Macular translocation surgery and retinal circulation times.

Purpose: To quantify and compare the retinal circulation times before and after macular translocation surgery.

Methods: In nine patients undergoing macular translocation with 360-degree retinotomy, arm-retina and arteriovenous passage times were quantified from preoperative and postoperative scanning laser fluorescein angiograms. A control group of eight patients who had not undergone any intraocular surgery was also evaluated.

Development of bilateral, nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy in an eye with diabetic papillopathy.

Background: Diabetic papillopathy and anterior ischemic optic neuropathy are different clinical entities with different prognoses. We describe a case of diabetic papillopathy that developed into bilateral nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION).

Case: A 58-year-old woman with diabetes mellitus had bilateral disc elevation.

Wide-angle viewing lens for vitrectomy.

Purpose: To report a new wide-angle viewing contact lens for vitrectomy.

Design: New surgical instrument.

Methods: The new wide-angle viewing lens is made of glass and polymethyl methacrylate without a plastic rim.

Vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling for myopic foveoschisis.

Purpose: Myopic foveoschisis is common in high myopia. We report results of a pilot study of vitrectomy for patients with myopic foveoschisis.

Design: Interventional case series.

Functional bioengineered corneal epithelial sheet grafts from corneal stem cells expanded ex vivo on a temperature-responsive cell culture surface.

Background: Limbal stem-cell deficiency by ocular trauma or diseases causes corneal opacification and visual loss. Recent attempts have been made to fabricate corneal epithelial graft constructs, but the technology is still evolving. We have developed a novel cell-sheet manipulation technology using temperature-responsive culture surfaces to generate functional, cultivated corneal epithelial cell sheet grafts.

Wavefront analysis of an eye with monocular triplopia and nuclear cataract.

Purpose: To determine whether higher-order aberrations explain patient-reported monocular triplopia.

Design: Observational case report.

Method: A patient complaining of monocular triplopia was examined with a Hartmann-Shack aberrometer to determine whether higher-order wavefront aberrations could account for the triplopia.

The clinical role of N-isopropyl-p-[123I]-iodoamphetamine single photon emission computed tomography in the follow-up of choroidal melanoma after radiotherapy.

Background: Single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) images with N-isopropyl-p-[123I]-iodoamphetamine (123I-IMP) have recently been used for the sensitive and specific detection of melanoma.

Cases: Using 123I-IMP SPECT, we observed three patients over a period of 18 months in whom choroidal melanoma had been diagnosed. Two underwent radiotherapy (cyber knife) in our clinic; the other patient was referred to us after 8 months of proton beam irradiation at another clinic.

Electrophysiological studies of the feasibility of suprachoroidal-transretinal stimulation for artificial vision in normal and RCS rats.

Purpose: Assessment of a novel method of retinal stimulation, known as suprachoroidal-transretinal stimulation (STS), which was designed to minimize insult to the retina by implantation of stimulating electrodes for artificial vision.

Methods: In 17 normal hooded rats and 12 Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats, a small area of the retina was focally stimulated with electric currents through an anode placed on the fenestrated sclera and a cathode inserted into the vitreous chamber. Evoked potentials (EPs) in response to STS were recorded from the surface of the superior colliculus (SC) with a silver-ball electrode, and their physiological properties and localization were studied.

Wavefront analysis in eyes with accommodative spasm.

Purpose: To investigate changes of spherical aberration in eyes with accommodative spasm.

Design: Case reports.

Methods: Four eyes of two patients with accommodative spasm were studied.

Otx2 homeobox gene controls retinal photoreceptor cell fate and pineal gland development.

Understanding the molecular mechanisms by which distinct cell fate is determined during organogenesis is a central issue in development and disease. Here, using conditional gene ablation in mice, we show that the transcription factor Otx2 is essential for retinal photoreceptor cell fate determination and development of the pineal gland. Otx2-deficiency converted differentiating photoreceptor cells to amacrine-like neurons and led to a total lack of pinealocytes in the pineal gland.

Early macular holes with retinoschisis in highly myopic eyes.

Purpose: We present two cases with early macular holes (MH) complicated by retinoschisis and foveal detachment (RSFD).

Design: Case reports.

Case Report: A 46-year-old woman and a 70-year-old woman, both with high myopia, presented visual loss and a small MH associated with RSFD.

Unusual neutrophil infiltration under the soft contact lens in a patient with Behçet's disease.

Background: Behçet's disease (BD) characterized by multisystemic disorders has many kinds of ocular involvement. We report one case of BD with unusual neutrophil infiltration under a soft contact lens (SCL).

Case: A 31-year-old woman diagnosed as having BD exhibited bilateral recurrent phlyctenular keratitis and finally developed corneal perforation in the cornea of her right eye.

Effects of RGD peptides on cells derived from the human eye.

Purpose: To investigate the effects of Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD) peptides on cells derived from the human eye.

Methods: SV40-transformed human corneal epithelial cells (SCE), SV40-transformed human lens epithelial cells (SLE), normal human keratocytes (NK), and human retinal pigment epithelial cells stably expressing human telomerase reverse transcriptase (TRPE) were used. A human corneal cDNA library was screened to isolate the human homologue of p130 Crk-associated substrate (Cas).

Successful photodynamic therapy with verteporfin for recurrent choroidal neovascularization beneath the new fovea after macular translocation surgery with 360-degree retinotomy.

Purpose: To report a case of successfully treated recurrent choroidal neovascularization after macular translocation surgery with 360-degree retinotomy by photodynamic therapy with verteporfin.

Design: Interventional case report.

Methods: A 76-year-old man developed recurrent choroidal neovascularization at the new fovea after macular translocation surgery with 360-degree retinotomy.

Diagnosing dry eye using a blue-free barrier filter.

Purpose: To investigate the benefit of the blue-free barrier filter (BF filter) in diagnosing dry eye.

Design: Nonrandomized clinical comparison.

Methods: Fifty-three eyes with Sjögren syndrome (n = 42) or keratoconjunctivitis sicca (n = 11) were enrolled.

Optical coherence tomographic findings of macular holes and retinal detachment after vitrectomy in highly myopic eyes.

Purpose: Macular holes cause retinal detachments in highly myopic eyes. Because degenerative macular changes often coexist, biomicroscopic evaluation of macular hole status after retinal reattachment is sometimes difficult. We studied macular holes with retinal detachment after vitrectomy using optical coherence tomography and evaluated the anatomic status of the hole and factors associated with anatomic success.

Nuclear cataract caused by a lack of DNA degradation in the mouse eye lens.

The eye lens is composed of fibre cells, which develop from the epithelial cells on the anterior surface of the lens. Differentiation into a lens fibre cell is accompanied by changes in cell shape, the expression of crystallins and the degradation of cellular organelles. The loss of organelles is believed to ensure the transparency of the lens, but the molecular mechanism behind this process is not known.

Electron microscopy of the epithelial flap created by ethanol treatment in the rabbit corneal epithelium.

Purpose: To assess the effect of corneal debridement with 25% ethanol on rabbit corneal epithelium by electron microscopy.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Osaka University School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan.

Methods: Rabbit corneas were deepithelialized by applying 25% ethanol for 3 minutes, and a hinged epithelial flap was created and repositioned.

Chediak-Higashi syndrome with progressive visual loss.

Background: The change of visual function in Chediak-Higashi syndrome has not been well described.

Cases: The visual function of a 12-year-old Japanese girl with ocular albinism due to Chediak-Higashi syndrome was followed by periodic ophthalmological examinations.

Observations: A lack of pigmentation in the iris and ocular fundus, and pigmentary degeneration of the peripheral retina were observed.

The use of competitive PCR for quantitation of HSV-1 DNA.

Purpose: Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detects the genomic materials of etiological agents with high specificity and sensitivity. However, in herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection, the clinical significance of the results often poses controversy because of the subclinical viral shedding during latent infection. Quantitative PCR might provide additional information to help clinical evaluation of the results.

Comparison of ocular higher-order aberrations and visual performance between photorefractive keratectomy and laser in situ keratomileusis for myopia.

The purpose was to compare the ocular higher-order aberrations and the visual performance between photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK). Ocular aberrations and visual performance were measured after PRK in 26 eyes, after LASIK in 39 eyes, and in 29 normal myopic control eyes. Ocular aberrations were measured with a Hartmann-Shack aberrometer.