A case of superior segmental optic hypoplasia accompanied by a glaucomatous optic neuropathy

This is the first case report of a bilateral superior segmental optic hypoplasia (SSOH) accompanied by a glaucomatous optic neuropathy (GON). A 47-year-old man incidentally diagnosed as having bilateral SSOH, simultaneously disclosed glaucomatous optic disc appearances, including enlargements of the cup of the optic nerve heads and a thinning of the infero-temporal neuroretinal rim with laminar dot sign accompanied by a retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) local defect of infero-temporal region in the right eye. The visual field examination revealed that the corresponding nasal step, arcuate scotoma and RNFLfield defects in the right eye

An intractable case of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection after scleral buckling for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Nami Nishikiori, Hiroshi OhguroDepartment of Ophthalmology, Sapporo Medical University School of MedicineBackground: Scleral buckling is still a common procedure to repair rhematogenous retinal detachment, and acute or chronic infection of the scleral explant is rare. We report an intractable case of acute scleral explant infection by Pseudomonas aeruginosa.Case: A 36-year-old man suffered from acute scleral explant infection by P. aeruginosa forty-eight hours after scleral buckling for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. The infection was treated by intravenous administration of various appropriate antibiotics for eighteen days and washing the scleral explant with appropriate antibiotics, and appeared to be resolved. However, three months after the initial surgery, we had to remove the scleral explant because of recurrent infection.Observations: We encountered an intractable case of acute scleral explant infection by P. aeruginosa, that recurred and forced the removal of the scleral explant.Conclusions: We found that recurrence of infection necessitated removal of the scleral explant, even though the organism was sensitive to the antibiotics used to treat the infection, and there was an appropriate duration of treatment. Early diagnosis and countermeasures, first considering conservative management, which may have a role in delaying buckle removal, and thus reduce the risk of retinal redetachment, and help prolong the time until surgical treatment such as removing the scleral explant is required.Keywords: acute scleral explant infection, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, rhegmatogenous retinal detachmen

Prolonged survival of the phosphorylated form of rhodopsin during dark adaptation of Royal College Surgeons rat

AbstractTo study rhodopsin (Rho) phosphorylation and dephosphorylation in Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat retina, specific antibodies toward major Rho phosphorylation sites in vivo, 334Ser or 338Ser, were prepared by immunization of authentic phosphorylated peptides in rabbit. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay identified that the raised antibodies exclusively recognized either the phosphorylated 334Ser or 338Ser site. In immunofluorescence labeling, both antibodies recognized photoreceptor outer segments in light-adapted retinas from Sprague–Dawley (SD), Brown–Norway (BN) and RCS rat. During dark adaptation, immunoreactivities toward phosphorylated 338Ser and 334Ser sites were diminished within several hours (0.2–2 h) in SD and BN rat retinas. However, those toward phosphorylated 338Ser and 334Ser sites were diminished within 4 to 7 days in RCS rat retinas. In vitro studies demonstrated decreased levels of both Rho phosphorylation and dephosphorylation reactions in RCS retinas. However, the dephosphorylation reaction was much more greatly affected than the phosphorylation reaction. Extremely prolonged survival of phosphorylated forms of Rho may contribute to persistent misregulation of phototransduction processes in retinal degeneration in RCS rat

Separation of phospho- and non-phosphopeptides using reverse phase column chromatography

AbstractPeptides containing phosphoserine, phosphothreonine or phosphotyrosine and their parent non-phosphorylated forms were chromatographed using standard C18 reverse phase chromatography in the presence of a water/acetonitrile gradient supplemented with different counter ions. We obtained the best separation of phosphorylated from non-phosphorylated peptides in the presence of heptafluorobutyric acid, with differences in retention times as large as ∼ 20 min. The chromatographic method was reliable in separation of the same peptides phosphorylated at different positions, acidic or basic phospho-Ser/Thr-peptides or phospho-Tyr-containing peptides. The described separation conditions are useful in studying the kinetics of phosphorylation/ dephosphorylation and in analysis of phosphorylation sites in vivo

A Retinal 33kDa Protein is Recognized by Autoantibodies from Patients with Melanoma-associated Retinopathy

Previous studies revealed that sera of patients with cutaneous melanoma-associated retinopathy (MAR) specifically reacted with bipolar cells of the re-tina. However, the specific bipolar cell antigen has not yet been identified. To identify the bipolar cell MAR antigen, we performed an immunological in-vestigation using serum from MAR patients. In western blot analysis, retinal 33kDa protein was probed commonly with sera from MAR patients, while such immunoreactivity was not detected from patients with malignant melano-ma without retinopathy. This data strongly suggests that a novel retinal 33kDa protein may act as an autoantigen of MAR

Ocular blood flow levels and visual prognosis in a patient with nonischemic type central retinal vein occlusion

We look at the case of a 39-year-old female patient suffering from a sudden decrease in her left visual acuity (0.08). Her macular edema was examined using optical coherence tomography, and her optic disc blood flow was examined with laser speckle flowgraphy (LSFG). Additionally, the degree of seriousness of the central vein occlusion was evaluated through fluorescein angiography (FA). Ocular fundus findings revealed central vein occlusion associated with macular edema, and FA determined her disease type as a nonischemic-central vein occlusion. Daily doses of 100 mg of aspirin were administered orally to the patient. Upon administration, her ocular blood flow almost immediately increased. In this study, we demonstrate the potential of LSFG as a means to investigate ocular blood flow

Low levels of plasma endothelin-1 in patients with retinitis pigmentosa

Hiroshi Ohguro1, Yukihiko Mashima2, Mitsuru Nakazawa31Department of Ophthalmology, Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine, 2Department of Ophthalmology, Keio University School of Medicine, 3Department of Ophthalmology, Hirosaki University School of Medicine, JapanPurpose: The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of endothelin-1 (ET-1) in the pathophysiology of retinitis pigmentosa (RP).Methods: Plasma ET-1 levels and ophthalmic features in 50 RP patients were compared with those in 20 healthy-eye control subjects. Plasma ET-1 concentrations were determined using a commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit.Results: Mean plasma ET-1 levels of RP patients (1.88 ± 0.56 pg/mL) were significantly lower than those of control subjects (2.30 ± 0.30 pg/mL, Mann-Whitney’s U test; P < 0.01). However, ET-1 concentrations varied markedly in each patient. Among RP patients, a significant correlation of ET-1 concentrations was not observed in terms of its hereditary forms or other clinical factors.Conclusion: ET-1 may be important in the pathogenesis of RP, and measurement of its plasma concentrations may also contribute to additional insights into the retinal hemodynamics of RP.Keywords: endothelin-1, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal hemodynamic

Analysis of sFas IL-6 levels in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy: Pre- or poststeroid pulse treatment

Kimihito Maeda, Yuichiro Ohara, Masato Hashimoto, Hiroshi OhguroDepartment of Ophthalmology, Sapporo Medical University, School of Medicine, Sapporo, JapanPurpose: To investigate whether serum levels of soluble Fas (sFas) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) could function as an index of the efficacy of steroid pulse treatment, we examined the serum level of these proteins before and after steroid pulse treatment in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy patients.Methods: We gathered the blood of thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy patients before or after steroid pulse treatment, obtained serum with a centrifuge, and measured the serum levels of sFas and IL-6 by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA).Results: There was no difference in serum IL-6 value between pre- and poststeroid pulse treatment. Serum sFas value was significantly decreased in both pre- and poststeroid pulse treatment. Furthermore, there was a recognizable improvement in the degree of the extraocular muscle thickening after treatment in cases in whom the serum sFas value was lower than 3 ng/ml prior to the beginning of the therapy. In patients who had a serum sFas value of more than 3 ng/ml, there was no improvement in the degree of thickening of the extraocular muscle.Conclusions: Serum level of sFas is an accurate index of the outcome of steroid pulse treatment in thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy and may become a useful index to gauge the status of convalescence.Keywords: sFas, IL-6, ELISA, thyroid associated ophthalmopathy, steroid pulse treatmen