Differential vulnerability of retinal layers to early age-related macular degeneration: evidence by SD-OCT segmentation analysis.

PURPOSE We evaluated layer-by-layer retinal thickness in spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), determined by automated segmentation analysis (ASA) software in healthy and early age-related maculopathy (ARM) eyes. METHODS There were 57 eyes (specifically, 19 healthy eyes under 60 years old, 19 healthy eyes over 60, and 19 ARM eyes) recruited into this cross-sectional study. The mean ages were 36.78 (SD, ±13.82), 69.89 (SD, ±6.14), and 66.10 (SD, ±8.67) years, respectively, in the three study groups. The SD-OCT scans were transferred into a dedicated software program that performed automated segmentation of different retinal layers. RESULTS Automated layer segmentation showed clear boundaries between the following layers: retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell layer plus inner plexiform layer (GCL+IPL), inner nuclear layer plus outer plexiform layer (INL+OPL), outer nuclear layer (ONL), and RPE complex. The thickness of the RNFL, ONL, and RPE layers did not show a statistically significant change across the three groups by ANOVA (P = 0.10, P = 0.09, P = 0.15, respectively). The thickness of GCL+IPL and INL+OPL was significantly different across the groups (P < 0.01), being reduced in the ARM eyes compared to healthy eyes, under and over 60 years old. CONCLUSIONS The early morphologic involvement of the GCL+IPL and INL+OPL layers in ARM eyes, as revealed by the ASA, could be related to early anatomic changes described in the inner retina of ARM eyes. This finding may represent a morphologic correlation to the deficits in postreceptoral retinal function in ARM eyes

The three dimensional analysis of the Sforzesco brace correction

Scoliosis is a three dimensional deformity, and brace correction should be 3D too. There is a lack of knowledge of the effect of braces, particularly in the sagittal and transverse plane. The aim of this study is to analyse the Sforzesco Brace correction, through all the parameters provided by Eos 3D imaging system

Tennis is not dangerous for the spine during growth: results of a cross-sectional study

Tennis is widely practiced by adolescents in many countries. Many spinal deformity experts consider this activity, together with other asymmetrical sports, as risk factors for scoliosis development even though scientific data are missing. The aim of the present study was to verify the prevalence of spinal deformities and LBP in adolescent competitive tennis players compared to healthy controls