Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion: Pathogenesis, Visual Prognosis, and Treatment Modalities

In branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), abnormal arteriovenous crossing with vein compression, degenerative changes of the vessel wall and abnormal hematological factors constitute the primary mechanism of vessel occlusion. In general, BRVO has a good prognosis: 50–60% of eyes are reported to have a final visual acuity (VA) of 20/40 or better even without treatment. One important prognostic factor for final VA appears to be the initial VA. Grid laser photocoagulation is an established treatment for macular edema in a particular group of patients with BRVO, while promising results for this condition are shown by intravitreal application of steroids or new vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors. Vitrectomy with or without arteriovenous sheathotomy combined with removal of the internal limiting membrane may improve vision in eyes with macular edema which are unresponsive to or ineligible for laser treatment

Real-World Outcomes with Ranibizumab 0.5 mg in Patients with Visual Impairment due to Diabetic Macular Edema: 12-Month Results from the 36-Month BOREAL-DME Study

PURPOSE: To report the real-world effectiveness and safety of ranibizumab 0.5 mg in patients with visual impairment due to diabetic macular edema (DME). METHODS: This is a French, 36-month, multicenter, observational cohort study. Between December 2013 and April 2015, ophthalmologists enrolled diabetic patients aged >/=18 years with DME-related visual impairment and for whom ranibizumab 0.5 mg was initiated. Here, we present the 12-month results from this cohort. The primary endpoint was the mean change in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA); sample size calculations were based on RESTORE trial data (BCVA mean change = 6.8 letters, preci sion = 0.7 letters). Secondary endpoints included the change in central subfield thickness (CSFT), number of visits, number of injections received, and frequency of ocular and nonocular adverse events and serious adverse events. RESULTS: Between December 2013 and April 2015, a total of 290 patients with DME were enrolled by 84 ophthalmologists; 12-month data are available for 242 patients (due to low recruitment rates, precision was recalculated for 242 evaluable patients: the precision was then of 1.0 letters). Mean age (+/- standard deviation) was 66.1 +/- 11.0 years and 56.6% were male. The mean baseline BCVA and CSFT were 59.2 letters (95% confidence interval [CI] 57.3, 61.0) and 457 mum (95% CI: 438, 476), respectively. At month 12, the mean gain in BCVA from baseline was 7.4 letters (95% CI: 5.4, 9.4), with 36.8% of patients with BCVA > 70 letters versus 13.2% at baseline. Mean change in CSFT was -125 mum (95% CI: -146, -103). The mean number of ranibizumab injections was 5.1 +/- 2.3 over an average of 10.4 +/- 3.0 visits. No new safety findings were identified. CONCLUSIONS: The BOREAL study confirms the effectiveness and safety of ranibizumab for the treatment of DME-related visual impairment in routine clinical practice with fewer injections than reported in clinical trials

Wireless Broadcast with short labelling

In this paper, we study the broadcast problem in wireless networks when the broadcast is helped by a labelling scheme. We focus on two variants of broadcast: broadcast without acknowledgment (i.e. the initiator of the broadcast is not notified at the end of broadcast) and broadcast with acknowledgment. Our contribution is threefold. First, we improve in terms of memory complexity a recent labelling-based broadcast scheme with acknowledgment designed for arbitrary networks.Second, we propose label optimal broadcast algorithms in Level Separable Networks (a class of networks issued from recent studies in Wireless Body Area Networks). In this class of networks we propose an acknowledgment-free broadcast strategy using 1-bit labels and broadcast with acknowledgment using 2-bits labels. In the class of level-separable networks, our algorithms finish within 2D rounds, where D is the eccentricity of the broadcast initiator. Interestingly, the time complexity of broadcast in the case of level-separable networks does not depend on the size of the network but rather on the initiator eccentricity which makes this class of graphs interesting for further investigation. Finally, we study the hardness of determining that a graph is level separable. Our study shows that even though checking that a separation is a level separation can be done in polynomial time, determining that a graph has the level separable property is NP-complete. This result opens interesting independent research directions