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Biomedical subjects

D BenEzra

Publications and source records attributed to D BenEzra.

13 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1991

Clinical patterns and associated conditions in chronic uveitis.

We determined the relative frequencies of the different types of chronic uveitis, and the possible associated conditions, among 400 consecutive patients with chronic uveitis examined during the years 1982 through 1988. Of the 400 patients, 183 (45.75%) had anterior uveitis, 98 (24.5%) ahd panuveitis, 61 (15.3%) had intermediate uveitis, and 58 (14.5%) had isolated posterior uveitis. Only four of the 98 patients with panuveitis (4.1%) were considered idiopathic after a comprehensive examination, whereas 94 of the 183 patients with anterior uveitis (51.4%) were similarly classified. We found an associated condition in 242 of the 400 patients of the study group (60.5%). Of these 242 patients, 61 had Behçet's disease, which constituted the most frequently encountered associated condition in this study. Of the 61 patients with Behçet's disease, 58 had panuveitis and constituted 59.2% of the panuveitis group. Of the 61 patients with intermediate uveitis, 17 (27.9%) had a concurrent disease. An associated condition was found in 95% and 96.2% of patients with unilateral and bilateral panuveitis, respectively, but in none of the patients with unilateral intermediate uveitis. Environmental, cultural, or genetic factors may be accountable for the differences discovered between our findings and those of previously published studies from the United States and England with respect to relative frequencies of some of the associated diseases in patients with chronic uveitis.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1991

Effect of cyclosporine A on the hearing loss in Behçet's disease.

Thirty-five patients with Behçet's disease (20 under cyclosporine A [CyA] treatment and 15 under the conventional therapy), 12 patients suffering from endogenous uveitis, and 35 normal subjects were evaluated audiologically before entering the study and were followed up for at least a year. Twenty-eight Behçet patients (80%) showed some degree of hearing loss. The averaged pure tone audiogram of the Behçet group showed statistically significant auditory deficits in comparison with that of the control group. None of either the Behçet group or the uveitis group showed any hearing deterioration during the follow-up period. Five Behçet patients under CyA therapy demonstrated improvement in their hearing. The difference between the two groups of Behçet patients (CyA versus conventional treatment) was found to be statistically significant (p less than .05). Thus, CyA might serve as an important mode of treatment of sensorineural hearing loss on an inflammatory "autoimmune" background.

Acoustic Impedance Tests↗
PubMed1990

In vivo angiogenic activity of interleukins.

Interleukin 1 incorporated into Elvax-40 (ethylene-vinyl-acetate copolymer consisting of 40% vinyl-acetate by weight) induces a rapid and strong angiogenic stimulus when implanted in rabbit corneas at a distance of 2.5 mm from the limbus. A constant and reproducible neovascular stimulus was observed with 5 ng per implant of recombinant human interleukin 1 alpha or 100 ng per implant of recombinant human interleukin 1 beta. At these concentrations, neither tumor necrosis factor nor interleukin 2 induced any neovascular stimulus. These data are interpreted as an indication for the possible role of interleukin 1 in angiogenesis of ocular (and other) tissues. As interleukin 1 is produced by various cells, it is hypothesized that this molecule may be the "unitarian angiogenic factor."

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Possible regulatory mechanisms of the cornea. I. Epithelial-stromal interaction in vitro.

Electron microscopic studies of pure epithelial and stromal cultures and of combined cultures demonstrated that keratocytes activity was inhibited by the presence of epithelial cells in culture. The degradation of collagen and the formation of clear zones around the keratocytes within the explants of pure stroma is interpreted as an indication for the production of a collagenolytic substance by the active keratocytes. The collagenolytic activity of the keratocytes was not observed within the stroma of combined cultures and was probably inhibited by the activity of epithelial cells in these cultures. Furthermore, using a microculture method for the assessment of the metabolic activity of corneal cells in vitro, supernatants of epithelial cell cultures were shown to have a marked inhibitory effect on the capacity of keratocytes to synthesize DNA. No effect of stromal cell supernatant on epithelial cell activity could be detected by the same methods. It is suggested that this "one way" influence as observed in vitro might, in certain conditions, play a role as a regulatory mechanism in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Neovasculogenic ability of prostaglandins, growth factors, and synthetic chemoattractants.

Prostaglandins E1, E2, D2, A1, F1alpha, and F2alpha as well as synthetic chemoattractants and growth factors were tested for their ability to induce the proliferation of new blood vessels in the rabbit cornea. PGE1 showed the strongest neovasculogenic activity attracting new blood vessels in all of the cases. PGE2 was a weaker attractant than PGE1. PGF2alpha induced a less consistent reaction. All implants sequestering PGD2 or PGA1 were negative. Implants sequestering 1 microgram of fibroblast growth factor or epidermal growth factor variably stimulated the proliferation of keratocytes and epithelial cells in vivo. However, none of these demonstrated any vasculogenic activity. A small, but significant neovascularization was observed only in implants sequestering 10 microgram of growth factor per implant. Although active in vitro, nerve growth factor and formylated synthetic peptides were not stimulatory in vivo.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Ocular manifestations of Behçet's disease.

The manifestations, possible etiological factors and therapeutical modalities of ocular Behçet are outlined. The major ocular findings involve both the anterior and posterior uvea. The vasculitis retinae, the periphlebitis and the pipe stem sheathing along with the recurrent vitreous hemorrhages lead to the visual impairment. Exacerbation and remission of the ocular inflammatory processes are characteristic. However, the impairment of visual function occurring after each attack is generally irreversible. The effectiveness of the present modalities of treatment is uncertain. Chlorambucil in doses of 6-8 mg daily appears to have an outstanding beneficial effect. However, carefully monitored control studies are lacking and should be conducted before any unequivocal conclusions can be reached. It appears to us that the etiology-pathology of Behçet's disease might be a sequence of events triggered by an interaction between a virus and specific receptors on the host cell membrane (HLA determined?). This initial interaction is followed by a malregulation of the host immune mechanism leading to autoimmune phenomena which are characteristics of the disease.

Behcet Syndrome↗
PubMed1978

Trabeculectomy.

Trabeculectomy as first choice of treatment has been performed on 100 consecutive cases in Africans. During the follow-up period ranging from 2 to 12 months, 79 eyes had a postoperative intraocular pressure of less than 21 mm Hg without any antiglaucomatous medications. Fourteen eyes operated upon (14%) had a postoperative intraocular pressure between 22 and 26 mm Hg. Seven cases (7%) showed an intraocular pressure higher than 28 mm Hg. Hypotony and hyphema encountered in 8 cases were a minor postoperative complication. Protrusion of the iris in the surgical wound occurring in 2 cases was a major complication. A correlation between the intraocular pressure one week and 28 weeks postoperatively showed that in most cases the intraocular pressure was higher after the longer follow-up. However, out of a group of 25 eyes operated upon showing an intraocular pressure of 14 mm Hg or less, one week postoperatively, only one eye (4%) showed an intraocular pressure higher than 20 mm Hg on the longer follow-up.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Vitreous loss during intracapsular cataract extraction.

Among 448 patients operated upon for bilateral cataracts (896 eyes), vitreous was lost in 96 eyes, an incidence of 10.7%. The most striking difference between the whole group of eyes without vitreous loss (800 eyes) and those with vitreous loss is in the percentage of eyes able to perform a very good visual acuity postoperatively. An analysis of 50 cases losing vitreous unilaterally shows the following: (a) more than 80% of eyes with vitreous loss achieved a vision comparable to their fellow eyes; (b) 12% of eyes with vitreous loss achieved a poorer vision than their fellow eyes; and (c) fewer eyes with vitreous loss achieved a very good visual acuity as compared to their fellow eyes (8.7% to 11.1% in eyes with vitreous loss as compared to 21.5% to 22.2% of fellow eyes). The combination of vitreous loss with an accidental extracapsular cataract extraction had a worsening effect on the expected postoperative visual performance.

Cataract Extraction↗
PubMed1977

A microculture technique for the evaluation of corneal cell metabolism in vitro.

A microculture technique for the evaluation of the metabolic activity of corneal cells is described and analyzed. The extent of DNA synthesis in microcultures with 10(3) to 2.5 X 10(3) cells per well was initially low during day 1, increasing steadily thereafter. Higher initial concentration of 10(4) to 2 X 10(4) cells per microculture demonstrated a high metabolic activity during days 1 and 2 in culture, followed by a rapid and marked decrease on days 3 and 4. The origin and concentration of serum in the system have been found to be crucial. Xenogeneic serum (fetal calf serum--FCS) had the most potent stimulatory effect on DNA and protein synthesis. Syngeneic serum (guinea pig serum, strain 13--SGpS) or allogeneic serum (guinea pig serum strain 2--AGpS) had a generally less stimulatory effect on the metabolic activity. However, both sera had a relatively much stronger effect on the protein synthesis.

Animals↗
PubMed1976

Lymphocyte sensitivity to glucocorticoids.

We evaluated the possibility of identifying patients with open-angle glaucoma based on the in vitro behavior of their lymphocytes in the presence of glucocorticoids. Our results do not support the hypothesis that lymphocytes from patients with open-angle glaucoma, as compared to those from normal subjects, are more sensitive to the presence of corticosteroids in vitro. In addition, the degree of inhibition induced by glucocorticoids was closely related to the amount of activation of the lymphocyte membrane induced by different concentrations of phytohemagglutinin. Our results indicated that this may be a general phenomenon rather than one that is specific to a particular ophthalmological condition.

Dexamethasone↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Incidence of retinoblastoma in Malawi.

The annual incidence of retinoblastoma in Malawi seems to be two cases per 100,000 children under five or one case per 10,000 live births. A higher frequency of one case per 21,700 to 17,900 children under five or one per 4,340 to 3,580 live births has been found in the Zomba and Mangochi districts. Analyzing the cases according to sex and laterality, 61.1 percent of the unilateral cases were girls and 58.3 percent of the bilaterals were boys. Among boys, 33.3 percent were bilateral while unilateral involvement of the left eye was found in 19.1 percent. Among the girls, the frequency of bilateral cases was 18.5 percent while the unilateral involvement of right and left eye was nearly similar.

Age Factors↗