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Biomedical subjects

L A Vázquez

Publications and source records attributed to L A Vázquez.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Argon laser photocoagulation for chronic clinically significant cystoid macular edema.

We report the therapeutic outcome of 14 eyes of 11 patients with chronic clinically significant pseudophakic cystoid macular edema refractory to medical management who underwent argon laser photocoagulation of the perifoveal area. Inclusion criteria included chronic cystoid macular edema of more than six months duration of decreased visual acuity (20/100 or less), positive fluorescein angiogram and contact lens examination, pseudophakos with posterior chamber intraocular lens and intact posterior capsule, normal fasting blood sugar, failed medical treatment and minimal follow up of six months. Fifty per cent of the eyes improved after laser treatment (p = .0345, relative to unchanged plus worsened cases). Further prospective, randomized, clinical trials are recommended to define the effectiveness of this treatment protocol.

Aged↗

Antibodies to lens crystallins after endocapsular cataract surgery.

Levels of serum antibodies against lens alpha, beta H and beta L crystallins were determined in 15 patients before and after endocapsular cataract extraction. The most abundant antibody at the time of surgery was anti-beta L, followed by anti-beta H and anti-alpha. An increase in the basal levels of these antibodies was seen after surgery in 93 percent of the cases. Relative increase was highest for anti-alpha, followed by anti-beta H and anti-beta L. There were individual variations both in the shape of the time-dependent antibody response after surgery and in the relative intensity of the response to the different antigens. The endocapsular technique therefore leads to the release of crystallins into the anterior chamber in sufficient amounts to provoke in many patients a humoral immune response.

Adult↗

[Phako-small port].

The smallport system is a new technology that brings to surgeons who begin in phacoemulsification more advantages and control in surgery, more security and less time required for learning. The authors show the differences (advantages and disadvantages) between standard systems and the endocapsular "smallport". In nuclei up to grade 3 hardness we have good results with low phaco power (5-10%) and higher linear aspiration (200 mmHg) causing minimal loss of endothelial cells and quick visual rehabilitation.

Cataract↗

Surgically induced astigmatism. A comparison of different cataract incisions and closures.

A single center, single surgeon, nonrandomized, prospective clinical trial was performed comparing the keratometric induced astigmatism by different types of incisions and closures, one day, one week, one month and three months after 255 cataract surgeries. After phacoemulsification, or in rare cases after extracapsular cataract extraction, through a scleral pocket or limbal incision, patients received either a 5 x 6 mm, 5.5 mm, or 6 mm diameter polymethylmethacrylate optic posterior chamber intraocular lens. Incision was closed with either none, one horizontal or radial, or running 10-0 nylon suture. Vector analysis calculations of prism diopters of mean postoperative-induced keratometric astigmatism showed a trend to lesser values at each interval in scleral pocket incisions but statistically significant difference only at 1 day and 1 week between 9-mm and 6-mm limbal, and 5-mm and 6-mm scleral pocket incisions. Other subgroup analyses, including incision shape and distance from limbus, and type of suture, did not reach statistical significance. Horizontal, 5-mm, sutureless scleral tunnel incision showed less induced astigmatism with more rapid stable refraction.

Adult↗

Decreased plasma endothelin-1 levels in asymptomatic type I diabetic patients with regional cerebral hypoperfusion assessed by Spect.

The prevalence of stroke is increased in diabetic patients. The vasoconstrictor peptide endothelin-1 (ET-1) has been implicated in the development of cerebral vasospasm after stroke but its role in the physiological regulation of cerebral blood flow (CBF) is not well known. Our aim was to assess the relationship between CBF and plasma ET-1 levels in type I diabetic patients. Regional CBF was assessed semi-quantitatively by 99Tc(m)-hexamethylpropylene-amine-oxime (99Tc(m)-HMPAO) single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) in 50 cerebral "regions of interest" (ROIs) of 19 type I diabetic patients without clinical evidence of cerebral disease, and 10 healthy control subjects. In both groups, plasma ET-1 levels were measured. Results showed that type I diabetic patients had significantly more hypoperfusion ROIs than control subjects. While up to 68.4% of the type I diabetic patients showed 3 or more hypoperfusion ROIs, only 10% of the control subjects did. Plasma ET-1 levels were lower in the type I diabetes subgroup with 3 or more hypoperfusion ROIs than in the type I diabetes subgroup with less than 3 hypoperfusion ROIs and in the control group. Moreover, an inverse correlation between the number of hypoperfusion ROIs and plasma ET-1 levels (r = 0.47, p = 0.04) was found in the type I diabetes group. It is concluded that plasma ET-1 is decreased in type I diabetic patients with subclinical abnormalities of regional CBF assessed by cerebral SPECT. This fact may reflect a compensatory response to the reduction of the brain perfusion in order to prevent ischemic events in these patients.

Adult↗