Background/objectives: Over 60,000 patients in the United Kingdom are estimated to have artificial eyes. Manufacturing and hand-painting of artificial eyes have not changed significantly since 1948. Delays and colour-matching issues may severely impact a patient's rehabilitation pathway.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: Artificial eye users (AEUs) can experience a negative impact on psychological and emotional wellbeing, including reduced social functioning, which may be a consequence of living with one eye removed, and/or of having a prosthetic eye. This may have wider consequences for their families. We aimed to explore what it means to live with a prosthetic eye, for both AEUs and their families-and how any quality of life (QoL) issues impact on their day-to-day functioning.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOphthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg
December 2023
Purpose: To review the advances in the surgical techniques of orbital decompression.
Methods: A literature review of orbital decompression surgery and experience-based consideration of bony areas for decompression.
Results: In the 100-year-plus span of orbital decompression literature, multiple incisions and multiple bone and fat removal strategies have been described.
Aim: To assess the concordance between diagnosing orbital lesions by clinical examination, orbital imaging, and histological evaluation, in order to help guide future research and clinical practice.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was undertaken at a large regional tertiary referral centre of all surgical orbital biopsies performed over a 5-year period, from 1 January 2015 until 31 December 2019. Accuracy and concordance between clinical, radiological and histological diagnoses are reported as percentage sensitivity and positive predictive value.
Background/objective: Around 11,500 artificial eyes are required yearly for new and existing patients. Artificial eyes have been manufactured and hand-painted at the National Artificial Eye Service (NAES) since 1948, in conjunction with approximately 30 local artificial eye services throughout the country. With the current scale of demand, services are under significant pressure.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOphthalmic Plast Reconstr Surg
November 2022
The hydrogel scleral buckle is a hydrophilic implant that is characterized by progressive expansion and can present with secondary orbital changes. The authors present a unique case of hydrogel-induced erosion of the orbital roof into the frontal sinus, with formation of a sino-orbital communication that resulted in frontal sinusitis and adjacent cerebritis. The hydrogel material is radiologically characterized as a fluid-filled hypertense T2 mass with rim enhancement and peripheral calcification.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe use of hand painting an iris button using oil paint remains the conventional method of artificial eye manufacturing. The authors found that replacing this technique with a digital photograph taken of a patient's unaffected eye offers several advantages over the conventional method but the process from capture to print must be standardised and colour accurate. The authors of this paper suggest a tried and tested formulated photographic process of capture and printing prior to polymerisation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: This service evaluation explores patient reported outcomes from patients provided with high definition ocular prostheses (artificial eyes).
Methods: Validated patient questionnaires (FACE-Q, DAS24 and HADS) were utilised to evaluate patient experiences of their new ocular prosthesis. 10 patients were included in the service evaluation, which was conducted between December 2018 and September 2019.
The CFTR gene is unique within the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein family, predominantly of transporters, by coding a chloride channel. The gating mechanism of ABC proteins has been characterized by the ATP Switch model in terms cycles of dimer formation and dissociation linked to ATP binding and hydrolysis, respectively. It would be of interest to assess the extent that Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR), a functional channel, fits the ATP Switch model for ABC transporters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTocilizumab, a monoclonal antibody targeting the IL-6 receptor, has recently been added to the therapeutic armamentarium against rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Despite its overall safety, concerns have been raised regarding diverticular perforation in patients receiving the drug. The aim of our research was to document the incidence of diverticular disease in RA patients treated in the pre-disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug (DMARD) era, following treatment with conventional DMARDs, and subsequent to tocilizumab therapy.
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