The Effects of Macular Photocoagulation on Visual Field

Purpose: To evaluate visual field and nerve fiber layer thickness changes after Macular photocoagulation for treatment of diabetic macular edema. Setting: Rassoul Akram Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Material and method: Twenty six eyes with history of diabetes and clinically significant macular edema candidate for Macular photocoagulation were included in this prospective interventional case series. All patients underwent 10-2 and 24-2 Humphrey Visual Field Test with Swedish Interactive Thresholding Algorithm (SITA) standard strategy and also optic nerve and macular optical coherence tomography (OCT), before and 6 months after macular laser photocoagulation. Then visual field, peripapillary and macular nerve fiber layer thickness of each eye were compared before and after photocoagulation. Results: The mean age of patients was 57.60 ± 8.99 (range 33-73) years. There was no statistically significant change after photocoagulation compared to before the procedure regarding the mean deviation, pattern standard deviation and foveal threshold in visual field 10-2 and 24-2 tests except for pattern standard deviation in 10-2 test. Conclusion: Based on our results it seems that visual field is not affected by macular laser photocoagulation

Effect of Mirror Therapy on the Motor Recovery in Patients After Stroke: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Objectives: One of the most important problems seen in patients after stroke is that they cannot develop normal muscle strength. In recent years, the use of Mirror Therapy (MT) in the recovery of this condition has been noticed in different studies. This study investigated the effect of MT on motor recovery in patients after stroke. Methods: In this clinical trial, 93 patients were divided into three groups, including MT, non-reflective surface, and control groups. The tools used in this study included the patient’s profile questionnaire, Mini-Mental State Examination Test, and Brunnstrom Recovery Stages. After the routine physiotherapy program, the intervention groups underwent MT for 20 sessions. The analysis of data was performed by SPSS software v. 22. Results: There was a significant difference between the non-reflective surface and MT groups (P=0.043) in pairwise comparison of their motor recovery stages in the 20th session, but the difference between the non-reflective surface and control groups was not significant. There was also a significant statistical difference between the MT and control groups in motor recovery stages in the 20th session, (P=0.0332)  Conclusion: The obtained findings suggest that MT can increase patients’ motor recovery after stroke. This method can be used as a simple, cheap, and usable method at home

Transplantation of Autologous Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells with Platelet-Rich Plasma Accelerate Distraction Osteogenesis in A Canine Model

Objective: Distraction osteogenesis (DO) is a surgical procedure used to generate large volumes of new bone for limb lengthening. Materials and Methods: In this animal experimental study, a 30% lengthening of the left tibia (mean distraction distance: 60.8 mm) was performed in ten adult male dogs by callus distraction after osteotomy and application of an Ilizarov fixator. Distraction was started on postoperative day seven with a distraction rate of 0.5 mm twice per day and carried out at a rate of 1.5 mm per day until the end of the study. Autologous bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSCs) and platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as the treatment group (n=5) or PRP alone (control group, n=5) were injected into the distracted callus at the middle and end of the distraction period. At the end of the consolidation period, the dogs were sacrificed after which computerized tomography (CT) and histomorphometric evaluations were performed. Results: Radiographic evaluationsrevealed that the amount and quality of callus formations were significantly higher in the treatment group (P<0.05). As measured by CT scan, the healing parametersin dogs of the treatment group were significantly greater (P<0.05). New bone formation in the treatment group was significantly higher (P<0.05). Conclusion: The present study showed that the transplantation of BM-MSCs positively affects early bony consolidation in DO. The use of MSCs might allow a shortened period of consolidation and therefore permit earlier device removal