Macular thickness measurements in healthy Norwegian volunteers: an optical coherence tomography study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ethnic, intersubject, interoperator and intermachine differences in measured macular thickness seem to exist. Our purpose was to collect normative macular thickness data in Norwegians and to evaluate the association between macular thickness and age, gender, parity, and contraception status.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Retinal thickness was measured by Stratus Optical Coherence Tomography in healthy subjects. Mean macular thickness (MMT) was analyzed by repeated measures ANOVA with three dependent regional MMT-variables for interaction with age, gender, parity and oral contraception use. Exploratory correlation with age by the Pearson correlation test, both before and after stratification by gender was performed. Differences in MMT between older and younger subjects, between oral contraception users and non-users, as well as parous and nulliparous women were studied by post-hoc Student's t-tests.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Central MMT in Norwegians was similar to values earlier reported in whites. MMT in central areas of 1 and 2.25 mm in diameter were higher in males than in females. In younger subjects (≤43 years) differences in MMT between genders were larger than in the mixed age group, whereas in older subjects (>43 years) the small differences did not reach the set significance level. No differences were found in minimal foveolar thickness (MMFT) between the genders in any age group.</p> <p>Mean foveal thickness (1 mm in diameter) was positively associated with age in females (r = 0.28, p = 0.03). MMFT was positively associated with age in all groups and reached significance both in females and in mixed gender group (r = 0.20, p = 0.041 and r = 0.26, p = 0.044 respectively).</p> <p>Mean foveal thickness and MMFT were significantly higher in parous than in nulliparous women, and age-adjusted ANOVA for MMFT revealed a borderline effect of parity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Age and gender should be taken into consideration when establishing normal ranges for MMT in younger subjects. The gender difference in retinal thickness in young, but not older adults suggests a gonadal hormonal influence. The possible association between parity and retinal structure and its clinical relevance, should be studied further.</p

Urodynamic studies in the surgical treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia

OBJECTIVE: We compared the clinical and urodynamic outcome of men with lower urinary tract symptoms with and without previous urodynamic evaluation submitted to transurethral resection of the prostate. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective and randomized study was performed in 315 patients who underwent transurethral resection of the prostate. In 151 patients (group A) with a mean age of 63 years, transurethral resection of the prostate was performed without a prior urodynamic study, and group B, 164 patients with a mean age of 61 years, underwent a urodynamic study prior to surgical procedure. In group B, only obstructed patients were selected for surgery. All patients had I-PSS higher than 15 and underwent at least 2 uroflowmetry and flow was lower than 10 ml/sec. At 6-month follow up, patients in both groups underwent the I-PSS questionnaire and pressure / flow study. RESULTS: The symptomatology and uroflowmetry did not display different behavior between the groups. The mean postoperative score for group A was 8.87 + 3.27 and for group B was 9.32 + 3.14 (p = 0.22). The mean postoperative uroflow for group A was 17.0 + 2.1 mL/s and for group B was 16.6 + 2.2 mL/s (p = 0.15). Postoperative, in group A, 27 patients (17.8%) were obstructed and in group B, 16 patients (9.75%) were obstructed (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The study suggests that the previous urodynamic study is not the only factor related to the success of surgical outcome; and therefore, the symptomatology and uroflowmetry associated would be enough during the preoperative routine studies for BPH patients