Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography of retinal vessels in Waldenström's macroglobulinemia.

Purpose: To image retinal blood vessels in patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia using optical coherence tomography (OCT).

Methods: Retrospective case series examining fundus photographs and OCT scans of 16 eyes in eight patients with Waldenström's macroglobulinemia. Analyses included intravascular OCT reflectivity profiles and vessel diameters, and their relation to total immunoglobulin M (IgM) levels.

[Spontaneous choroidal hemorrhage associated with novel oral anticoagulants: A report of two cases and literature review].

New direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) have been approved for treatment and prevention of some thromboembolic diseases: acute and chronic phase of thromboembolic disease, deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis in orthopedic surgery and prevention of stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. These molecules are an alternative to heparins and vitamin K antagonists. Among these, rivaroxaban (Xarelto, Bayer Schering Pharma) is a direct factor Xa inhibitor, and dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa, Boehringer Ingelheim) is a direct free thrombin inhibitor.

[Retinal vein occlusions].

Retinal venous occlusions comprise central retinal vein occlusion, hemiretinal vein occlusions, and branch retinal vein occlusions. They are associated with arterial hypertension and glaucoma. Retinal vein occlusions occur more frequently in males, at a median age of 55.

Cerebellar disorders: clinical/radiologic findings and modern imaging tools.

Cerebellar disorders, also called cerebellar ataxias, comprise a large group of sporadic and genetic diseases. Their core clinical features include impaired control of coordination and gait, as well as cognitive/behavioral deficits usually not detectable by a standard neurologic examination and therefore often overlooked. Two forms of cognitive/behavioral syndromes are now well identified: (1) the cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome, which combines an impairment of executive functions, including planning and working memory, deficits in visuospatial skills, linguistic deficiencies such as agrammatism, and inappropriate behavior; and (2) the posterior fossa syndrome, a very acute form of cerebellar cognitive affective syndrome occurring essentially in children.

Characterization of Retinal Disease Progression in a 1-Year Longitudinal Study of Eyes With Mild Nonproliferative Retinopathy in Diabetes Type 2.

Purpose: To identify eyes of patients with diabetes type 2 that show progression of retinal disease within a 1-year period using noninvasive techniques.

Methods: Three hundred seventy-four type 2 diabetic patients with mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] level 20 or 35) were included in a 12-month prospective observational study to identify retinopathy progression. Four visits were scheduled at 0, 3, 6, and 12 months.

Evaluation of an eyelid warming device (Blephasteam) for the management of ocular surface diseases in France: the ESPOIR study.

Introduction: Eyelid hygiene, including massage and warm compresses, is an important part of the treatment and prevention of Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). Although effective, it requires active participation of the patient and lacks standardisation. Blephasteam is a medical device designed to warm and humidify the eyelid with heating glasses, in order to liquify meibum, thus relieving symptoms and preventing relapse.

Ocular tolerability and efficacy of a cationic emulsion in patients with mild to moderate dry eye disease - a randomised comparative study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the safety and efficacy of a new cationic emulsion (CE) with a formulation of polyvinyl alcohol and povidone (PVA-P) for the treatment of mild to moderate dry eye disease.

Methods: This was a multicenter, open-label, comparative study. Patients were randomised to receive CE (Cationorm) or PVA-P (Refresh) (1:1).

Findings in detection of Herpesviridae by polymerase chain reaction and intraocular antibody production in a case series of anterior uveitis.

Purpose: To target the use of two biologic tests in the diagnostic of viral Herpesviridae anterior uveitis (AC) by the consideration of clinical behavior and delay of intraocular sampling.

Methods: Aqueous humor samples were collected from 42 patients suspected of having AU of infectious origin at presentation. The diagnosis of infectious uveitis was confirmed by quantification of antibodies with the Goldmann-Witmer coefficient (GWC) and/or detection of Herpesviridae genomes with PCR.

Clinical and microbiological assessment of trachoma in the kolofata health district, far north region, cameroon.

Background And Aims: Trachoma is a sight-threatening process triggered by the infection of the conjunctiva with Chlamydiae. Blindness associated with trachoma was reported in Sahelian areas of Cameroon. However, data on the prevalence of this neglected infection in the Far North Region are not available.

Real-time polymerase chain reaction and intraocular antibody production for the diagnosis of viral versus toxoplasmic infectious posterior uveitis.

Purpose: The aim of this work was to determine the diagnostic performance of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and to assess intraocular specific antibody secretion (Goldmann-Witmer coefficient) on samples from patients with signs of posterior uveitis presumably of infectious origin and to target the use of these two biologic tests in the diagnostic of Toxoplasma/viral Herpesviridae posterior uveitis by the consideration of clinical behavior and delay of intraocular sampling.

Methods: Aqueous humour and/or vitreous fluid were collected from patients suspected of having posterior uveitis of infectious origin at presentation (140 samples). The diagnosis was confirmed by quantification of antibodies with the Goldmann-Witmer coefficient (GWC) and for detection of Herpesviridae and Toxoplasma gondii genomes with RT-PCR.

[New ultra rapid test for detection of bacteria].

Introduction: Bacteriological testing is aimed to reduce the risk of transmission of infections. However, the detection of Bacteria by culture requires from 18hours to 14 days and may produce erroneous results for fastidious species. The goal of this work was to design and validate a new tool for bacterial testing.

[Evaluation of NAAGA efficacy in dry eye syndrome].

Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of Naabak((R)) eyedrops in reducing inflammation in dry eye syndrome.

Patients And Methods: This pilot, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel study was carried out in adult patients suffering from moderate dry eye syndrome. Patients were treated for three months with preservative-free NAAGA (Naabak((R))) or with sodium chloride 0.

[Acute total cataract in a 17-year-old woman].

Diabetes is a metabolic disease that has multiple consequences on the eye, particularly the retina but also the lens. However, in diabetic patients, the development of an acute decrease in vision is rarely caused by a cataract and diabetic lens opacities usually appear progressively several years after the diagnosis of diabetes. We present here the case of a young patient who had just been diagnosed with diabetes two months before and who developed an acute total cataract, responsible for a rapid decrease in vision.

New tool for the simultaneous detection of 10 different genotypes of Acanthamoeba available from the American Type Culture Collection.

Background: Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) is a sight-threatening infection, and none of the current diagnosis tests are able to detect in one reaction low levels of the vast majority of strains associated with pathology. The goal of this work was to validate a new tool for the detection of the American Type Cell Collection (ATCC) referenced Acanthamoeba monitoring simultaneously DNA extraction yields and PCR inhibitors. Performances were assessed on corneal scrapings.

New test for the diagnosis of bacterial endophthalmitis.

Background: Diagnosis of bacterial endophthalmitis (BE) often fails due to: (1) insufficient volumes of vitreous fluid (VF) and aqueous humour (AH); (2) lack of sensitivity of culture; (3) antibiotic treatments; (4) polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cross-contamination; and (5) limitations on the interpretation of the real-time PCR melting curve. We developed a fast real-time (f-real-t) PCR to improve the performance of the laboratory diagnosis of BE.

Methods: The following samples were processed after adding an internal control: phosphate buffered saline (PBS); VF, AH and cell suspensions spiked with Bacteria (Bac); VF and AH from patients with endophthalmitis; and VF and AH from non-infective patients.

Rapid detection and quantification of Propionibacteriaceae.

Background: Propionibacteriaceae (Propioni) are anaerobic bacteria associated with human and animal infections. Present-day methods of diagnosis for Propioni are unsatisfactory due to a lack of sensitivity of culture, time required for culture results (3 to 14 days) and difficulties in interpreting SYBR Green real-time PCR results. The goal of this work was to validate a new rapid and sensitive test for the diagnosis of Propioni infections (endophthalmitis, corneal ulcers and others).

[Imaging the ocular surface with confocal microscopy: histology without samples].

Developed in the 1990s, confocal microscopy contributed a new way of viewing corneal structures at levels close to those of histology. However, these systems were expensive, difficult to handle and use, had poor resolution, and were not usable for more superficial or peripheral structures. These devices were therefore restricted to research and were not used routinely in clinical practice.

Resistance of Acanthamoeba to classic DNA extraction methods used for the diagnosis of corneal infections.

Aims: Sensitive diagnosis of Acanthamoeba infections may prevent the clinical condition from becoming worse. In order to improve the diagnosis tool performances, we studied the implication of the DNA extraction procedures on the detection of Acanthamoeba by real-time PCR.

Methods: Acanthamoeba cysts mixed with a tag virus were processed according to different DNA preparation procedures: heat, Proteinase K (ProtK), alkali lysis, QIAmp kit, MagNA Pure (DNA Mini kit, MagNA Pure Nucleic Acid isolation kit), ProtK+QIAmp and ProtK+MagNA Pure.

Chlamydia trachomatis in the conjunctiva of children living in three rural areas in Mexico.

Objectives: Chlamydia trachomatis infections, in the context of extreme poverty, may trigger trachoma. Because the levels of C. trachomatis eye infections in Mexico are unknown, this study sought to determine if C.