Three-Year Safety and Efficacy of the 0.19-mg Fluocinolone Acetonide Intravitreal Implant for Diabetic Macular Edema: The PALADIN Study.

Purpose: To assess the long-term safety and efficacy of the 0.19-mg fluocinolone acetonide (FAc) intravitreal implant (Iluvien; Alimera Sciences, Inc) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Design: Three-year, phase 4, nonrandomized, open-label observational study.

Two-year interim safety results of the 0.2 µg/day fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant for the treatment of diabetic macular oedema: the observational PALADIN study.

Background: The 0.2 µg/day fluocinolone acetonide (FAc) implant delivers continuous, low-dose, intravitreal corticosteroid for the treatment of diabetic macular oedema (DMO). This ongoing, 3-year, observational clinical trial provides long-term, 'real-world' safety results for the FAc implant in DMO.

The Evolving Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Purpose: To review the current therapeutic options for the management of diabetic retinopathy (DR) and diabetic macular edema (DME) and examine the evidence for integration of laser and pharmacotherapy.

Methods: A review of the PubMed database was performed using the search terms diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, neovascularization, laser photocoagulation, intravitreal injection, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), vitrectomy, pars plana vitreous surgery, antiangiogenic therapy. With additional cross-referencing, this yielded 835 publications of which 301 were selected based on content and relevance.

Continuous versus interrupted use of vaginal probiotics plus vaginal clindamycin cream for bacterial vaginosis: a randomized controlled study.

To compare between continuous and interrupted use of vaginal probiotic after vaginal clindamycin cream for treatment and prevention of recurrence of bacterial vaginosis. A double-blinded randomized controlled clinical trial, 273 women were randomly allocated to use clindamycin 2% vaginal cream 5 g at bedtime for 7 days followed after 1 week by continuous probiotics vaginal capsule once daily for 6 weeks ( = 129) or clindamycin 2% vaginal cream 5 g at bedtime for 7 days followed by one probiotic vaginal capsule twice a week for 6 weeks ( = 144). The initial evaluation was at 1 week after cessation of probiotics treatment to estimate the cure rates, the follow-up visits were at 1, 3, 6, and 9 months from the initial visit.

Effect of oral niacin on central retinal vein occlusion.

Purpose: Niacin, a treatment for dyslipidemia, is known to induce vasodilation as a secondary effect. Previous instances of patients with chronic central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and cystoid macular edema (CME) have been observed to spontaneously improve when placed on systemic niacin for hypercholesterolemia. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of niacin on CRVO and associated ocular complications.

Transient vision loss after ocriplasmin injection.

Purpose: Transient vision loss is a poorly understood complication of ocriplasmin injection.

Methods: The authors performed a retrospective medical records review of consecutive patients who received ocriplasmin for the treatment of vitreomacular adhesion at The George Washington University Department of Ophthalmology and the Virginia Retinal Center from January 1, 2013, to March 1, 2014, and who had at least 28 days of follow-up. Ellipsoid zone loss on optical coherence tomography was analyzed using the National Institutes of Health's Medical Imaging, Processing, Analysis, and Visualization (MIPAV) software.

Acute vision loss after ocriplasmin use.

Purpose: There have been reports in the literature of transient vision loss after ocriplasmin injection and ellipsoid layer disruption on spectral domain optical coherence tomography. The authors report a patient with transient vision loss and more prolonged ellipsoid layer dysfunction.

Patient: The authors present a 55-year-old woman with vitreomacular traction and a small foveal schisis who received ocriplasmin injection and experienced sudden transient vision loss.

Toward earlier detection of choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration: multicenter evaluation of a preferential hyperacuity perimeter designed as a home device.

Purpose: The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of a home device preferential hyperacuity perimeter to discriminate between patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and the secondary purpose was to investigate the dependence of sensitivity on lesion characteristics.

Methods: All participants were tested with the home device in an unsupervised mode. The first part of this work was retrospective using tests performed by patients with intermediate AMD and newly diagnosed CNV.

Restoration of blood total glutathione status and lymphocyte function following alpha-lipoic acid supplementation in patients with HIV infection.

Objectives: To determine whether supplementation with alpha-lipoic acid (ALA), a glutathione-replenishing disulfide, modulates whole blood total glutathione (GSH + GSSG) levels and improves lymphocyte function in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected subjects with history of unresponsiveness to highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART).

Design And Setting: Randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial conducted at two study sites: an eye clinic at a county hospital in San Jose and a research clinic in San Francisco, California.

Subjects: A total of 33 HIV-infected men and women with viral load >10,000 copies/cm(3), despite HAART, aged 44-47 years, approximately 36% nonwhite, were enrolled.

Quantification of sedimented triamcinolone for intravitreal injection.

Purpose: To develop a practical method to concentrate triamcinolone acetonide for intravitreal injection.

Methods: A protocol using sedimentation was developed to increase the concentration of triamcinolone acetonide in a 0.1 mL dose.

Prevalence of significant intraocular sequelae in blunt orbital trauma.

The purpose of this study was to describe the prevalence of significant intraocular sequelae (SIOS) and its correlation with the severity of blunt orbital trauma. Four hundred ten consecutive patients presenting to the ED who had sustained blunt orbital trauma were studied. The severity of orbital trauma was graded and SIOS was determined by the presence of an intraocular injury as listed in Table 2.

Serological association between Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and age-related macular degeneration.

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, but the mechanisms that initiate and promote the disease remain ill defined. There are several risk factors that ARMD shares with atherosclerosis, and these diseases may have similar pathogenic mechanisms that involve inflammation. Chlamydia pneumoniae, a prokaryotic pathogen that causes chronic inflammation is now emerging as a risk factor in the development of cardiovascular diseases.

Cytomegalovirus retinitis after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy in HIV infected patients: natural history and clinical predictors.

Purpose: To characterize the natural course and clinical predictors of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected patients after initiation of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART).

Methods: Retrospective analysis of 53 HIV-positive patients (73 eyes with CMV retinitis) treated with and without HAART. All participants continued to take anti-CMV therapy.