Peripapillary choroidal neovascularization associated with melanocytoma of the optic disc: a clinicopathologic case report

BACKGROUND: Melanocytoma of the optic disc is a benign melanocytic tumor that rarely causes visual impairment. We report a case of a melanocytoma of the optic disc with a decreased vision related to a peripapillary choroidal neovascular membrane (PCNVM) that was successfully treated by submacular surgery. METHODS: A 45-year-old southern European patient had a melanocytoma of the optic disc in his left eye with vision of 20/100. Fluorescein angiography demonstrated a PCNVM impeding the fovea associated with a subretinal hemorrhage. RESULTS: The patient underwent a complete vitrectomy and removal of the PCNVM. Subsequently, the subretinal hemorrhage disappeared and visual acuity improved to 20/25. Visual acuity remained good for a period of 14 months' follow-up without any recurrence of neovascular membrane. CONCLUSIONS: Submacular surgery is a potentially effective treatment for large PCNVM associated with a melanocytoma of the optic disc

Endothelin-receptor antagonists are proapoptotic and antiproliferative in human colon cancer cells

Endothelin (ET)-1 can act as an autocrine/paracrine growth factor or an antiapoptotic factor in human cancers. To study the role of ET-1 in human colon cancer, proliferation and apoptosis of colon carcinoma cells was investigated using human HT-29 and SW480 colon carcinoma cells. ET-1 was secreted by these cells. Treatment of cells with bosentan, a dual ET(A/B)-receptor antagonist, decreased cell number. Inhibition of DNA synthesis by bosentan was observed only in the presence of serum. Exogenously added ET-1 did not increase DNA synthesis in serum-deprived cells. SW480 cells were sensitive and HT-29 cells were resistant to FasL-induced apoptosis. Bosentan sensitised resistant HT-29 cells to FasL-induced, caspase-mediated apoptosis, but not to TNF-alpha-induced apoptosis. Bosentan and/or FasLigand (FasL) did not modulate the expression of caspase-8 or FLIP. Bosentan sensitisation to apoptosis was reversed by low concentrations (10(-13)-10(-10) M), but not by high concentrations (10(-9)-10(-7) M) of ET-1. These results suggest that the binding of ET-1 to high-affinity sites inhibits FasL-induced apoptosis, while the binding of either ET-1 or receptor antagonists to low-affinity sites promotes FasL-induced apoptosis. In conclusion, endothelin signalling pathways do not induce human colon cancer cell proliferation, but are survival signals controling resistance to apoptosis

Utilite de l'interferometrie au visometre de Lotmar pour predire l'acuite visuelle apres chirurgie des membranes epimaculaires. [Value of Lotmar interferometry with vision assessment for predicting visual acuity after surgery of epimacular membranes]

BACKGROUND: To determine the usefulness of preoperative Lotmar interferometry to predict visual acuity recovery after surgery for epimacular membrane. Patients and methods: From 1999 to 2001, thirty pseudophakic eyes that underwent surgery for removal of epimacular membrane were examined prospectively. Visual acuity (VA) was recorded with the ETDRS chart before surgery and 6 months or more after (mean follow-up: 7.5 months). Lotmar interferometry was performed before surgery and its result was compared with the VA measured after surgery. RESULTS: The mean preoperative VA was 0.4 - 3 (20/55). The Lotmar VA (mean: 0.5, 20/40) was lower than the final postoperative VA (mean: 0.66, 20/30), p < 0.001. The Lotmar VA was found within one ETDRS line of the final postoperative VA in 10 cases (33 %). The Lotmar VA was > 1 line lower than the final postoperative VA in 17 cases (57 %) and was 1 - 3 lines higher in 3 cases (10 %). CONCLUSIONS: Lotmar interferometry tends to underestimate the final postoperative VA after surgery for epimacular membrane. A low value does not allow any relevant prediction. A high value is interesting since the risk to have a false-positive is low