104 research outputs found
Ocular hypertension in myopia: analysis of contrast sensitivity
Purpose: we evaluated the evolution of contrast sensitivity reduction in patients affected by ocular hypertension and glaucoma, with low to moderate myopia. We also evaluated the relationship between contrast sensitivity and mean deviation of visual field.
Material and methods: 158 patients (316 eyes), aged between 38 and 57 years old, were enrolled and divided into 4 groups: emmetropes, myopes, myopes with ocular hypertension (IOPâ„21 ±2 mmHg), myopes with glaucoma. All patients underwent anamnestic and complete eye evaluation, tonometric curves with Goldmannâs applanation tonometer, cup/disc ratio evaluation, gonioscopy by Goldmannâs three-mirrors lens, automated perimetry (Humphrey 30-2 full-threshold test) and contrast sensitivity evaluation by Pelli-Robson charts. A contrast sensitivity under 1,8 Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution (LogMAR) was considered
abnormal.
Results: contrast sensitivity was reduced in the group of myopes with ocular hypertension (1,788 LogMAR) and in the group of myopes with glaucoma (1,743 LogMAR), while it was preserved in the group of myopes (2,069 LogMAR) and in the group of emmetropes (1,990 LogMAR). We also found a strong correlation between contrast sensitivity reduction and mean deviation of visual fields in myopes with glaucoma (coefficient relation = 0.86) and in myopes with ocular hypertension (coefficient relation = 0.78).
Conclusions: the contrast sensitivity assessment performed by the Pelli-Robson test should be performed in all patients with middle-grade myopia, ocular hypertension and optic disc suspected for glaucoma, as it may be useful in the early diagnosis of the disease.
Introduction Contrast can be defined as the ability of the eye to discriminate differences in luminance between the stimulus and the background.
The sensitivity to contrast is represented by the inverse of the minimal contrast necessary to make an object visible; the lower the
contrast the greater the sensitivity, and the other way around.
Contrast sensitivity is a fundamental aspect of vision together with visual acuity: the latter defines the smallest spatial detail that the subject manages to discriminate under optimal conditions, but it only provides information about the size of the stimulus that the eye is capable to perceive; instead, the evaluation of contrast sensitivity provides information not obtainable with only the measurement of visual acuity, as it establishes the minimum difference in luminance that must be present between the stimulus and its background so that the retina is adequately stimulated to perceive the stimulus itself. The clinical methods of examining contrast sensitivity (lattices,
luminance gradients, variable-contrast optotypic tables and lowcontrast optotypic tables) relate the two parameters on which the
ability to distinctly perceive an object depends, namely the different luminance degree of the two adjacent areas and the spatial frequency,
which is linked to the size of the object.
The measurement of contrast sensitivity becomes valuable in the diagnosis and follow up of some important eye conditions such as
glaucoma. Studies show that contrast sensitivity can be related to data obtained with the visual perimetry, especially with the perimetric
damage of the central area and of the optic nerve head
Local anesthetic infiltration vs. nervous blocks in faceâs skin lesions: whatâs new
Skin tumors are the most common type of cancer. They are localized throughout the body, more frequently in those regions chronically exposed to sun, like face, scalp and neck, compromising aesthetic appearance. The optimization of day hospital surgical procedures is mandatory, to avoid erroneous indications, insufficient intra operative comfort and prolonged recovery. New guidelines should be discussed and shared. Patients were divided in two groups: i. Group A of 50 patients, 21 male and 29 female, age 65 ±9, ASA I â III (10/19/21), weight 68±11 kg, height 160±8, with anesthetic Local Infiltration (LI); ii. Group B of 50 patients, 16 male, 34 female, age 68 ±10, ASA I â III (9/22/19), weight 64 ± 9 kg, height 158 ±11, with nerve block (NB). The purpose of our study is to evaluate the analgesia level, compliance and complication rate after LI or selective NB with alkalinised mepivacaine cloridrate 2%, GuardantÂź. Demographic data, ASA physical stauts, size of lesions, surgery, anesthesia durations and volume of LA injected were analyzed. Fisherâs exact test and Studentâs t test were used; P †0.05 was considered statistically significant. No differences in age (65 ± 9 vs 68 ± 10 years), weight (68 ± 11 vs 64 ± 9), height (160 ± 8 vs 158 ± 11 cm), size of lesion (23 ± 11 vs 25 ± 14 mm), duration of surgery (47 ± 18 vs 51 ± 23 minutes) were detected in two groups (p > 0.05). Both anesthetic techniques ensured good analgesia, but only nerveâs blocks were be able to determine satisfactory intra operative patientâs comfort, a bloodless wound and weak risk for nervous lesions and toxic reaction to local anesthetic
Quantifying the Overall Efficiency of Circularly Polarized Emitters
An increasing number of circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) molecular emitters has been developed in recent years and many of them are intended for applications in which high overall CPL efficiencies are required. In order to have a complete picture of the efficiency of a CPL emitter, dissymmetry factor (glum) is not enough. In the following we propose a new quantity, named CPL brightness (BCPL), which takes into account absorption extinction coefficient and quantum yield along with the glum factor. We calculated BCPL value for more than 180 compounds reported in the literature and we analyse data distribution for the main classes of CPL molecular emitters. This tool can be employed to put into context new CPL active compounds and to direct the choice of molecular systems for specific CPL applications
âInfluence of the Therapy with Dorzolamide on the Corneal Structures: Analysis by Confocal Microscopy (CS3)â
Purpose: To value, in vivo, with the confocal microscopy(CS3) the corneal microscopic changes in a group of patients in therapy with Dorzolamide 2% eyedrops.
Methods:Thirty patients (sixty eyes) with monocular hypertension (IOP21 mmHg) and no previous ipotonic therapy were recruited. The hypertensive eye (HE)was treated with Dorzolamine 2% eyedrops three times daily, the normal tension eye (NE) was used as the control eye. At the time of recruitment, one and three months after the beginning of treatment were performed: applanation tonometry, ultrasound pachimetry (USP), and a CS examination.
Results: Mean age was 41,13±10,515 year, at the recruitment time: mean IOP was 16,50±2.34 mmHg in the NE and 22,06±0.68 mmHg in the HE, USP was 542,50±31,18 ” in the NE and 536,63±38,08 in the HE, endothelial cell density was (cell/mm2) 2473,37±339,58 in the NE and 2386,94±284,16 in the HE, stromal reflectivity was 0.36±0.06 in the NE and 0.36±0.05 in the HE. At each control time the IOP was statistically reduced in the treated eyes of a mean of 7,25 mmHg (p<0.01), all the corneal data didnât show a statistically significant change during the followâup period, only the stromal reflectivity seemed to be increased in the last control of 0,1 (p<0.005).
Conclusions: The CS3 examination allowed us to value the microscopic corneal structure and to show that no clinically significant changes were produced by dorzolamide local therapy
Retinitis pigmentosa and ocular motility alterations: new frontiers, review
Purpose: To carry out a review of the literature on alterations in extraocular motility in Retinitis
Pigmentosa (RP), focusing on the possible genetic basis of ocular alterations.
Design: Systematic review
Methods: The search of publications was carried out using the databases: Scopus, PubMed, Google
Scholar, Web of Science, considering clinical cases, case reports, and systematic reviews of ocular
motility alterations in the Retinitis Pigmentosa in the literature. The words: âocular motility
alterations, Retinitis Pigmentosa, orthoptic evaluation, case reports, clinical cases, systematic
reviewsâ were used.
Results: A total of 2 articles from 2006â2022 were retrieved: No other ocular motility alterations
clinical cases linked to RP were found before. Particularly, a study conducted on patients affected
by typical RP showed that there was an impaired motility in 50% of them. Since RP is a genetically
determined disease, in reference to the studies analyzed, the absence of eye movement disorders in a
percentage of the sample could be related to the different penetrance of the disease that determines
the existence of healthy carriers.
Conclusion: Therefore, it would be important to search for a possible correlation between the genetic
mutations involved in this hereditary disorder and the deficits in extraocular motility, in order to
make an early diagnosis of RP in genetically predisposed subjects. The existence of alterations of
extraocular motility in subjects with RP, indicates that a careful orthoptic screening can allow a
further contribution to an early diagnosis of this disease, especially in subjects with positive family
history and healthy carriers
From Mesocates to Helicates: Structural, Magnetic and Chiro-Optical Studies on Nickel(II) Supramolecular Assemblies Derived from Tetradentate Schiff Bases
The systematic reactions of a family of tetradentate pyridyl/imine and quinolyl/imine racemic or enantiopure Schiff bases with Ni(NO3)(2) or Ni(ClO4)(2) in the presence of sodium azide yielded, as a function of the starting racemic, chiral or achiral base, a set of chiral, meso or achiral complexes. In all cases, the compounds consist of two Ni-II cations linked by a double azido bridge in its end-on coordination mode. All the dimers exhibit a mesocate supramolecular structure and one of them, the unprecedented mix of helicate and mesocate in 2:1 ratio. The transition from mesocate to helicate conformation has been reached by tuning the flexibility of the central spacers of the Schiff bases and the size of the substituents. Electronic circular dichroism (ECD) studies have been performed for two pairs of enantiomers and interpreted by means of DFT calculations. Susceptibility measurements show a ferromagnetic coupling between the Ni-II cations mediated by the end-on azido bridges
Effects of oral citicoline in perimetric glaucoma defects
Abstract: Purpose: to study the neuroprotective effect of oral citicoline (CT) in patients with primary
open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods: this study recruits 110 patients with stage IV POAG and
well-controlled intraocular pressure (IOP). Enrollees were randomly allocated in two groups: therapy
group (TG) or control group (CG). Subjects in TG were treated with citicoline 500 mg / die for 4
months. The treatment period was followed by a wash-out phase of 2 months. At the end of the washout phase, subjects in TG resumed CT in the same fashion. Both groups were treated with pressurelowering medications. Each subject was evaluated with standard automated perimetry (SAP) at
baseline, and then again 12, 24, and 36 months after enrollment.
Results: TG showed a statistically significant improvement in MD values at 12 months (â = 21%) and
T24 (â = 35%), and gradual improvements of the stage, up to the 3rd stage with localized defects after
36 months of therapy. Conversely, in CG, both the MD and PSD indices continued to deteriorate
throughout the duration of the study.
Conclusion: long-term daily treatment with citicoline might have a neuroprotective effect. Patients
treated with oral citicoline showed an improvement in perimetric indices. Additional studies with
larger samples and longer follow-ups are needed to confirm these results
Inhomogeneous Diastereomeric Composition of Mongersen Antisense Phosphorothioate Oligonucleotide Preparations and Related Pharmacological Activity Impairment
Mongersen is a 21-mer antisense oligonucleotide designed to downregulate Mothers against decapentaplegic homolog 7 (SMAD7) expression to treat Crohn's disease. Mongersen was manufactured in numerous batches at different scales during several years of clinical development, which all appeared identical, using common physicochemical analytical techniques, while only phosphorous-31 nuclear magnetic resonance (P-31-NMR) in solution showed marked differences. Close-up analysis of 27 mongersen batches revealed marked differences in SMAD7 downregulation in a cell-based assay. Principal component analysis of P-31-NMR profiles showed strong correlation with SMAD7 downregulation and, therefore, with pharmacological efficacy in vitro. Mongersen contains 20 phosphorothioate (PS) linkages, whose chirality (Rp/Sp) was not controlled during manufacturing. A different diastereomeric composition throughout batches would lead to superimposable analytical data, but to distinct P-31-NMR profiles, as indeed we found. We tentatively suggest that this may be the origin of different biological activity. As similar manifolds are expected for other PS-based oligonucleotides, the protocol described here provides a general method to identify PS chirality issues and a chemometric tool to score each preparation for this elusive feature
Current Concepts on Myopia Basics, Clinical Research and Surgery
Partecipazione all'Organizzazione del Simposio Internazionale del Prof. M.R. Pannarale, Valutazione Scientifica delle Relazioni accettate e Programmazione delle sessioni delle Relazioni e dell'Abstract Boo
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