Relationship between serum bilirubin levels and optic neuritis / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Bilirubin is the end product of heme catabolism and has strong antioxidant properties. Serum bilirubin levels are reported to be reduced in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). The pathophysiology of optic neuritis (ON) resembles that of MS; however, the role of endogenous bilirubin in ON is unclear. The aim of this study is to measure serum bilirubin levels in patients with ON, and to investigate the correlation between ON and serum antioxidant status of bilirubin.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Serum levels of bilirubin were measured in 42 patients with ON, 50 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), 48 patients with neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and 48 healthy control subjects.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Serum total bilirubin (Tbil), direct bilirubin (Dbil) and indirect bilirubin (Ibil) levels in patients with ON were significantly lower than those in the healthy controls. However, no statistical significance was found between levels in the ON and MS, ON and NMO, and MS and NMO groups. In patients with ON, serum Tbil, Dbil, and Ibil levels were lower in those with recurrence or those with ON for a longer duration (≥ 1 year). Moreover, Tbil, Dbil, and Ibil concentrations were lower in patients with papillitis than in those with retrobulbar type ON, but the differences were not statistically significant.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Low antioxidant status may exist in patients with ON. But serum levels of Tbil, Dbil, and Ibil did not correlate with clinical presentations, such as recurrence, duration of disease and subtypes of ON. Low antioxidant status already existed in MS or NMO patients before systemic symptoms appeared.</p>

Disorder of blood-aqueous barrier following Ahmed Glaucoma Valve implantation / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Ahmed Glaucoma Valve implantation (AGVI) is used to treat refractory glaucoma. Breakdown of the blood-aqueous barrier (BAB) has been noted after some surgical techniques. The current study was designed to assess BAB disruption after AGVI.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Anterior chamber protein content was measured by the laser flare cell photometry in 22 eyes of 22 patients with refractory glaucoma before AGVI and at each postoperative visit up to 1 month.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Before AGVI the mean aqueous flare values in all eyes were (15.17 ± 9.84) photon counts/ms. After AGVI, the values significantly increased at day 1, day 3, and week 1 compared to those before AGVI (all P < 0.05) with a peak at day 3. They returned to pre-operative levels at week 2, and were lower than preoperative level at month 1. Eyes with previous intraocular surgery history had greater aqueous flare values than those without previous intraocular surgery history, but there were no significant differences at all time points postoperatively (all P > 0.05). Furthermore, eyes with shallow anterior chambers had greater aqueous flare values at day 3 and week 1 (all P < 0.05). When comparing eyes with other refractory glaucoma conditions, neovascular glaucoma combined with intravitreal bevacizumab injection resulted in lower aqueous flare values after AGVI, but no significant differences were observed at all time points, postoperatively (all P > 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>The BAB was impaired and inflammation was present in the anterior chamber in refractory glaucomatous eyes following AGVI. However, such conditions were resolved within 1 month postoperatively. Intravitreal bevacizumab treatment in neovascular glaucoma eyes before AGVI may prevent BAB breakdown.</p>

Adjunctive with versus without intravitreal bevacizumab injection before Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation in the treatment of neovascular glaucoma / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>Neovascular glaucoma (NVG) is a refractory disease which is difficult to manage. This study aimed at evaluating the efficacy and safety of adjunctive intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injection in conjunction with Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation (AGVI) in the management of NVG.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>This was a retrospective study of patients with NVG in whom AGVI was performed between October 2008 and May 2012. The sample was divided into two groups according to the pretreatment: with adjunctive IVB injection (the IVB group, n = 25 eyes) and without adjunctive IVB injection (the control group, n = 28 eyes). The surgical success rate, number of antiglaucoma medications used, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), postoperative complications, regression, and recurrence of iris neovascularization (NVI) were analyzed between the groups.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The surgical outcomes of the two groups were compared. The complete success rates in the IVB and control groups were 84.0% and 64.3% at 12 months and 80.0% and 53.6% at 18 months, respectively. There was a significant difference between the two groups (P = 0.041). Mean postoperative intraocular pressures, mean number of postoperative antiglaucoma medications, and BCVA were not significant between the two groups. The NVI in 22 (88.0%) eyes had completely regressed within 2 - 8 days after IVB. However, NVI recurred in 10 eyes (40.0%) 2 - 9 months later after IVB. The IVB group had only 1 case (4.0%) of hyphema out of 25 eyes, while there were 8 (28.6%) cases of hyphema out of 28 eyes in the control group (P = 0.026).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>This study showed that preoperative IVB injection reduced NVI remarkably, decreased hyphema, and led to higher surgical success rates. Pre-operative IVB injection may be an effective adjunct to AGVI in the management of NVG.</p>

Neuroprotection in glaucoma: present and future / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To review the updated research on neuroprotection in glaucoma, and summarize the potential agents investigated so far.</p><p><b>DATA SOURCES</b>The data in this review were collected from PubMed and Google Scholar databases published in English up to September 2012, with keywords including glaucoma, neuroprotection, and retinal ganglion cells, both alone and in combination. Publications from the past ten years were selected, but important older articles were not excluded.</p><p><b>STUDY SELECTION</b>Articles about neuroprotection in glaucoma were selected and reviewed, and those that are cited in articles identified by this search strategy and judged relevant to this review were also included.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Although lowering the intraocular pressure is the only therapy approved as being effective in the treatment of glaucoma, increasing numbers of studies have discovered various mechanisms of retinal ganglion cells death in the glaucoma and relevant neuroprotective strategies. These strategies target neurotrophic factor deprivation, excitotoxic damage, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, inflammation, activation of intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic signals, ischemia, and protein misfolding. Exploring the mechanism of axonal transport failure, synaptic dysfunction, the glial system in glaucoma, and stem cell used in glaucoma constitute promising research areas of the future.</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Neuroprotective strategies continue to be refined, and future deep investment in researching the pathogenesis of glaucoma may provide novel and practical neuroprotection tactics. Establishing a system to assess the effects of neuroprotection treatments may further facilitate this research.</p>

Ocular manifestations of intracranial germinomas: three cases report and literature review / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

Intracranial germinomas are malignant neoplasms of gonadal origin, which have some features in terms of age, sex, and clinical manifestations. They mainly occur in children and adolescents. Patients with intracranial germinomas mainly manifest with hypothalamic pituitary axis dysfunction and/or compression syndromes. Visual disturbance is one of the most significant clinical presentations, which is mainly caused by tumor cell infiltration into the optic pathway. In this article, we present three cases of patient with intracranial germinoma to analyze the ocular manifestations. All the three patients presented with endocrine symptoms in the early stage and with visual disturbances (including decreased visual acuity and visual field defects) later. In general, germinoma is diagnosed by its characteristic radiological appearance, supported by tumor markers and/or stereotactic biopsy. However, decisive diagnoses were established when ocular manifestations were presented. A suspicion for germinoma should be considered, when young patients manifest visual disturbances accompanied by endocrine symptoms.

Primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma in younger patients / 国际眼科杂志(Guoji Yanke Zazhi)

AIM: To evaluate the clinical outcomes of management in younger patients with primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma (PCACG).METHODS: Thirty-eight patients (50 eyes) aged 40 or younger with confirmed diagnosis of PCACG in advanced or late stage who received surgical treatment in Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from January 2000 to December 2005were retrospectively investigated. All patients underwent trabeculectomy. The mean follow-up was 23.6±7.5 months.Full ophthalmic examinations were performed. The clinical outcomes including clinical presentations, surgical results and complications were evaluated.RESULTS: The mean age of patients was 33.5±6.1 years old. There was a female preponderance (60.5%). The mean axial length was 22.4±3.5mm with 18.0% short axis of eyeball and 14% nanophthalmos. There was 60.0% fiat anterior chamber depth (＜1.9mm). Ultrasonic Biomicroscopy identified that plateau iris was the most common underlying etiology (80.6%). There was a statistically significant difference in intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction postoperativelyvs preoperatively (P＜0.001). Four eyes failed to control IOP and received second filtration surgery. The main postoperative complications included shallow anterior chamber (20.0%) and malignant glaucoma (12.0%).CONCLUSION: The younger PCACG patients in advanced or late stage can be effectively managed by trabeculectomy.They have more frequency of postoperative sustained shallow anterior chamber and malignant glaucoma. Careful ophthalmic examinations, delicate surgical procedures and well-managed technique of complications were suggested on younger PCACG patients.