PURPOSE: To compare the accuracy of lens transparency evaluations by Scheimpflug image in the anterior nucleus of the lens before and after pupil dilatation. METHODS: Scheimpflug lens images were recorded in 70 eyes of 38 subjects (age: 28-75 years) before and after pupil dilatation, and light scattering intensity measurements before and after dilatation were compared. RESULTS: There was a significant positive correlation between the light scattering intensity before and after dilatation at the anterior cortex, anterior nucleus, and central clear zone of the lens (r > 0.9, P <.0001). CONCLUSIONS: It is possible to estimate the transparency in the anterior nucleus of the lens from the Scheimpflug image without pupil dilatation. If nuclear type cataracts are regarded as a structural marker of aging in epidemiological studies, measuring the light scattering intensity in the anterior nucleus of the lens without dilatation seems to be a safe, useful, and quantitative method.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Surgical results of vitrectomy in ocular trauma.

The authors have analyzed 49 consecutive eyes with trauma that had undergone vitrectomy. Anatomic success (eyes with attached retinas and generally clear media, regardless of visual function) was achieved in 80% of eyes. This high rate of success resulted from the use of silicone oil in 20 eyes with complicated retinal detachment that was judged otherwise as irreversible. Functional success (eyes with a final visual acuity of 0.2 [20/100] or better, or a postoperative improvement in visual acuity of two lines on the Snellen chart) was achieved in 53% of eyes. In most of the eyes that underwent vitrectomy 2 months or longer after injury, the visual outcome was poor, even when anatomic success was achieved. Retinal detachment was a major factor in poor surgical prognosis. Prophylactic scleral buckling and/or an encircling procedure significantly decreased the incidence of postoperative retinal detachment.

Accidents, Occupational↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Treatment of retinal detachment with giant tear by pneumatic retinopexy.

Nine eyes suffering from retinal detachment with giant tear were treated successfully by pneumatic retinopexy, followed by conventional buckling procedures and cryopexy. The retina in six of the nine eyes reattached after initial operation, whereas two required additional injection of SF6 gas. The remaining eye, having developed low-grade proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR C1), was treated successfully with vitrectomy. Visual outcome was rather poor immediately after the procedures due to vitreous opacity caused by gas injection. However, all cases showed excellent visual acuity five months after surgery. Visual field examined in six cases after surgery showed no significant constriction. If the retinal flap is mobile, pneumatic retinopexy may be effective in treating retinal detachment with giant tear.

Adult↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Lens coloboma and Alport-like glomerulonephritis.

An unusual case of bilateral lens coloboma and Alport-like glomerulonephritis is reported. In a 12-year-old boy and in several family members; Alport-like glomerulonephritis was diagnosed without deafness and without ocular signs of Alport syndrome. A bilateral lens coloboma however was observed in the propositus. To our knowledge this is the first reported case of lens coloboma with Alport-like glomerulonephritis.

Basement Membrane↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Effects of ulinastatin, an antiprotease, on alloxan-induced lung injury in dogs.

To determine if alloxan-induced lung injury could be prevented by an antiprotease, ulinastatin, we used three groups of five anesthetized, ventilated dogs. They were given saline (20 ml/kg/hr) infusion alone (saline group), alloxan (75 mg/kg) + saline infusion (alloxan group), or ulinastatin (50,000 U/kg) + alloxan + saline infusion (ulinastatin group). The course of all dogs was followed for three hours. In the saline group, extravascular lung water to blood-free dry weight (Qwl/dQl) was 3.22 +/- 0.31 g/g (mean +/- SE). The alloxan group presented the following significant findings: a decrease in white blood cell and platelet counts (44.2% and 68.2% of control, respectively) at five minutes; an increase in thromboxane B2 and 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha (731.6% and 476.6% of control, respectively) at 15 minutes; an increase in beta-glucuronidase (124.8% of control) at 30 minutes; and an increase in Qwl/dQl (8.84 +/- 1.82 g/g) at the end of experiment. The addition of ulinastatin significantly reduced most alloxan-induced effects: differences in white blood cell counts, thromboxane B2, 6-keto-prostaglandin F1 alpha, and Qwl/dQl between the saline and ulinastatin groups were small. We conclude that ulinastatin significantly reduces the extent of lung water accumulation in alloxan-induced lung injury.

6-Ketoprostaglandin F1 alpha↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Survival of mice and hematopoietic stem cells in bone marrow after intermittent total body irradiation.

As a preparative procedure for bone marrow transplantation, intermittent total body irradiation (TBI) has been used in our hospital. The biological significance of this method, in which the instantaneous dose rate is high but the average dose rate is low, has not been evaluated to date. The hematopoietic responses caused by both intermittent and continuous TBI were compared. In the intermittent irradiation, mice in a moving irradiation chamber were exposed under a small field (2 X 35 cm2), and the instantaneous and average dose rates were 1 Gy/min and 0.25-0.12 Gy/min, respectively. The average dose rate was adjusted to the same level in both irradiation methods. LD50/30 and survival of colony-forming units (CFU) in culture and survival of endogenous CFU in the spleen from female BDF1 mice were the same with the two methods. These results show that the response of hematopoietic stem cells depends on the average dose rate, not on the instantaneous dose rate. Our findings suggest that intermittent irradiation, as well as the continuous method, would be useful for preparing patients before bone marrow transplantation.

Animals↗