Biomedical subjects

Elise Harb

Publications and source records attributed to Elise Harb.

2 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2006

Characteristics of accommodative behavior during sustained reading in emmetropes and myopes.

Accommodation has long been suspected to be involved in the development of myopia because near work, particularly reading, is known to be a risk factor. In this study, we measured several dynamic characteristics of accommodative behavior during extended periods of reading under close-to-natural conditions in 20 young emmetropic and stable myopic subjects. Accommodative responses, errors, and variability (including power spectrum analysis) were analyzed and related to accommodative demand and subject refractive error. All accommodative behaviors showed large inter-subject variability at all of the reading demands. Accommodative lags and variability significantly increased with closer demands for all subjects (ANOVA, p<0.05). Myopes had significantly greater variability in their accommodation responses compared to emmetropes (ANOVA, p<0.05) and had larger accommodative lags at further reading distances (unpaired t test p<0.05). Power spectrum analysis showed a significant increase in the power of accommodative microfluctuations with closer demands (ANOVA, p<0.05) and with increasing myopia at the closest reading demand (ANOVA, p<0.01). The difference in the stability of the accommodative behavior between individuals with different refractive states suggests a possible relationship between variability in accommodation and the development of myopia.

Accommodation, Ocular↗

PubMed2005

Pfeiffer syndrome: systemic and ocular implications.

BACKGROUND: In 1964, Pfeiffer described a three-generation family in which eight individuals had a syndrome consisting of craniosynostosis, broad thumbs and great toes, and partial syndactyly of the hands and feet. Pfeiffer syndrome affects males and females equally, and is most commonly a result of de novo mutations, but can be inherited in an autosomal dominant fashion. Pfeiffer syndrome is considered Type V of the five acrocephalosyndactly syndromes (ACS), a group of rare genetic diseases that involve premature closure of the cranial sutures. Cohen, in 1993, further described Pfeiffer syndrome and it's various expression patterns by creating three subgroups of the syndrome. CONCLUSIONS: While Pfeiffer syndrome is clearly a rare disorder, affecting 15 of every 1 million births, there has been a series of publications reviewing the difficult differential diagnosis among Pfeiffer types and between the other acrocephalosyndactly syndromes. While these publications individually focus on a variety of specific systemic and ocular implications of the syndrome, together they encompass the scope of the syndrome. Since Pfeiffer syndrome mainly affects the craniofacial regions, the eye care professional plays an essential role in diagnosis and management. What follows are guidelines to aid in the diagnosis, ophthalmic and functional testing, and management of this disorder.

Acrocephalosyndactylia↗