[Bubble mirror technique for express shunt surgery].

Surgical Technique: The bubble mirror technique consists of the stabilization of the anterior chamber by means of a plug made with a combination of conveniently placed air and viscoelastic material. A line arises at interface between the air and viscoelastic where the anterior chamber angle reflected can be seen as in a mirror (bubble mirror).

Discussion: The viscoelastic-air plug offers three advantages in glaucoma surgery with the Ex-PRESS implant: 1) plug effect of viscoelastic, giving stability to the anterior chamber and preventing it from collapsing; 2) toning effect of the air bubble; and 3) specular effect at the interface, which allows the surgeon to visually control the chamber angle during the Ex-PRESS implantation.

[Giant optic disk melanocytoma complicated with massive intraocular seeding].

Case Report: A 33 year-old female with a large, unilateral, dark tumour of the optic disk with a presumed diagnosis of melanocytoma. After a follow-up of nineteen years, the tumour produced massive intraocular seeding with cataract, secondary glaucoma (pigmentary, melanocytomalytic, inflammatory and pupillary seclusion glaucoma) and amaurosis. The eye is enucleated and the pathological examination confirmed the diagnosis.

Functional analysis of CYP1B1 mutations and association of heterozygous hypomorphic alleles with primary open-angle glaucoma.

Glaucoma is an inherited complex and heterogeneous disease, and one of the most prevalent causes of definitive blindness in the world. Recent reports have indicated that heterozygous mutations of the CYTOCHOROME P4501B1 (CYP1B1) gene are present in 4-10% of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). To further evaluate the role of CYP1B1 mutations in POAG we extended our previous association study and carried out a functional analysis of the mutations identified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) DNA sequencing of the three exons of the gene in a total of 245 unrelated Spanish patients and 326 control subjects.

Years of sunlight exposure and cataract: a case-control study in a Mediterranean population.

Background: We aimed to investigate the relation between sunlight exposure and risk of cataract.

Methods: We carried out a frequency-matched case-control study of 343 cases and 334 controls attending an ophthalmology outpatient clinic at a primary health-care center in a small town near Valencia, Spain. All cases were diagnosed as having a cataract in at least one eye based on the Lens Opacification Classification system (LOCS II).