Intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide as an adjunct in the treatment of severe ocular toxoplasmosis

Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Vis Inst, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Vis Inst, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Urinary volatile organic compounds for the detection of prostate cancer

© 2015 Khalid et al.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. The aim of this work was to investigate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emanating from urine samples to determine whether they can be used to classify samples into those from prostate cancer and non-cancer groups. Participants were men referred for a trans-rectal ultrasound-guided prostate biopsy because of an elevated prostate specific antigen (PSA) level or abnormal findings on digital rectal examination. Urine samples were collected from patients with prostate cancer (n = 59) and cancer-free controls (n = 43), on the day of their biopsy, prior to their procedure. VOCs from the headspace of basified urine samples were extracted using solid-phase micro-extraction and analysed by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Classifiers were developed using Random Forest (RF) and Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA) classification techniques. PSA alone had an accuracy of 62-64% in these samples. A model based on 4 VOCs, 2,6-dimethyl-7-octen-2-ol, pentanal, 3-octanone, and 2-octanone, was marginally more accurate 63-65%. When combined, PSA level and these four VOCs had mean accuracies of 74% and 65%, using RF and LDA, respectively. With repeated double cross-validation, the mean accuracies fell to 71% and 65%, using RF and LDA, respectively. Results from VOC profiling of urine headspace are encouraging and suggest that there are other metabolomic avenues worth exploring which could help improve the stratification of men at risk of prostate cancer. This study also adds to our knowledge on the profile of compounds found in basified urine, from controls and cancer patients, which is useful information for future studies comparing the urine from patients with other disease states

Intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin®) for diabetic retinopathy at 24-months: The 2008 Juan Verdaguer-planas lecture

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) remains the major threat to sight in the working age population. Diabetic macular edema (DME) is a manifestation of DR that produces loss of central vision. Proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) is a major cause of visual loss in diabetic patients. In PDR, the growth of new vessels is thought to occur as a result of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) release into the vitreous cavity as a response to ischemia. Furthermore, VEGF increases vessel permeability leading to deposition of proteins in the interstitium that facilitate the process of angiogenesis and macular edema. This review demonstrates multiple benefits of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) on DR including DME and PDR at 24 months of follow up. The results indicate that IVB injections may have a beneficial effect on macular thickness and visual acuity (VA) in diffuse diabetic macular edema. Therefore, in the future this new therapy could replace or complement focal/grid laser photocoagulation in DME. In PDR, this new option could be an adjuvant agent to pan-retina photocoagulation so that more selective therapy may be applied. In addition, we report a series of patients in which tractional retinal detachment developed or progressed after adjuvant preoperative IVB in severe PDR. © 2010 Bentham Science Publishers Ltd

STRATUS optical coherence tomography in unilateral colobomatous excavation of the optic disc and secondary retinoschisis

Purpose: To report the STRATUS optical coherence tomography (STRATUSOCT) findings in a patient with unilateral coloboma- like excavation of the optic disc without pit but secondary retinoschisis, as well as to discuss the possible involved pathophysiologic mechanisms. Methods: Observational case report. STRATUSOCT findings in a 66-year-old woman with a coloboma-like excavation of the optic disc without pit but secondary retinoschisis encompassing the macular region, along with evidence of a mild epiretinal membrane superonasal to the disc were evaluated. Results: STRATUSOCT showed signs of a connection between the perineural space and the inner retinal layers on the temporal optic disc border, as well as schisis-like changes extending from the disc to the macula, with cystoid degeneration and two lamellar holes in their nasal portion. Conclusion: the use of third generation OCT afforded an enhanced visualization of retinal structures, revealing signs of fluid at several distinct levels, as well as deep and superficial inner breaks apart from the schisis cavity. We are unaware of such previous reports, and could find no reference to them in a computerized search using MEDLINE. in addition, our study supports a common pathomechanism for the development of macular complications in optic pits and colobomas.Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ophthalmol, Inst Visao, IPEPO, BR-04023900 São Paulo, SP, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo, Dept Ophthalmol, Inst Visao, IPEPO, BR-04023900 São Paulo, SP, BrazilWeb of Scienc