extract hemorrhages from the fundus image; however, extraction of hemorrhages using template matching with templates of various shapes has not been reported. In our study, we applied hue saturation value brightness correction and contrast-limited adaptive histogram equalization to fundus images.

Secondary macular hole formation after vitrectomy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to report the incidence and the underlying ocular pathology of a macular hole (MH) that develops in vitrectomized eyes and to evaluate its prognosis.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed in patients who underwent vitrectomy between March 2004 and June 2009. Cases that developed an MH in vitrectomized eyes were identified, and the data from all ophthalmology examinations were collected.

Morphologic photoreceptor abnormality in occult macular dystrophy on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE. To investigate morphologic photoreceptor layer abnormalities and their correlation with visual function in occult macular dystrophy (OMD), by using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging for predicting the clinical outcome of comatose survivors after cardiac arrest: a cohort study.

Introduction: The aim of this study was to examine whether the patterns of diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) abnormalities and quantitative regional apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values can predict the clinical outcome of comatose patients following cardiac arrest.

Methods: Thirty-nine patients resuscitated from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest were prospectively investigated. Within five days of resuscitation, axial DWIs were obtained and ADC maps were generated using two 1.

Comparison of persistent submacular fluid in vitrectomy and scleral buckle surgery for macula-involving retinal detachment.

Purpose: To compare the frequency of persistent submacular fluid (SMF) and sequential visual outcomes after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and scleral buckling (SB) in recent-onset macula-involving rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD), and thus to determine the role of persistent SMF on visual outcome with different surgical methods.

Design: Observational case series.

Methods: Sixty-one patients (61 eyes) who underwent successful PPV (16 patients) or SB (45 patients) underwent thorough ophthalmologic examinations including optical coherence tomography at 1 month after surgery, as well as every 3 months until SMF disappeared.

Retinal vasculopathy associated with mixed connective tissue disease.

Purpose: To report an intractable case of retinal vasculopathy associated with mixed connective tissue disease (MCTD).

Design: Case report.

Methods: Interventional case report.

Identification of TRPM7 channels in human intestinal interstitial cells of Cajal.

Aim: To investigate the characteristics of slow electrical waves and the presence of transient receptor potential melastatin-type 7 (TRPM7) in the human gastrointestinal (GI) tract.

Methods: Conventional microelectrode techniques were used to record intracellular electrical responses from human GI smooth muscle tissue. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify TRPM7 channels in interstitial cells of Cajal (ICCs).

[Comparison of the Model for End-stage Liver Disease and hepatic venous pressure gradient for predicting survival in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis].

Background/aims: This study compared the prognostic values of the Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) and the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG) in the prediction of death within 3 and 12 months in patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis.

Methods: We used data from 136 consecutive patients with decompensated cirrhosis who underwent HVPG between January 2006 and June 2008. Cox regression analysis was used to investigate the independent relationships with death of MELD and HVPG.

Protective effect of clusterin from oxidative stress-induced apoptosis in human retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Purpose: Oxidative stress to retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells is thought to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study was conducted to investigate whether clusterin protects human RPE cells from ROS-induced apoptosis through a PI3K/Akt survival pathway.

Methods: The preventive effect of clusterin on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and RPE cell death induced by hydrogen peroxide was determined in ARPE-19 cells.

The usefulness of the semiquantitative procalcitonin test kit as a guideline for starting antibiotic administration.

Objectives: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign has recommended that antibiotic therapy should be started within the first hour of recognizing severe sepsis. Procalcitonin has recently been proposed as a biomarker of bacterial infection, although the quantitative procalcitonin assay is often time consuming, and it is not always available in many emergency departments (EDs). Our aim is to evaluate usefulness of the semiquantitative procalcitonin fast kit as a guideline for starting antibiotic administration for patients with severe sepsis or septic shock that requires prompt antibiotic therapy in the ED.

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) for tumor vasculogenesis in gastric cancer patients.

It has been suggested that vasculogenesis by endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) as well as angiogenesis play an important role in the production of blood vessels in neoplasm. The present study was designed to isolate and characterize the EPC in gastric cancer patients as a tumor specific angiogenesis marker. The cells derived from CD34 positive PBMC presented with a cobblestone appearance at 28 days, revealing differentiation into endothelial cells.

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to drowning: An Utstein Style report of 10 years of experience from St. Mary's Hospital.

Background: Drowning is a unique form of cardiac arrest and is often preventable. "Utstein Style for Drowning" was published in 2003 by the International Liaison Committee on Resuscitation (ILCOR) to improve the knowledge-base, to provide epidemiological stratification, to recommend appropriate treatments and to ultimately save lives. We report on the largest single-center study of the Utstein Style resuscitation for drowning.

Molecular genetic characteristics of X-linked retinoschisis in Koreans.

Purpose: X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) is a recessively inherited disorder that causes macular degeneration and resultant visual defect in young males. Many genetic studies had focused on the patients in Western countries. We characterized the mutational spectrum of the RS1 gene in Korean patients with XLRS, and aimed to provide genetic information of XLRS in an Asian population.