Comparison of the therapeutic effects of photodynamic therapy, transpupillary thermotherapy, and their combination on circumscribed choroidal haemangioma.

Objective: To characterize the clinical and imaging features of circumscribed choroidal hemangioma (CCH), and to evaluate individualized treatment efficiency of photodynamic therapy (PDT), transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT), or their combination, followed by retrobulbar injection of betamethasone on CCH resolvement.

Methods: Forty-nine patients with CCHs who underwent PDT, TTT or PDT+TTT treatments were retrospectively analyzed. Their treatment efficacy was compared by analyzing the change of best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), subretinal fluid (SRF) and CCH lesion characteristics.

Secreted phosphoprotein 24 kD (Spp24) and Spp14 affect TGF-β induced bone formation differently.

Transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) have opposing but complementary functions in directing bone growth, repair, and turnover. Both are found in the bone matrix. Proteins that bind to and affect the activity of these growth factors will determine the relative abundance of the growth factors and, therefore, regulate bone formation.

Outcomes of three anterior decompression and fusion techniques in the treatment of three-level cervical spondylosis.

The purpose of this article is to compare the outcomes of three different anterior approaches for three-level cervical spondylosis. The records of 120 patients who underwent anterior approaches because of three-level cervical spondylosis between 2006 and 2008 were reviewed. Based on the type of surgery, the patients were divided into three groups: Group 1 was three-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF); Group 2 anterior cervical hybrid decompression and fusion (ACHDF, combination of ACDF and ACCF); and Group 3 two-level anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion (ACCF).