Characteristic findings of optical coherence tomography in retinal angiomatous proliferation.

PURPOSE: To identify the unique pathologic findings of retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) in optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: Retrospectively, 29 eyes of 25 patients with age-related macular degeneration and complicated RAP were analyzed. All 29 eyes had choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in the area of pigment epithelial detachment (PED) or adjacent to it, which was visible with fluorescein angiography or indocyanine green angiography. Cross-sectional images were obtained by OCT scanning through the CNV lesions. RESULTS: Six distinctive findings of OCT included drusen (100%), inner retinal cyst (80%), outer retinal cyst (68%), fibrovascular PED (84%), serous retinal detachment (40%), and PED (68%). CONCLUSIONS: Through analysis of OCT findings, we revealed six different types of lesions distinctive of RAP which may provide helpful diagnostic information for subsequent treatment and predicting the prognosis of RAP.

Attempts to reduce the progression of myopia and spectacle prescriptions during childhood: a survey of eye specialists.

PURPOSE: To determine methods tried in clinical trials to reduce the progression of myopia in children, and spectacle prescribing patterns of hospital ophthalmologists. METHODS: A multi-sectioned survey composed of Likert items relating to the methods of reducing myopia progression (orthokeratology lenses [O-K lenses], undercorrected glasses, and topical atropine) and the patterns of prescribing spectacles for children (including two cases involving a 5-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy) were distributed to members of the Korean Ophthalmological Society, and the collected data was statistically analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 78 out of 130 ophthalmologists returned the survey. On a scale of 1 to 5, the mean rates of whether the ophthalmologists think O-K lenses arrest myopia progression, and whether they recommend their patients to wear O-K lenses if indicative, were 3.06 and 2.75, respectively. Moreover, the mean rates of whether they consider that wearing glasses which are undercorrected would slow down the progression of the myopia, or if they think topical atropine helps in arresting myopia progression in children, were 2.34 and 1.27, respectively. In response to the case studies, the majority of practitioners preferred to prescribe the full amount found in cycloplegic refraction to pediatric patients with myopia. CONCLUSIONS: Ophthalmologists in clinical practice encouraged children to wear O-K lenses more than undercorrected glasses as a way to retard myopia progression. However, the application of atropine is rarely tried in clinical trials. In managing pediatric patients with myopia (case specific), the majority of the practitioners chose to prescribe glasses with full cycloplegic correction.

TGF-beta-induced interleukin-6 participates in transdifferentiation of human Tenon's fibroblasts to myofibroblasts.

PURPOSE: To gain a better understanding of the roles of interleukins (ILs) in subconjunctival fibrosis, we investigated their expression in transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1)-stimulated Tenon's fibroblasts and examined their association with the transdifferentiation of fibroblasts to myofibroblasts. METHODS: After primary culture, fibroblasts derived from human Tenon's capsule were exposed to TGF-beta1. The expression of alpha-smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) protein was assessed by western immunoblots and immunofluorescence. The mRNA levels of various ILs were also evaluated by multiplex reverse transcription (RT)-PCR. Using the small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) specific for IL-6 and IL-11 and the promoter deletion assay, the contributions of IL-6 and IL-11 to TGF-beta1-induced induction of alpha-SMA were determined. RESULTS: In human Tenon's fibroblasts, TGF-beta1 stimulated the expression of alpha-SMA protein determined by western blot analysis and also increased the mRNA levels of IL-6 and IL-11 determined by multiplex RT-PCR. On the western immunoblots and immunofluorescence, the increased expression of alpha-SMA was attenuated only by the siRNAs specific for IL-6 but not by the siRNAs specific for IL-11. When the activator protein-1 binding sites of the IL-6 promoter region were deleted, the stimulation effects of TGF-beta1 decreased. CONCLUSIONS: Our data show that autocrine IL-6 may participate in the TGF-beta1-induced transdifferentiation of human Tenon's fibroblasts to myofibroblasts, which is known to be an essential step for subconjunctival fibrosis.