Age-related macular degeneration

Giuseppe Querques¹, Fernando Onofrio Avellis1,2, Lea Querques1,3, Francesco Bandello³, Eric H Souied¹ ¹Service d'Ophtalmologie, Centre Hospitalier Intercommunal Créteil, Université Paris-Est Créteil, Créteil, France; ²Parma Eye Clinic University Hospital, Università degli Studi di Parma, Parma, Italy; ³Department of Ophthalmology, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele Milano, Milano, Italy Date of preparation: March 3, 2011 Conflict of interest: None declaredClinical question: Is there any new knowledge about the pathogenesis and treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD)?Results: We now understand better the biochemical and pathological pathways involved in the genesis of AMD. Treatment of exudative AMD is based on intravitreal injection of new antivascular endothelial growth factor drugs for which there does not yet exist a unique recognized strategy of administration. No therapies are actually available for atrophic AMD, despite some experimental new pharmacological approaches.Implementation: strategy of administration, safety of intravitreal injectionKeywords: age-related macular degeneration, antivascular endothelial growth factor, choroidal neovascularization, drusen, geographic atroph

A case of human conjunctival dirofilariosis by Dirofilaria immitis in Italy

Purpose: To describe a case of human conjunctival dirofialirosis by Dirofilaria immitis. Patient/Methods: A 51 year-old man from the Emilia-Romagna region of north-eastern Italy referred for ocular foreign body sensation in his right eye. A slight swelling of the bulbar conjunctiva was observed. A live, whitish, 10 cm-long nematode was extracted from the subconjunctival space. Results: Histology revealed typical features of a filarial nematode belonging to the genus Dirofilaria sp. Molecular analysis with Polymerase Chain Reaction confirmed that the extracted nematode was a male of Dirofilaria immitis. The removal of the parasite lead to complete resolution of symptoms. Conclusions: Ocular human dirofilariosis due to infection with the filarial nematode D. immitis is extremely rare, but should be considered in humans living in Italian endemic areas