Intraocular Lens Implant Image Quality: The Optico-Retinal Interface

Improvements in intraocular lens implants during the past ten years have revolutionized cataract surgery. Both anterior and posterior chamber lenses are currently in wide use, but the optical superiority of the posterior chamber location has yet to be demonstrated. To do so, a more detailed analysis is required of visual function than is clinically routine. Also required is appreciation that the retina is an integral part of the eye\u27s optical system because of its directional characteristics, which are known as the Stiles-Crawford effect. The optical quality of the pseudophakic eye is affected by the optics of the implant, its centration, and its anteroposterior position. Contrast sensitivity measurements in numerous pseudophakic patients are therefore necessary to determine the actual differences of in situ optical performances among different types of lens implants

Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference

Bilateral Dislocation of the Crystalline Lens in a Patient with Presumed Syphilitic Uveitis

Dislocation of the crystalline lens has been described in association with numerous systemic disorders and as a complication of ocular trauma. We present a case of bilateral lens dislocation in a patient with presumed syphilitic uveitis. The mechanism of lens dislocation is related to humoral and cellular effects of inflammation, although the role of trauma cannot be ignored. Persistent uveitis should be considered as a sign of active infection

Familial Deficiency of Apolipoproteins A-I and C-III and Precocious Coronary-Artery Disease

We studied two sisters 29 and 31 years old who had skin and tendon xanthomas, corneal clouding, and severe coronary atherosclerosis. Histologic examination showed collections of lipid-laden histiocytes in the skin. The patients' plasma cholesterol concentrations were 177 and 135 mg per deciliter (4.58 and 3.49 mmol per liter). Levels of high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol were 4 and 7 mg per deciliter (0.1 and 0.2 mmol per liter). Only traces of apolipoprotein A-I were detected in whole plasma. The plasma density fraction from 1.06 to 1.21 g per milliliter contained no high-density lipoprotein on high-pressure liquid chromatography, no apolipoprotein A-I on sodium dodecyl sulfate electrophoresis, and only traces of apolipoprotein A-I on radioimmunoassay. Apolipoprotein C-III was also not detectable. The activity of lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase was 40 per cent of normal. The half-life of infused normal high-density lipoprotein was three days (normal, 5.8 days). The parents and children of these two patients had low levels of high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and apolipoprotein A-I. These cases support the hypothesis that low concentrations of high-density lipoprotein promote atherosclerosis. (N Engl J Med. 1982; 306:1513–9.) THE inverse relation between coronary-artery disease and the concentration of high-density-lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in blood suggests that this lipoprotein is an important factor in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis. 1 2 3 Low levels of HDL cholesterol have been associated with an increased frequency of coronary heart disease, even at an HDL level no less than 50 per cent of normal. Yet in Tangier disease, an inherited disorder of cholesterol metabolism in which HDL cholesterol is about 8 per cent of normal, the frequency of atherosclerosis is not increased. 4 We have studied two sisters with a severe deficiency in HDL who had severe and . .