Polyethylene Glycol-Based Synthetic Hydrogel Sealant for Filtration Bleb Leaks: An In Vivo and Histologic Study.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based synthetic sealant for closing bleb leaks after glaucoma filtration surgery.

Methods: Tube shunt surgery that included implantation of a 22-gauge indwelling catheter and intraoperative mitomycin C was performed in the left eyes of 11 New Zealand white rabbits. Seven days postoperatively, all filtration blebs were perforated with an 18-gauge needle to create a bleb hole.

Patching retinal breaks with polyethylene glycol-based synthetic hydrogel sealant for retinal detachment in rabbits.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate absorbable polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based synthetic hydrogel as a sealant for retinal breaks in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD). A three-port, 25-gauge vitrectomy was performed on nine Dutch pigmented rabbit eyes. Subsequently, RD was induced by creating a retinal break.

Polyethylene Glycol-Based Synthetic Hydrogel Sealant for Closing Vitrectomy Wounds: An In Vivo and Histological Study.

Purpose: We conducted an in vivo study using Dutch pigmented rabbit eyes to test the usefulness of polyethylene glycol (PEG) sealant for the closure of sutureless sclerotomies in microincisional vitrectomy surgery (MIVS).

Methods: Three-port, 23-gauge vitrectomy was performed on rabbit eyes. After air leakage was confirmed by the application of 0.

In Vivo and In Vitro Feasibility Studies of Intraocular Use of Polyethylene Glycol-Based Synthetic Sealant to Close Retinal Breaks in Porcine and Rabbit Eyes.

Purpose: Absorbable polyethylene glycol-based synthetic sealant (PEG sealant) polymerizes under xenon illumination and forms a clear, flexible, and firmly adherent hydrogel. The intraocular biocompatibility of PEG sealant and efficacy for closing retinal breaks were evaluated.

Methods: In an in vitro study, retinal detachment with a tear was created in porcine eyecups after vitreous gel removal.

Multifocal electroretinograms in Stargardt's disease/fundus flavimaculatus.

Purpose: To determine whether the characteristics of multifocal electroretinograms (mfERGs) were correlated with the ophthalmic appearance of the fundus in patients with Stargardt's disease/fundus flavimaculatus (SFF).

Methods: Full-field ERGs, mfERGs, and general ophthalmic examinations were performed on 49 eyes with SFF.

Results: The SFF patients were divided into four subtypes according to the classification of Noble and Carr [Arch Ophthalmol 1979;97:1281-1285].

Influence of subretinal fluid in advanced stage retinopathy of prematurity on proangiogenic response and cell proliferation.

Purpose: The clinical phenotype of advanced stage retinopathy of prematurity (ROP, stages 4 and 5) cannot be replicated in an animal model. To dissect the molecular events that can lead up to advanced ROP, we examined subretinal fluid (SRF) and surgically dissected retrolental membranes from patients with advanced ROP to evaluate its influences on cell proliferation, angiogenic properties, and macrophage polarity.

Methods: We compared our findings to SRF collected from patients with uncomplicated rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD) without proliferative vitreoretinopathy and surgically dissected epiretinal membrane from eyes with macular pucker.

The efficacy of mizoribine for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and its correlation with renal function.

Objectives: To evaluate the correlation between the efficacy of mizoribine (MZR) and the factors that might effect MZR concentration: renal function and dosage and administration of MZR in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Methods: The efficacy of MZR treatment was prospectively evaluated in 97 RA regardless of dosage, at the 14 participated institutions. The Disease Activity Score 28-CRP3 was used to assess RA activity.

Quantitative fundus autofluorescence and optical coherence tomography in best vitelliform macular dystrophy.

Purpose: Quantitative fundus autofluorescence (qAF), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) segmentation, and multimodal imaging were performed to elucidate the pathogenesis of Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (BVMD) and to identify abnormalities in lesion versus nonlesion fundus areas.

Methods: Sixteen patients with a clinical diagnosis of BVMD were studied. Autofluorescence images (30°, 488-nm excitation) were acquired with a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope equipped with an internal fluorescent reference to account for variable laser power and detector sensitivity.

Stargardt-Fundus flavimaculatus: recent advancements and treatment.

Stargardt disease is the most common form of autosomal recessive macular dystrophy. Mutation in the ABCA4 gene (ABCR protein) is responsible for disease manifestation in more than 95% of Stargardt patients. ABCA4 codes for a member of the ATP binding cassette transmembrane protein involved in the transport of all-trans retinal.

Portable optical coherence tomography in management of vitreoretinal diseases: current developments, indications, and implications.

The advent of optical coherence tomography (OCT) technology has greatly enhanced our understanding of vitreoretinal diseases; it has become a routine diagnostic imaging method for the evaluation of vitreoretinal abnormalities and injuries in adult and pediatric patients. The use of OCT has recently been extended beyond the offices and clinics to perioperative and intraoperative settings. The new development in high-resolution and high-speed spectral domain OCT, along with the improvement in portability, has made the device more valuable than ever before.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome: review of clinical features.

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome is a bilateral, chronic, diffuse granulomatous panuveitis associated with poliosis, vitiligo, and central nervous system and auditory signs. Increasing reports have been published to describe the clinical features of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome. These manifestations are variable.

Effect of aging on macular features of X-linked retinoschisis assessed with optical coherence tomography.

Purpose: X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS) is one of the most common causes of macular degeneration in young men. The purpose of this study was to use optical coherence tomography combined with ophthalmoscopy to study the effects of aging on the morphologic changes associated with XLRS.

Methods: Twenty-five eyes of 17 men with XLRS ranging in age from 3 years to 68 years were studied using ophthalmoscopy and optical coherence tomography.

Endophthalmitis in the era of small gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy--meta analysis and review of literature.

Purpose: The goal of this study was to review, evaluate, and perform a meta-analysis on the current literature that reports rates of postoperative endophthalmitis after small gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy (TSV) and compare it to 20-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (20G PPV).

Methods: We performed an extensive review of the current literature. We included only large comparative institutional reviews.

Prospects for treatment of pediatric vitreoretinal diseases with vascular endothelial growth factor inhibition.

While angiogenesis inhibitors are already widely used to treat retinal disease in adults, only limited reports are currently available for the use of anti-VEGF in pediatric vitreoretinal diseases such as retinopathy of prematurity, Coats' disease, familial exudative vitreoretinopathy and retinopathy of incontinentia pigmenti. The limited trials of anti-VEGF therapy for pediatric vitreoretinal diseases are promising, although more extensive controlled trials will be needed to confirm their safety and efficacy. This paper will examine the current evidence for use of anti-VEGF therapy in a number of pediatric vitreoretinal disorders and describe a case of anti-VEGF therapy in retinopathy of incontinentia pigmenti.

Growth factors outside the PDGF family drive experimental PVR.

Purpose: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a recurring and problematic disease for which there is no pharmacologic treatment. Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) in the vitreous is associated with experimental and clinical PVR. Furthermore, PDGF receptors (PDGFRs) are present and activated in epiretinal membranes of patient donors, and they are essential for experimental PVR.

Evaluation of macular abnormalities in Stargardt's disease using optical coherence tomography and scanning laser ophthalmoscope microperimetry.

Background: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the diagnostic value of optical coherence tomography (Stratus OCT) and scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) microperimetry in patients with Stargardt's disease (STGD), and the correlation between macular morphology and visual function in these patients.

Methods: Twenty-two patients with STGD (mean age 44 years, range 11 to 71 years) and 20 age-matched healthy control subjects were included in the study. OCT imaging was performed using six radial line scans manually centered on the fovea.

Retinal blood flow and nerve fiber layer measurements in early-stage open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between retinal circulatory abnormalities and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning in early-stage open-angle glaucoma (OAG) to help elucidate the mechanisms underlying the development of glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Design: Prospective cross-sectional.

Methods: Twelve patients with early OAG and a known maximum untreated intraocular pressure less than 22 mm Hg (age, 61.

Plasmin is the major protease responsible for processing PDGF-C in the vitreous of patients with proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

Purpose: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is the primary cause of failure of retinal reattachment surgery. Growth factors such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) are strongly associated with PVR. Of the five PDGF family members, PDGF-C predominates in the vitreous of experimental and clinical PVR.

A potential role for PDGF-C in experimental and clinical proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

Purpose: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a disorder characterized by the formation of cellular membranes on both surfaces of the retina and within the vitreous cavity. It occurs in 5% to 10% of patients who undergo retinal reattachment surgery. In the rabbit model of the disease, the platelet-derived growth factor alpha receptor (PDGFRalpha) is dramatically more capable of promoting PVR than is closely related PDGFRbeta.

Intraocular use of hydrogel tissue adhesive in rabbit eyes.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of newly developed hydrogel glue to treat rhegmatogenous retinal detachments in in vitro and in vivo studies.

Methods: In the in vitro study, the solid hydrogel glue was soaked in a balanced salt solution (BSS). The pH was measured periodically, and the dissolution time was recorded.

In vivo and in vitro feasibility studies of intraocular use of seprafilm to close retinal breaks in bovine and rabbit eyes.

Purpose: Seprafilm, a sodium hyaluronate/carboxymethylcellulose absorbable barrier developed to prevent adhesions after abdominal surgery, adheres well to wet tissue. The authors studied the efficacy of this film for sealing retinal breaks in animals.

Methods: In an in vitro study, a retinal detachment with a hole was created in bovine eyecups after the vitreous gel was removed.

Retinal detachment with macular holes in infants with retinopathy of prematurity.

Objective: To describe retinal detachment with macular holes in infants with retinopathy of prematurity and the methods of surgical repair with their outcomes.

Methods: A retrospective review of 4 cases of retinopathy of prematurity and 1 case of retinopathy in a full-term infant that resembled retinopathy of prematurity, in which a macular hole and associated retinal detachment developed and surgical repair was attempted.

Results: The average gestational age of the 4 infants with retinopathy of prematurity was 26 weeks.

Severe retinopathy in a child with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Purpose: We present the first reported case of a condition similar to retinopathy of prematurity in a full-term patient with hypoplastic left heart syndrome.

Design: Interventional case report.

Methods: We describe the clinical presentation and surgical treatment of a male baby with severe retinopathy and retinal detachments.