A membranous drainage implant in glaucoma filtering surgery: animal trial

This experiment used 30 rabbits (40 normal eyes) to determine the applicability of an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (e-PTFE) surgical membrane as a glaucoma seton. The e-PTFE membrane had 0.1 mm thickness and was cut into T-shaped pieces measuring about 2x7 mm. One end of the implant was introduced into the anterior chamber through a sclerectomy opening and the other ends were allowed to extend from the Iamellar scleral flap into the subconjunctival space. During the follew-up at the end of 8 weeks, all the eyes with an implant showed an apparent filtering bleb, while only one of 6 eyes that had undergone a trabeculectomy alone did. The location of the created filtering blebs depended on the implant position. Pestoperative inflammatory changes were unremarkable. Histologic examinations reyealed a tissue-free cystic space surrounding the e-PTFE implants which maintained their original color, thickness, pliability and size. Transmission electron microscopy showed few myofibroblast-like cells in the fibrous wall containing the implant. With scanning electron microscopy, the internal end of the implant strip had a clean surface and no adhesions to adjacent structures of the anterior chamber angle. The corneal endothelial cells were intact in the area close to the tip of the implant. Considering the clinical and histologic findings, it appeared that the e-PTFE was acceptably innocuous in the anterior segment of the eye and a convenient material as a glaucoma seton.

Fluorescent low density lipoprotein and acetylated low density lipoprotein labeling of cultured bovine trabecular endothelial cells

A preliminary study was performed to investigate the staining characteristics of trabecula. endothelial cells with low density lipoprotein (LDL) and acetylated low density lipoprotein (Ac-LDL) labeled with a fluorescent probe, 1, 1`- dioctadecyl-3,3,3`, 3`- tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine perchlorate (Dil). Trabecular endothelial cells revealed a strong fluorescence with Dil-LDL, which was contradictory to the previous results obtained from other types of endothelial cells. These cells also showed a moderate fluorescence with Dil-Ac-LDL. Scleral fibroblasts and keratocytes showed a moderate to strong fluorescence with Dil-LDL and a weak fluorescence with Dil-Ac-LDL. Corneal endothelial cells revealed a very weak background fluorescence with Dil-LDL and a moderate fluorescence with Dil-Ar-LDL. Therefore, these four kinds of cells could not be definitely differentiated depending only on the staining characteristics with Dil-LDL and Dil-Ac-LDt.

One Family of Aniridia

Aniridia is a congenital lack of iris and rudimentary iris tissue, almost always bilateral, occuring as a dominant characteristic by an autosomal gene with high penetrance and variable expression. The syndrome of congenital aniridia may be composed of four phenotypes. The authors have experienced one an iridic family: mother, one daughter and four sons. The most family members have ectopia lentis. cataract. corneal pannus and glaucoma as well as aniridia, so they were expected the first phenotype of aniridia due to a failure in development of retinal ectoderm. Two sons of them were operated in Chungnam National University Hospital for control of glaucoma and visual impairment due to cataractous ectopic lens. In one case the intraocular pressure was not controlled after trabeculectomy and in another case lens extraction resulted in visual improvement. The review was made of relating literatures for the case of aniridia family, breifly.