Macular Sensitivity after Intravitreal Ranibizumab Injection for Macular Edema in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion: One versus Three Initial Monthly Injections

Background: We aimed to compare the macular sensitivity after one initial intravitreal injection of an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent followed by pro re nata (PRN) dosing with that after three initial monthly injections followed by PRN dosing in patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and macular edema. Methods: We included 20 eyes of 20 patients with treatment-naïve macular edema in CRVO and followed them for 12 months after intravitreal ranibizumab injection (IRI). Before and 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after IRI, macular sensitivity within the central 1 mm, 3 mm, and 6 mm fields was measured with an MP3 microperimeter and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was assessed. Eleven eyes received one initial IRI (1 + PRN group), and nine received three initial monthly IRIs (3 + PRN group). PRN injections were performed when fovea exudative changes were evident. Results: Mean macular sensitivity within the central 1 mm, 3 mm, and 6 mm fields significantly improved from baseline to month 12 in all treated eyes. We found no significant differences in macular sensitivity in the central 1 mm, 3 mm, or 6 mm fields between the two groups at month 1, 3, 6, or 12. The choice of treatment regimen (1 + PRN or 3 + PRN) showed no association with either macular sensitivity in the central 1 mm, 3 mm, and 6 mm fields or BCVA at month 12. Conclusions: These findings suggest that a 1 + PRN regimen improves macular sensitivity to a similar extent as a 3 + PRN regimen

Potential-Dependent Adsorption and Orientation of <i>meso-</i>Substituted Porphyrins at Liquid|Liquid Interfaces Studied by Polarization-Modulation Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence Spectroscopy

Potential-dependent adsorption behavior of <i>meso-</i>substituted water-soluble porphyrins at the polarized water|1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) interface was studied by polarization-modulation total internal reflection fluorescence (PM-TIRF) spectroscopy. In the PM-TIRF experiments, the fluorescence signal from the interfacial region was analyzed as a function of the periodic modulation of linear-polarizations (p and s) of the incident excitation beam. The potential-dependence of PM-TIRF responses for <i>meso</i>-substituted porphyrins, 5,10,15,20-tetrakis­(<i>N</i>-methylpyridyl)­porphyrin (H₂TMPyP⁴⁺) and 5,10,15,20-tetrakis­(4-sulfonatophenyl)­porphyrin (H₂TPPS^4–), indicated that both free base porphyrins were adsorbed with relatively lying orientations at the polarized water|DCE interface. The average orientation angles (θ) were estimated as θ = 61 ± 1° for H₂TMPyP⁴⁺ and θ = 65 ± 1° for H₂TPPS^4– with respect to the interface normal. The wavelength-dependence of polarization-modulated fluorescence signals (PM-TIRF spectrum), which corresponds to “pure” emission spectrum of interfacial species, clearly indicated that H₂TMPyP⁴⁺ and H₂TPPS^4– are adsorbed with a modification of the solvation at the interface. These results demonstrated a high ability of the PM-TIRF spectroscopy for the direct characterization of fluorescent species adsorbed at polarized liquid|liquid interfaces