Conjunctival Neuroma After Corneal Neurotization in a Patient With Neurotrophic Keratopathy: A Case Report.

Purpose: To report a rare case of conjunctival neuroma after a successful corneal neurotization surgery.

Methods: The clinical file and histopathology slides of this patient who underwent surgical corneal neurotization for a neurotrophic keratopathy in the right eye were reviewed.

Results: A 70-year-old man with a history of severe herpetic (varicella zoster) neurotrophic keratopathy and keratouveitis in the right eye developed a corneal perforation, which required tectonic keratoplasty (May 2020).

Validation of a French Version of the Visual Function and Corneal Health Status Instrument and Correlation With Vision and Glare Measurements in Fuchs Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy.

Purpose: To validate a French version of the Visual Function and Corneal Health Status (V-FUCHS) instrument in Fuchs endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) and to correlate questionnaire scores with objective measurements of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and intraocular straylight.

Methods: The original V-FUCHS 15-item instrument was designed to assess VA and glare in patients with FECD. It was translated from English to French and back translated to English by independent translators.

Intracameral Fibrinous Reaction During Descemet's Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty.

Purpose: To determine the outcomes and predisposing factors of Descemet's membrane endothelial keratoplasty () complicated by intraoperative fibrinous reaction.

Methods: Retrospective cohort study of 346 DMEKs. Medical charts were reviewed for recipient demographics, surgical indications, donor characteristics, and potential predisposing ocular and systemic factors.

Usefulness of Prestorage Corneal Swab Culture in the Prevention of Contaminated Corneal Tissue in Corneal Transplantation.

Purpose: To assess the efficacy of the prestorage corneal swab (PCS) culture to screen for corneal graft contamination after storage in Optisol-GS.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of all PCS cultures was performed at the Eye Bank of Québec in Hôpital Maisonneuve-Rosemont from September 2013 to June 2016. Whole corneal culture was performed on rejected grafts because of a positive PCS, and a contamination rate was calculated.

Poor Long-Term Outcomes of Keratopigmentation With Black Ink for the Treatment of Dysphotopsia Secondary to Laser Peripheral Iridotomies.

Purpose: To report outcomes of keratopigmentation (KP) with commercial black ink in the treatment of dysphotopsia secondary to laser peripheral iridotomies (LPI) using manual anterior stromal puncture (ASP) and manual lamellar pocket (LP).

Methods: This is a retrospective case series of eyes that underwent KP for treatment of dysphotopsia secondary to LPI. Patients' postoperative symptoms were categorized as resolved, improved, no change, or worse.

Successful management of severe post-LASIK Mycobacterium abscessus keratitis with topical amikacin and linezolid, flap ablation, and topical corticosteroids.

This is a case report of post-laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) multidrug-resistant Mycobacterium abscessus keratitis managed with combined topical amikacin and linezolid, flap amputation, and corticosteroids. A 34-year-old woman presented with a corneal interface infiltrate 3 weeks after LASIK. Cultures isolated mycobacteria.

The role of novel DMEK graft shapes in facilitating intraoperative unscrolling.

Purpose: To evaluate whether the preparation of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) grafts into various shapes affect their propensity to scroll as compared with the conventional circular graft design.

Methods: Prospective randomized laboratory-based study, using nine pre-stripped DMEK corneal grafts unfit for transplantation. Each graft was trephinated into a standard circular 8-mm shape, stained with trypan blue, and then immersed in balanced salt solution (BSS).

Evolution of Corneal Transplantation in the Province of Quebec From 2000 to 2011.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to determine the changes in surgical techniques and leading indications for corneal transplantations performed in the last decade. The impact of administrative changes of corneal banking in Quebec was also evaluated.

Methods: The records of all corneal transplantations performed between January 2000 and December 2011 in the territory subserved by the Quebec Eye Bank and Héma-Québec (Quebec, Canada) were retrospectively reviewed.

Association between unilateral quiescent stromal herpetic keratitis and bilateral dry eyes.

Purpose: According to our clinical observation, patients with quiescent herpes simplex virus (HSV) stromal keratitis often seem to present with signs of dry eye in the contralateral eye. Our goal was to compare dry eye signs and symptoms in both eyes of patients with quiescent HSV stromal keratitis with those of age- and sex-matched control subjects with healthy corneas.

Methods: A case-control study with 24 subjects per group.

Divergent mechanisms controlling hypoxic sensitivity and lifespan by the DAF-2/insulin/IGF-receptor pathway.

Organisms and their cells vary greatly in their tolerance of low oxygen environments (hypoxia). A delineation of the determinants of hypoxia tolerance is incomplete, despite intense interest for its implications in diseases such as stroke and myocardial infarction. The insulin/IGF-1 receptor (IGFR) signaling pathway controls survival of Caenorhabditis elegans from a variety of stressors including aging, hyperthermia, and hypoxia.

Systematic identification of gene activities promoting hypoxic death.

The sensitivity of an organism to hypoxic injury varies widely across species and among cell types. However, a systematic description of the determinants of metazoan hypoxic sensitivity is lacking. Toward this end, we screened a whole-genome RNAi library for genes that promote hypoxic sensitivity in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Histopathologically confirmed ocular rhinosporidiosis in two Canadians.

Case Report: In India and Southeast Asia, rhinosporidiosis is a common infectious disease, but it has rarely been reported in western countries. Infrequently, isolated ocular rhinosporidial infections have been reported, but to our knowledge, there are no reported cases in Canada. Two cases of rhinosporidiosis have been recently diagnosed and managed at our university-based hospital.

Amniotic membrane transplantation and fibrin glue in the management of corneal ulcers and perforations: a review of 33 cases.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of amniotic membrane in corneal ulcers refractive to conventional treatment and amniotic membrane with fibrin glue in corneal perforations.

Methods: Amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT) was performed in 33 eyes from 32 patients for corneal ulcers refractive to conventional treatment. Fourteen ulcers were perforated and received fibrin glue and amniotic membrane.

An Mll-dependent Hox program drives hematopoietic progenitor expansion.

Chromosomal translocations disrupting the Mixed lineage leukemia (Mll) gene result in leukemia, with aberrant expression of some native Mll target genes (reviewed in). The Mll gene encodes a Trithorax-group chromatin regulator that is essential for the development of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) during embryogenesis. Like Trithorax, MLL positively regulates clustered homeodomain or Hox genes, yet the role of Hox genes collectively in the development of the mammalian hematopoietic system has been difficult to ascertain because of redundancy among Hox paralogs.

FLT3 mutations in childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Activating mutations of the FLT3 receptor tyrosine kinase are common in acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) but are rare in adult acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). We have recently shown that FLT3 is highly expressed and often mutated in ALLs with rearrangement of the mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) gene on chromosome 11q23. Because hyperdiploid ALL samples also show high-level expression of FLT3, we searched for the presence of FLT3 mutations in leukemic blasts from 71 patients with ALL.

Tau and 14-3-3 in glial cytoplasmic inclusions of multiple system atrophy.

Multiple system atrophy (MSA) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the presence of glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs), which are comprised of fibrils of the protein alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn). Increasing evidence indicate that the formation of these lesions leads to cellular dysfunction and degeneration. The events that result in the formation of GCIs remain poorly understood.

Inhibition of FLT3 in MLL. Validation of a therapeutic target identified by gene expression based classification.

We recently found that MLL-rearranged acute lymphoblastic leukemias (MLL) have a unique gene expression profile including high level expression of the receptor tyrosine kinase FLT3. We hypothesized that FLT3 might be a therapeutic target in MLL and found that 5 of 30 MLLs contain mutations in the activation loop of FLT3 that result in constitutive activation. Three are a newly described deletion of I836 and the others are D835 mutations.

Spontaneous corneal hydrops and perforation in keratoconus and pellucid marginal degeneration.

Purpose: To report two cases of pellucid marginal degeneration and one case of keratoconus associated with spontaneous corneal hydrops leading either to perforation or imminent perforation, requiring urgent keratoplasty.

Method: Retrospective interventional case series of three patients with noninflammatory peripheral corneal degenerations. A retrospective review was done of the clinical courses, surgical interventions, and pathologic specimens, development of spontaneous hydrops, perforation, need for surgical intervention, and final visual outcome.

Novel antibodies to synuclein show abundant striatal pathology in Lewy body diseases.

Intracytoplasmic inclusions composed of alpha-synuclein (alpha-syn) are characteristic of neurodegenerative Lewy body disorders. Using novel monoclonal antibodies raised against altered alpha-syn, we uncovered an unprecedented and extensive burden of alpha-syn pathology in the striatum of Lewy body disorders. The highest density of striatal pathology was observed in patients with a combination of Alzheimer's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies or pure dementia with Lewy bodies, and these alpha-syn aggregates may contribute to the parkinsonism seen in these disorders.

Does clinical diagnosis indicate ocular chlamydial infection in areas with a low prevalence of trachoma?

The WHO has initiated a global program to eliminate trachoma. This program includes mass antibiotic administrations to reduce the prevalence of Chlamydia trachomatis, the causative agent in trachoma. DNA amplification tests are the most sensitive methods to diagnose C.

Concurrence of alpha-synuclein and tau brain pathology in the Contursi kindred.

Previous genetic analysis of the familial Parkinson's disease Contursi kindred led to the identification of an Ala53Thr pathogenic mutation in the alpha-synuclein gene. We have re-examined one of the original brains from this kindred using new immunohistochemical reagents, thioflavin S staining and immunoelectron microscopy. Surprisingly, we uncovered a dense burden of alpha-synuclein neuritic pathology and rare Lewy bodies.