Cyclodestruction and cyclophotocoagulation: Where are we?

Cyclodestruction is a technique reserved for glaucomas not controlled with medical and surgical treatment and poor visual potential. During the last century, new cyclodestructive techniques were developed, including cyclophotocoagulation, and the use of continuous-wave diode laser transescleral cyclophotocoagulation (CW-TS-CPC) has become widespread. In recent decades, micropulse diode laser transescleral cyclophotocoagulation (MP-TS-CPC) was introduced.

Dose-Related Side Effects of Intravitreal Injections of Humanized Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Rats: Glial Cell Reactivity and Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss.

Purpose: In a previous study, we documented that the Intravitreal injections (IVIs) of bevacizumab in rats caused a retinal inflammatory response. We now study whether the IVI of other humanized anti-VEGF: ranibizumab and aflibercept also cause an inflammatory reaction in the rat retina and if it depends on the dose administered. Finally, we study whether this reaction affects retinal ganglion cell (RGC) survival.

Evaluation of the neuroprotective efficacy of the gramine derivative ITH12657 against NMDA-induced excitotoxicity in the rat retina.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate, the neuroprotective effects of a new Gramine derivative named: ITH12657, in a model of retinal excitotoxicity induced by intravitreal injection of NMDA.

Methods: Adult Sprague Dawley rats received an intravitreal injection of 100 mM NMDA in their left eye and were treated daily with subcutaneous injections of ITH12657 or vehicle. The best dose-response, therapeutic window study, and optimal treatment duration of ITH12657 were studied.

Taurine: a promising nutraceutic in the prevention of retinal degeneration.

Taurine is considered a non-essential amino acid because it is synthesized by most mammals. However, dietary intake of taurine may be necessary to achieve the physiological levels required for the development, maintenance, and function of certain tissues. Taurine may be especially important for the retina.

Effects of the periocular botulinum toxin on the ocular surface and anterior chamber: a prospective study in patients with hemifacial spasm and blepharospasm.

Purpose: To analyze using Pentacam, the corneal and anterior chamber changes following periocular botulinum toxin injection in patients with facial dystonia.

Methods: Prospective study that included patients with facial dystonia that were going to receive a periocular botulinum toxin injection for the first time or six months or more after the previous injection. A Pentacam examination was carried out in all patients before and 4 weeks after the injection.

Systemic taurine treatment affords functional and morphological neuroprotection of photoreceptors and restores retinal pigment epithelium function in RCS rats.

The aim of our work was to study whether taurine administration has neuroprotective effects in dystrophic Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats, suffering retinal degeneration secondary to impaired retinal pigment epithelium phagocytosis caused by a MERTK mutation. Dystrophic RCS-p + female rats (n = 36) were divided into a non-treated group (n = 16) and a treated group (n = 20) that received taurine (0.2 M) in drinking water from postnatal day (P)21 to P45, when they were processed.

Intravitreal and subretinal syngeneic bone marrow mononuclear stem cell transplantation improves photoreceptor survival but does not ameliorate retinal function in two rat models of retinal degeneration.

Purpose: To study and compare effects of syngeneic bone marrow mononuclear stem cells (BM-MNCs) transplants on inherited retinal degeneration in two animal models with different etiologies: the RCS and the P23H-1 rats. To compare the safety and efficacy of two methods of intraocular delivery: subretinal and/or intravitreal.

Methods: A suspension of BM-MNCs was injected subretinally or intravitreally in the left eyes of P23H-1 and RCS rats at post-natal day (P) 21.

Bone marrow-derived mononuclear stem cells in the treatment of retinal degenerations.

Retinal degenerative diseases affecting the outer retina in its many forms (inherited, acquired or induced) are characterized by photoreceptor loss, and represent currently a leading cause of irreversible vision loss in the world. At present, there are very few treatments capable of preventing, recovering or reversing photoreceptor degeneration or the secondary retinal remodeling, which follows photoreceptor loss and can also cause the death of other retinal cells. Thus, these diseases are nowadays one of the greatest challenges in the field of ophthalmological research.

Glial Cell Activation and Oxidative Stress in Retinal Degeneration Induced by β-Alanine Caused Taurine Depletion and Light Exposure.

We investigate glial cell activation and oxidative stress induced by taurine deficiency secondary to β-alanine administration and light exposure. Two months old Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into a control group and three experimental groups that were treated with 3% β-alanine in drinking water (taurine depleted) for two months, light exposed or both. Retinal and external thickness were measured in vivo at baseline and pre-processing with Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT).

Animal Models of LED-Induced Phototoxicity. Short- and Long-Term In Vivo and Ex Vivo Retinal Alterations.

Phototoxicity animal models have been largely studied due to their degenerative communalities with human pathologies, e.g., age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

7,8-Dihydroxiflavone Maintains Retinal Functionality and Protects Various Types of RGCs in Adult Rats with Optic Nerve Transection.

To analyze the neuroprotective effects of 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (DHF) in vivo and ex vivo, adult albino Sprague-Dawley rats were given a left intraorbital optic nerve transection (IONT) and were divided in two groups: One was treated daily with intraperitoneal (ip) DHF (5 mg/kg) ( = 24) and the other ( = 18) received ip vehicle (1% DMSO in 0.9% NaCl) from one day before IONT until processing. At 5, 7, 10, 12, 14, and 21 days (d) after IONT, full field electroretinograms (ERG) were recorded from both experimental and one additional naïve-control group ( = 6).

Multimodal Imaging, OCT En Face, and OCT Angiography of an Anomalous Retinal Artery: Case Report and Review of the Literature.

The purpose is to study for the first time the vascular plexuses and the retinal nerve fiber layer and raphe of a patient with a very uncommon anatomical variation: an anomalous retinal artery supplying the whole macula. We used multimodal imaging, en face spectral-domain optic coherence tomography, and spectral-domain optic coherence tomography angiography. One patient presented in his left eye a very unusual anatomical variation of macular vascularization.

Congenital retinal macrovessels: Case presentation.

We present an uncommon case of a unilateral congenital retinal macrovessel documented with retinography, perimetry, fluorescein angiography and macular optical coherence tomography. In the case presented the macrovessel crossed the horizontal meridian, between macula and optic disk. A literature review has been performed on congenital retinal macrovessels, possible structural and visual alterations they may cause and their association with other pathologies.

Systemic treatment with 7,8-Dihydroxiflavone activates TtkB and affords protection of two different retinal ganglion cell populations against axotomy in adult rats.

Purpose: To analyze responses of different RGC populations to left intraorbital optic nerve transection (IONT) and intraperitoneal (i.p.) treatment with 7,8-Dihydroxyflavone (DHF), a potent selective TrkB agonist.

Corneal endothelial cell loss after trabeculectomy and phacoemulsification in one or two steps: a prospective study.

Objective: The objective of this study was to analyse the results of the surgical treatment of coexisting cataract and glaucoma and its effects on corneal endothelial cell density (CECD).

Methods: We include two longitudinal prospective studies: one randomised that included 40 eyes with open angle glaucoma that received one- (n = 20) or two-step (n = 20) phacotrabeculectomy and another that included 20 eyes that received phacoemulsification. We assess the impact of surgery on different clinical variables and in particular in CECD using Confoscan 4™ confocal microscopy and semiautomatic counting methods.

Normative Database for All Retinal Layer Thicknesses Using SD-OCT Posterior Pole Algorithm and the Effects of Age, Gender and Axial Lenght.

Our aim was to provide, for the first time, reference thickness values for the SD-OCT posterior pole algorithm (PPA) available for Spectralis OCT device (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) and to analyze the correlations with age, gender and axial length. We recruited 300 eyes of 300 healthy Caucasian subjects between 18 and 84 years. By PPA, composed of 64 (8 × 8) cells, we analyzed the thickness of the following macular layers: retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), inner nuclear layer (INL), outer plexiform layer (OPL), outer nuclear layer (ONL), retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), inner retina, outer retina and full retina.

Bone Marrow-Derived Mononuclear Cell Transplants Decrease Retinal Gliosis in Two Animal Models of Inherited Photoreceptor Degeneration.

Inherited photoreceptor degenerations are not treatable diseases and a frequent cause of blindness in working ages. In this study we investigate the safety, integration and possible rescue effects of intravitreal and subretinal transplantation of adult human bone-marrow-derived mononuclear stem cells (hBM-MSCs) in two animal models of inherited photoreceptor degeneration, the P23H-1 and the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat. Immunosuppression was started one day before the injection and continued through the study.

Pigment Epithelium-Derived Factor (PEDF) Fragments Prevent Mouse Cone Photoreceptor Cell Loss Induced by Focal Phototoxicity In Vivo.

Here, we evaluated the effects of PEDF (pigment epithelium-derived factor) and PEDF peptides on cone-photoreceptor cell damage in a mouse model of focal LED-induced phototoxicity (LIP) in vivo. Swiss mice were dark-adapted overnight, anesthetized, and their left eyes were exposed to a blue LED placed over the cornea. Immediately after, intravitreal injection of PEDF, PEDF-peptide fragments 17-mer, 17-mer[H105A] or 17-mer[R99A] (all at 10 pmol) were administered into the left eye of each animal.

Microglial changes in the early aging stage in a healthy retina and an experimental glaucoma model.

Glaucoma is an age-related neurodegenerative disease that begins at the onset of aging. In this disease, there is an involvement of the immune system and therefore of the microglia. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the microglial activation using a mouse model of ocular hypertension (OHT) at the onset of aging.

Functional and morphological alterations in a glaucoma model of acute ocular hypertension.

To study short and long-term effects of acute ocular hypertension (AOHT) on inner and outer retinal layers, in adult Sprague-Dawley rats AOHT (87mmHg) was induced for 90min and the retinas were examined longitudinally in vivo with electroretinogram (ERG) recordings and optical coherent tomography (OCT) from 1 to 90 days (d). Ex vivo, the retinas were analyzed for rod (RBC) and cone (CBC) bipolar cells, with antibodies against protein kinase Cα and recoverin, respectively in cross sections, and for cones, horizontal (HZ) and ganglion (RGC) cells with antibodies against arrestin, calbindin and Brn3a, respectively in wholemounts. The inner retina thinned progressively up to 7d with no further changes, while the external retina had a normal thickness until 30d, with a 20% thinning between 30 and 90d.

Glaucomatous Maculopathy: Thickness Differences on Inner and Outer Macular Layers between Ocular Hypertension and Early Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Using 8 × 8 Posterior Pole Algorithm of SD-OCT.

The purpose of this study was to compare the thickness of all inner and outer macular layers between ocular hypertension (OHT) and early primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) 8 × 8 posterior pole algorithm (8 × 8 PPA). Fifty-seven eyes of 57 OHT individuals and fifty-seven eyes of 57 early POAG patients were included. The thickness of macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), inner plexiform layer (IPL), inner nuclear layer (INL), outer plexiform and nuclear layer, photoreceptor layer (PRL) and retinal pigment epithelium were obtained in 64 cells for each macular layer and mean thickness of superior and inferior hemispheres was also calculated.

Tracing the retina to analyze the integrity and phagocytic capacity of the retinal pigment epithelium.

We have developed a new technique to study the integrity, morphology and functionality of the retinal neurons and the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Young and old control albino (Sprague-Dawley) and pigmented (Piebald Virol Glaxo) rats, and dystrophic albino (P23H-1) and pigmented (Royal College of Surgeons) rats received a single intravitreal injection of 3% Fluorogold (FG) and their retinas were analyzed from 5 minutes to 30 days later. Retinas were imaged in vivo with SD-OCT and ex vivo in flat-mounts and in cross-sections.