Intermediate-term outcomes of 350-mm(2) Baerveldt glaucoma implants

To determine the intermediate-term outcome of 350-mm(2) Baerveldt glaucoma implants. Retrospective, noncomparative case series. Sixty-five patients (65 eyes). Implantation of 350-mm(2) Baerveldt glaucoma drainage device. Intraocular pressure, number of glaucoma medications, best-corrected Snellen visual acuity, length of follow-up, risk factors for failure, and complications. Mean intraocular pressure was reduced from a preoperative value of 32 mmHg to a 2-year postoperative value of 14 mmHg (56% reduction, P < 0.001). Success rates at 2-year follow-up were 71%, 81%, 78%, 60%, and 47% for the overall group, primary open-angle glaucoma group, neovascular group, uveitic group, and other group, respectively. After accounting for the effect of diagnosis group, significant risk factors in the overall group for failure at 2 years included younger age, high preoperative intraocular pressure, and more prior incisional surgeries. Glaucoma medication use in our overall study population was reduced from 2.5 mean preoperative medications to 0.8 postoperative medications (68%). Median change in Snellen visual acuity between preoperative and 2-year postoperative visits was not significant in the overall group. Postoperative complications included choroidal effusion in 15 patients (23%), tube obstruction by blood or vitreous in five patients (8%), phthisis in four patients (6%), aqueous misdirection in two patients (3%), strabismus in two patients (3%), tube-cornea touch in two patients (3%), endophthalmitis in two patients (3%), and retinal detachment in two patients (3%). No patients had suprachoroidal hemorrhage. The 350-mm(2) Baerveldt glaucoma implants are a safe and effective treatment for intermediate-term intraocular pressure control in patients with refractory glaucoma

Proton 3D tracking and emission time from a short-lived isomer with ACTAR TPC

International audienceAn experiment was conducted at the GANIL/LISE3 facility to produce the 10+ isomer of 54Ni and measure its proton radioactivity decay branches. The proton detection was achieved with the ACTAR TPC device that enabled the separation of the small signal of the emitted proton from the large signal of the implanted ion, while the decay half-life is of the order of 150 ns. From the measured data, the emitted proton track length and the decay time of the ion can be extracted simultaneously. The full proton radioactivity pattern could be established, with two emission branches and their relative branching ratio. Data processing and analysis that allowed to identify and separate the ion and the proton signals in order to reconstruct the particles trajectories and decay time are detailed. The evaluation of the detection efficiency for the proton radioactivity branches based on a full simulation is described

GET: A generic electronics system for TPCs and nuclear physics instrumentation

General Electronics for TPCs (GET) is a generic, reconfigurable and comprehensive electronics and data-acquisition system for nuclear physics instrumentation of up to 33792 channels. The system consists of a custom-designed ASIC for signal processing, front-end cards that each house 4 ASIC chips and digitize the data in parallel through 12-bit ADCs, concentration boards to read and process the digital data from up to 16 ASICs, a 3-level trigger and master clock module to trigger the system and synchronize the data, as well as all of the associated firmware, communication and data-acquisition software. An overview of the system including its specifications and measured performances are presented