Hemostatic abnormalities and the severity of illness in patients at the onset of clinically defined sepsis. Possible indication of the degree of endothelial cell activation?

Objective: To find out whether changes within the hemostatic system are related to the severity of illness and organ failure in patients at the onset of clinically defined sepsis and to find some indications for the contribution of endothelial cell activation or perturbation to the patient's status. The following measurements were undertaken: Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II score, multiple organ failure (MOF) score, plasma levels of thrombin-antithrombin III complexes (TAT), antithrombin III (AT III), protein C antigen, factor XII, and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 antigen (PAI-1), neopterin, and interleukin 6 (IL-6).

Design: A prospective case series study.

[Clinical and histologic findings after several weeks of intraocular tamponade with perfluorodecalin].

Perfluorocarbon residues sometimes remain in the eye following vitreoretinal procedures employing liquid perfluorocarbons. According to the literature, one or two droplets do not appear to damage the ocular tissue. The question of whether this also applies to larger volumes was investigated in two eyes of two patients.

The occurrence of macrophages in the retina and periretinal tissues in ocular diseases.

Specimens obtained from eyes with various ocular diseases were examined immunohistochemically using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (Ki-M1P, K1-M4, CD68, anti-lysozyme, and anti-cytokeratins) to establish the occurrence of macrophages in the retina and periretinal tissues and to determine whether they can be distinguished from migrated cells of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Eyes with proliferative diseases and intraocular melanomas were found to contain more macrophages in the retina than those with uveitis and glaucoma. The epiretinal membranes and subretinal space in eyes of the former group often exhibited additional clustered macrophages and migrated RPE cells.

[Ocular tissue after intravitreous silicone oil injection. Histologic and electron microscopy studies].

The intraocular tolerance of silicone oil is still a matter of ongoing controversy. To evaluate a possible migration of silicone oil into eye tissues we examined various tissues from eyes that were injected with silicone oil for a period of 6 months to 3.5 years.

Bilateral severe keratomalacia after acute pancreatitis.

A rare bilateral severe keratomalacia occurred in an emaciated alcoholic, 57-year-old white man with acute necrotic pancreatitis. The patient had a 10-year history of chronic alcoholism. Laboratory and clinical findings were consistent with the diagnosis of a fat malabsorptive and malnutrition syndrome secondary to chronic and acute alcoholic pancreatitis.