Computer aided volumetric assessment of orbital structures in patients with Graves' orbitopathy: correlation with serum thyroid antiperoxidase antibodies and disease activity

Introduction: Graves' disease is an autoimmune disorder. Goiter and Graves' orbitopathy are frequently seen clinically. It would be helpful for the diagnosis, grading, prognosis, and treatment of this condition if it was possible to find serum biomarkers to establish a connection between the plasma levels of these compounds and orbital changes. Methods: A retrospective study was performed by revising the medical records of 44 patients with Graves' orbitopathy and 15 controls. The Osirix software (Pixmeo, Geneva, Switzerland) was used for manual orbital measurements. Plasma levels of Graves' orbitopathy substances were obtained in the analytical review of the patients. Results: A greater muscle volume was observed in patients with Graves' orbitopathy in relation to the control group (p < 0.001). The clinical activity score (CAS) was associated to total muscle mass (p = 0.013) and retrorbital fat (p = 0.048). Our results indicated a direct relationship between serum concentrations of anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies and inferior rectus thickening (p = 0.036); however, we did not observe a positive correlation between other muscle volumes and serum concentrations of various thyroid-related substances. Conclusions: This study is the first that uses Osirix measurement software to manually assess orbital features in patients with Graves' orbitopathy. These measurements were compared to the outcomes of tests performed in a laboratory. Among several serum biomarkers, anti-thyroid peroxidase appears to be a reliable biomarker that correlates positively with inferior rectus muscle thickness in patients with thyroid eye disease. This may help to improve the management of this diseaseOpen Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature. This work was financially supported by ISCIII (RETICS RD16/0008/0003) and the European Union (European Regional Development Fund—ERDF)S

Improvement of Prostaglandin-Associated Periorbitopathy after Discontinuing Treatment

Objectives:To report that the periorbital changes induced by prostaglandin analogue (PGA) eye drops are partially reversible after discontinuing treatment.Materials and Methods:Nine patients with prostaglandin-associated periorbitopathy seen in a referral oculoplastic practice were included in this study, eight with unilateral glaucoma and one with bilateral open-angle glaucoma. All of them had been treated with topical PGA for at least one year, before the treatment was discontinued for cosmetic reasons.Results:In all cases, there were evident periocular differences between the treated eye and the fellow eye, consisting mainly of deepening of the upper eyelid sulcus and eyelid fat pad reduction. One year after discontinuing the PGA eye drops, improvement of these features was observed.Conclusion:Clinicians and patients should be aware of the side effects of topical PGA therapy on periorbital tissues, and that these side effects can partially regress after discontinuation of the medication

Eyelid Kaposi Sarcoma in an HIV-negative Patient

Kaposi sarcoma (KS) is a low-grade, multicentric vascular neoplasm. Most commonly, it involves the skin, but it can occur at any site on the body. The cutaneous lesions are often located on the lower legs, genitalia, oral mucosa, and face. KS is categorized in four different types: classic, endemic, epidemic or AIDS associated, and transplantation associated. We report a case of HIV-negative, classic KS located on the eyelid. The eyelid lesion was completely excised, and after a 1-year follow-up, no recurrences were observed. Ocular involvement by KS in a patient who is serologically negative for HIV is extremely rare

Malnutrition causal modeling analytics for Mandaluyong City\u27s Nutrition Committee

The prevalence of malnutrition among children in the Philippines is alarming. According to the Philippine Plan of Action in Nutrition 2017, the prevalence rate of stunting children is 33.4% and 21.5% for underweight in the year 2014. In 2016, there were six hundred and seventy-eight (678) pre-school children who were identified to be malnourished in the city of Mandaluyong during their Operation Timbang. However, the determinants of child malnutrition in the city have not been fully analyzed and identified. Solving problems regarding malnutrition entails properly assessing the nutritional status of the city. To do this, necessary data of the children must be analyzed. With insights backed up by quantitative evidence, managing interventions and programs to address malnutrition; and formulating their problem analysis or the creation of causal model would be more objective. This research aims to identify the determinants of malnutrition by applying statistical and forecasting techniques using data from the different available sources to come up with objective insights, evidences and findings. © 2020 Mattingley Publishing. All rights reserved

Monitoring and measuring the effects of the Community-Led Local Development (CLLD) in fisheries communities. The case of Galicia

The European Union, under the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, implement the Community-Led Local Development (CLLD). This programme is designed to address the main challenges faced in the fisheries areas by proposing and testing new solutions by the coastal population. In this sense, Spain plays a key role due to the irrelevance of maritime activities such as fishing, aquaculture, fish processing or coastal tourism. Particularly, Galicia(NW Spain) is one of the most highly dependent fisheries areas across Europe. This fact is reflected in the number and financial budget of the Fisheries Local Action Groups (FLAGs), representing the 49% of the total budget for Spain.This presentation presents a stepwise process to quantify the socio-economic impact of the Galician FLAGs. The approach analyses what CLLD challenges the projects address, the participation of the fisheries sector and the quantification of the projects' impacts in the wider economy. Implemented to follow-up near 400 projects for the period 2016-2021, it allows for monitoring at multiple levels (local, group, regional), multiple sectors (e.g. within the seafood value chain) and multiple impacts (from project implementation to business operations). The approach provides a systematic way of measuring the benefits for both the coastal communities and the entire economy, reinforcing the appraisal, development and evaluation of the CLLD