PubMed HealthSearch

Biomedical subjects

S L Fine

Publications and source records attributed to S L Fine.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Observations on patients with idiopathic macular holes and cysts.

We reexamined 96 patients with macular holes or cysts. The mean follow-up period was 4.7 years. Of 19 eyes with macular cysts, only two (10.5%) showed progression to a macular hole. In 15 (79%) of those 19 eyes, the cyst disappeared. Of 80 patients with a macular hole or cyst in one eye and a normal fellow eye, a hole developed in the fellow eye in only one patient (1.2%) and a cyst developed in the fellow eye in only two patients (2.5%). Of 66 eyes with a stage 3 full-thickness macular hole, three eyes (5%) showed resolution without any sign of a hole. Our results suggest a favorable prognosis for normal fellow eyes of patients with macular holes or cysts and for eyes with cysts. Eyes with full-thickness macular holes have a less favorable prognosis, although their natural history may not be as poor as previously thought.

Adult

Loculated fluid. A previously undescribed fluorescein angiographic finding in choroidal neovascularization associated with macular degeneration. Macular Photocoagulation Study Reading Center.

The Foveal Photocoagulation Study, a component of the Macular Photocoagulation Study, is designed to evaluate whether laser treatment can reduce the risk of severe visual loss in eyes with well-defined choroidal neovascular membranes associated with macular degeneration that extend through the foveal center. On one third of the 554 baseline angiograms of study patients enrolled in and whose eyes were graded in the study as of January 31, 1990, the Reading Center staff has noted an unusual pattern of hyperfluorescence in the late-transit frames that has not been described previously. This pattern, which we call "loculated fluid," consists of a well-demarcated area of hyperfluorescence that appears to represent pooling of fluorescein in a compartmentalized space anterior to the choroidal neovascular leakage. Although the loculated fluid may conform to a pattern of typical cystoid macular edema, it can also pool within an area deep to the sensory retina in a shape that does not bear any resemblance to cystoid macular edema. This pattern is important to recognize because it (1) should not be confused with the angiographic pattern or extent of choroidal neovascularization and (2) should be differentiated from a serous detachment or tear of the retinal pigment epithelium.

Body Fluids

Frequency of adverse systemic reactions after fluorescein angiography. Results of a prospective study.

Intravenous fluorescein angiography is a commonly performed and extraordinarily valuable diagnostic procedure. The frequency of adverse reactions after angiography has varied considerably in previous reports. In a prospective study of 2789 angiographic procedures in 2025 patients, the authors found that the percentage of adverse reactions depended strongly on the patient's angiographic history. Overall, adverse reactions followed 4.8% of the angiographic procedures. These reactions included nausea (2.9%), vomiting (1.2%), flushing/itching/hives (0.5%), and other reactions (dyspnea, syncope, excessive sneezing) (0.2%). No cases of anaphylaxis, myocardial infarction, pulmonary edema, or seizures occurred. The percentage of reactions was 1.8% for patients who had had previous angiography without ever having had an adverse reaction. In contrast, the percentage of reactions was 48.6% for patients who had had an adverse reaction to angiography previously.

Fluorescein

Visual results after laser treatment for peripapillary choroidal neovascular membranes.

To investigate the potentially harmful effects of laser photocoagulation in the papillomacular bundle (PMB), the records of patients treated for idiopathic neovascular membranes or membranes secondary to histoplasmosis extending into the PMB were reviewed. Twenty-eight eyes of 27 patients were identified. Most eyes (75%) were treated with the krypton red laser, while the remainder (25%) were treated with either argon green (18%) or a combination of the two (7%). After treatment 21 eyes (75%) had stable or improved visual acuity and three eyes (11%) lost more than three lines. Four eyes (14%) had changes in the optic disc and one eye developed a permanent arcuate scotoma. These data suggest that severe visual loss and extensive visual field defects occur rarely after photocoagulation of peripapillary choroidal neovascular membranes.

Adult

The effect of age and initial visual acuity on the systemic and visual prognosis of central retinal vein occlusion.

Papillophlebitis is the term that is often used to describe a central retinal vein occlusion with preserved visual acuity in a young, healthy patient. Among 194 patients with a diagnosis of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), 19 patients were identified who were under 50 years of age and who had visual acuity of 6/12 or better in the affected eye. These patients retained good vision in the affected eye during the course of the disorder with 17 eyes returning to 6/6. All of these patients remained healthy over a mean follow-up period of about four years. This group of patients was compared to a second group of 28 patients who also were under 50 years of age, but who had initial visual acuity in the affected eye less than 6/12. These patients had a variable visual outcome. In addition, they had a higher prevalence of systemic hypertension over the follow-up period than did a group of age-matched control subjects. An additional comparison was made to a group of 26 patients with visual acuity of 6/12 or better in the affected eye but who were over 50 years of age. Forty-six per cent of these patients had final visual acuity less than 6/12, and they had a higher prevalence of systemic vascular disease than did a group of age-matched control subjects.

Adult

Relationship of drusen and abnormalities of the retinal pigment epithelium to the prognosis of neovascular macular degeneration. The Macular Photocoagulation Study Group.

We graded macular features of 127 fellow eyes of participants in the Macular Photocoagulation Study who had an extrafoveal choroidal neovascular membrane secondary to age-related macular degeneration in the first eye and no initial evidence of the neovascular form of age-related macular degeneration in the fellow eye. Our aims were to determine the relationship of drusen characteristics and retinal pigment epithelial abnormalities to the risk of subsequent development of neovascularization in the fellow eye and the risk of subsequent development of recurrent neovascular membranes after photocoagulation in the first eye. Regression analysis demonstrated that the presence of large drusen and focal hyperpigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium were independent risk factors for the subsequent development of neovascularization in the fellow eye (relative risk, 2.4 and 2.5, respectively). Only 10% of eyes with no large drusen or any retinal pigment epithelial hyperpigmentation compared with 58% of eyes with both large drusen and retinal pigment epithelial hyperpigmentation developed neovascularization in the fellow eye within 5 years. Using multivariate Cox regression analysis, we noted that the risk of developing recurrent neovascular membranes in the first eye was significantly increased when large drusen (relative risk, 2.8) were noted in the fellow eye at the time of laser treatment in the first eye. Fundus features in the fellow eye appear to help identify patients at high risk of developing visual loss from recurrent neovascular membranes following laser treatment in the first eye and from development of a neovascular membrane in the fellow eye.

Aging

Purtscher's-like retinopathy after childbirth.

Severe bilateral visual loss attributable to multiple retinal arteriolar occlusions occurred in four young women within 24 hours after childbirth. In two patients, labor was complicated by preeclampsia requiring cesarean section. One patient was suffering from pancreatitis. None had connective tissue disease or antecedent trauma. Ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography revealed evidence of multiple superficial peripapillary and macular patches of ischemic retinal whitening simulating Purtscher's retinopathy. By 8 weeks, the white patches were resolving in all eyes and visual acuity had significantly improved in three of the four patients. The pathogenesis of this disorder is unknown but may involve arteriolar obstruction by complement-induced leukoemboli formed during parturition.

Adolescent

Histopathologic features of idiopathic macular holes and cysts.

The pathogenesis of idiopathic macular holes and cysts is currently debated. The authors studied the histopathologic features of 41 specimens. Of 22 full-thickness holes, 16 (73%) had epiretinal membranes (ERMs), 15 (68%) had cystoid macular edema (CME), and 3 (17%) were sealed by fibroglial and retinal pigment epithelial hyperplasia. Photoreceptors were variably degenerated, for a mean of 480 microns (range, 200-750 microns) from the hole margins. Of 12 lamellar macular holes, 6 (50%) had an ERM exhibiting tangential traction on the internal limiting membrane. Cystoid macular edema was present in five (71%) of seven macular cysts, and an ERM was noted in only one (14%). The authors' results suggest that ERM tangential traction may play a role in the pathogenesis of lamellar macular holes. Macular holes often have associated ERMs and CME, which may be potentially reversible.

Aged

Choroidal neovascularization after laser photocoagulation for diabetic macular edema.

Choroidal neovascular membranes (CNVMs) developed in eight patients after photocoagulation for clinically significant diabetic macular edema (DME). The CNVMs developed in areas where Bruch's membrane was ruptured and were diagnosed 2 weeks to 5 months after treatment. Only six patients had symptoms. The CNVMs were treated in four patients; final visual acuity was poor in all eight patients. This serious complication that follows laser treatment for DME may be related to the use of repeated small-size, short-duration laser or intense laser burns, or both.

Aged

Choroidal neovascular membrane and other chorioretinal complications of acquired syphilis.

We reviewed ten patients who had posterior segment complications of acquired syphilis. Five of these patients had a neovascular membrane of the choroid associated with secondary or tertiary syphilis. Vision was stabilized after laser photocoagulation in one patient who had a choroidal neovascular membrane. Five additional patients had ocular manifestations including uveitis, optic neuritis, neuroretinitis, chorioretinitis, retinal hemorrhages, arterial and venous occlusion, vasculitis, and retinitis. Treatment of chorioretinal complications of syphilis with intravenous penicillin, if initiated early in the course of the disease, may result in excellent visual recovery.

Adult

The grading and prevalence of macular degeneration in Chesapeake Bay watermen.

A new grading scheme was developed to classify the fundus features of macular degeneration. This scheme identifies the earliest fundus changes associated with macular degeneration, as well as specific drusen characteristics felt to be associated with an increased risk of developing the exudative forms of this disease. Agreement between two graders using this scheme indicated good interobserver reliability. Using this scheme, fundus photographs of 777 participants were graded in a population-based study of watermen from the eastern shore of Maryland. The prevalence of at least one druse within 1500 microns of the foveal center was extremely common (over 80% in each age group over 30 years of age) and not age related. The prevalence of large, confluent, or soft drusen was relatively uncommon and was age related; by the eighth decade, 26% of all participants had large or soft drusen, and 17% of them had confluent drusen. These latter characteristics are more likely to be markers of early changes consistent with age-related macular degeneration rather than simply the presence of a few drusen.

Adult

Exposure to sunlight and other risk factors for age-related macular degeneration.

As some ultraviolet (UV) radiation is transmitted by the ocular media, there is a growing concern that there may be a possible relationship between long-term exposure to ultraviolet radiation and increased risk of age-related macular degeneration. To address this question, a survey was conducted of 838 Maryland watermen who had well-characterized ocular UV-A and UV-B exposure. Fundus photographs were taken and graded for presence of exudative disease, geographic atrophy, focal hyperpigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium, and drusen that were large and/or confluent. None of the subjects in these analyses were aphakic. The results suggested that age-related macular degeneration was not associated with cumulative exposure to either UV-A or UV-B. Age and the presence of nuclear opacity were independently associated with an increased risk of macular degeneration. Thus, we found that in phakic subjects, even with high levels of sunlight exposure, there was no evidence of increased risk of age-related macular degeneration associated with UV-B or UV-A exposure.

Adult

The use of fundus photographs and fluorescein angiograms in the identification and treatment of choroidal neovascularization in the Macular Photocoagulation Study. The Macular Photocoagulation Study Group.

The Macular Photocoagulation Study (MPS) Fundus Photograph Reading Center has developed a standard set of methods for assessing color photographs and fluorescein angiograms on study patients. For pretreatment angiograms, these methods are used to determine the location and extent of the choroidal neovascularization. For posttreatment color fundus photographs, these methods are used to assess the extent and intensity of treatment. Although these methods were developed to judge eligibility and treatment of patients enrolled in the MPS, they provide an excellent way for all treating ophthalmologists to evaluate their patients' angiograms and to assess immediately the intensity and extent of laser photocoagulation. The technique requires a microfilm reader or slide projection device to determine the completeness of treatment. The authors superimpose independent drawings made from pre- and posttreatment photographs. The techniques described can be applied readily in clinical practice. Since persistent neovascularization is highly correlated with incomplete and/or inadequate photocoagulation treatment, clinicians may adopt these Reading Center techniques to minimize the frequency of persistent neovascularization and, possibly, to reduce the frequency of visual loss in treated eyes.

Choroid