Ranibizumab review

Il Ranibizumab (Lucentis) è il primo farmaco capace di una inibizione completa del VEGF-A con importanti risvolti nella terapia della degenerazione maculare legata all’età con circa un quarto dei pazienti trattati che guadagnano più di 15 lettere in acuità visiva. In questo review vengono illustrate le caratteristiche del farmaco e le strategie terapeutiche più recenti

Age-Related changes and/or diseases in the human retina

As people grow older, changes in the retina occur as part of the natural course of aging. Additional changes in the retina come from pathological causes, for which an ophthalmology specialist may be asked to evaluate and treat. Often patients will present to an eye doctor with complaints of worsening vision or visual distortions that cannot be accounted for by media opacity (cataract) or refractive error. A solid working knowledge of the normal age-related changes of the retina, as well as a firm understanding of clinically relevant age-related pathology, will help any eye physician manage the aging patient population. The aim of this study is not only to fully understand the senile involution of retinal structures that allows us to observe the wonders of the world, but also to keep these structures intact for as long as possible. An increasing number of elderly give a good cause for investigation of age-related changes and/or diseases in the human retina. This chapter describes the major age-related changes and diseases of the human retina in aged people. The first part of the chapter deals with common lesions in the senile retina, while the second part describes the major diseases of the senile retina

Sull’utilizzo di Bevacizumab (Avastin) – Riflessioni

In data 23 maggio 2007 il Direttore Generale dell’AIFA ha inserito l’Avastin nei farmaci erogabili dal SSN per il trattamento delle maculopatie essudative e del glaucoma neovascolare. Gli Autori hanno reputato utile fare alcune riflessioni sull’argomento relativamente alla maculopatia degenerativa dopo aver descritto le caratteristiche del farmaco. Quanto riportato dagli Autori nelle loro riflessioni non esclude minimamente che il farmaco possa diventare la prima scelta in un futuro non remoto nel trattamento della maculopatia essudativa ma per ora la realtà non è tale da consigliarne un uso indiscriminato

Many suggestions to protect the eyes in aging people

Some eye problems do not threaten our eyesight. Others are more serious diseases and can lead to blindness. Some common eye complaints can be treated easily. Sometimes they can be signs of more serious problems. Other eye problems can lead to vision loss and blindness. Often they have few or no symptoms. Having regular eye exams is the best way to protect our eyes. In this chapter we report the major suggestions to protect our eyes in aging. The Greek Society for the Prevention of Vision Loss and Blindness suggests some precautions to prevent age-related changes and/or diseases of the human eyes. These precautions are similar to those established by the National Eye Institute (NEI) in the USA, or the Italian Institute for Vision (IIV) in Italy. Are you holding the newspaper farther away from your eyes than you used to? Join the crowd—age can bring changes that affect your eyesight. Some changes are more serious than others, but no matter what the problem, there are things you can do to protect your vision. The keys are regular eye exams and finding problems early

Early detection of macular changes with multifocal ERG in patients on antimalarial drug therapy

Purpose: To compare and to evaluate the use of the multifocal electroretinography (mfERG) to conventional systems in assessing early changes of the retinal electric signals in patients with ocular dysfunction due to antimalarial drug therapy. Methods: This article represents an up-to-date review of the current thoughts regarding the mfERG technique and its use in providing a topographic measure of the retinal electrophysiological activity. Results: Various investigations have been suggested to be useful in the assessment of toxic retinopathy, but, since they involve subjective responses by the patients and lack of sensibility, the mfERG may be particularly useful for documenting early toxic retinopathy. Conclusions: A small percentage of patients face retinal functional alterations and ocular lesions and that is possible thanks to the use of lower dosages of hydroxychloroquine (Hy) and chloroquine (CQ), but the problem still remains because of the cumulative dose of the drugs in therapy that many of these patients go through. The mfERG can be considered a good method of early detection and tracking of the progression of macular changes of retinopathy and could occupy a key position in assessing macular changes in patients on antimalarial drug therapy

Lymph node harvesting in colorectal carcinoma specimens

Introduction. Adequate lymph node evaluation is an important determinant of prognosis in patients with colorectal cancer. Current guidelines recommend evaluation of at least 12 lymph nodes; however, a significant number of patients fail to meet these criteria. Aim. To investigate the factors that influence adequate recovery and evaluation of lymph nodes in colorectal cancer Methods. We retrospectively analyzed 454 consecutive cases of colorectal cancer surgically treated from September 2000 to September 2006. Univariate and multivariate linear and logistic regression analysis was used to study the effect of various factors in lymph node recovery. Results. The number of lymph nodes retrieved ranged from 0 to 62 with a median of 13 nodes. Overall, 189 (41.6%) patients had fewer than 12 nodes removed. Patient age, tumor stage, location and size were associated with lymph node retrieval. Multivariable regression revealed that the aforementioned variables, including gender and hospital type, explained 17% of the observed variance of the lymph node number. Conclusion. Patient and tumor characteristics, although important, are only partly responsible for the variation of lymph node yield. Quality of surgical resection and/or the thoroughness of examination of the tissue by the pathologist might explain the wider proportion of this variance. Training in colorectal node evaluation could help to improve the quality of cancer care. Free full text available at www.tumorionline.it