A Case of Retinitis Pigmentosa Requiring Vitrectomy because of Repeated Vitreous Hemorrhage

A male patient with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) accompanied by repeated vitreous hemorrhage in both eyes underwent unilateral vitrectomy. Visual acuity recovered to 0.8 in the operated right eye, and no hemorrhage, complications or progression of RP were observed. Fluorescein angiography performed 2 months after surgery detected neovascularization at the optic disc in the operated right eye, but not in the non-operated left eye, and no avascular areas were found in either eye. Vitrectomy may be effective for the treatment of RP accompanied by vitreous hemorrhage

Influence of silicone oil tamponade on self-sealing sclerotomy using 25-gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy: a retrospective comparative study

Each factor and postoperative IOPs in each period of each case. (XLS 30 kb

Forebrain Ptf1a Is Required for Sexual Differentiation of the Brain

The mammalian brain undergoes sexual differentiation by gonadal hormones during the perinatal critical period. However, the machinery at earlier stages has not been well studied. We found that Ptf1a is expressed in certain neuroepithelial cells and immature neurons around the third ventricle that give rise to various neurons in several hypothalamic nuclei. We show that conditional Ptf1a-deficient mice (Ptf1a cKO) exhibit abnormalities in sex-biased behaviors and reproductive organs in both sexes. Gonadal hormone administration to gonadectomized animals revealed that the abnormal behavior is caused by disorganized sexual development of the knockout brain. Accordingly, expression of sex-biased genes was severely altered in the cKO hypothalamus. In particular, Kiss1, important for sexual differentiation of the brain, was drastically reduced in the cKO hypothalamus, which may contribute to the observed phenotypes in the Ptf1a cKO. These findings suggest that forebrain Ptf1a is one of the earliest regulators for sexual differentiation of the brain

Full-Thickness Macular Hole Formation in the Postoperative Period After Initial Vitrectomy for Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment

Background and Objective: To evaluate full-thickness macular hole (MH) formation in the postoperative period after initial vitrectomy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (rRD). Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 4 consecutive eyes that required additional vitrectomy for full-thickness MH between April 2013 and March 2016 after undergoing an initial vitrectomy for rRD. Results: Epiretinal membrane (ERM) was identified by preoperative optical coherence tomography or intraoperative dye staining in each case. Photocoagulation of retinal breaks prior to initial vitrectomy was performed in Cases 1, 2, and 3 (4–16 days), with yttrium-aluminum-garnet capsulotomy after cataract extraction also performed prior to the retinal break formation in Case 3. At the initial vitrectomy, there was a superior retinal break which crossed the equator in Case 2, and an intentional hole was created in Cases 1 and 4. The mean interval from the initial vitrectomy until MH formation was 27.5 ± 15.8 months. As with Case 2, the intervals in Cases 1 and 4, in which an intentional hole was created, were clearly shorter than in those in Case 3. Finally, MH closure was achieved after an additional vitrectomy (removal of the internal limiting membrane with ERM and gas tamponade) and best-corrected visual acuity improved in each case. Conclusion: ERM was identified in the cases examined in our study. The presence of an intentional hole might shorten the interval of MH formation after vitrectomy for rRD

Treatment of Dropped Nucleus with a 27-Gauge Twin Duty Cycle Vitreous Cutter

We report herein a method for the treatment of dropped nucleus during cataract surgery with a 27-gauge twin duty cycle (TDC) vitreous cutter. When a TDC vitreous cutter is used, suction flow volume is maintained even when the cutter is driven at a high speed. This enables an Emery-Little grade 3 nucleus that had been difficult to treat with a conventional 27-gauge cutter to be successfully excised using only a vitreous cutter, with no intra- or postoperative complications. A dropped lens during cataract surgery of up to moderate hardness can be removed using a TDC cutter alone with a 27-gauge cutter system