Pars plana vitrectomy through the Boston Keratoprosthesis type 1.

PURPOSE: To ascertain the feasibility of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) through a permanent Boston Keratoprosthesis type 1 (KPro) without the use of a temporary KPro. METHODS: A retrospective interventional case series. Eyes implanted with Boston KPro type 1 between 2008 and 2011 requiring PPV for vitreoretinal complications were included. Feasibility of PPV through the KPro, its anatomical and functional success were studied. RESULTS: Five out of 70 patients required PPV for vitreoretinal complications post-KPro surgery resulting in an incidence of 7%. PPV was feasible through the Boston KPro with no deleterious effects on the corneal carrier or the KPro itself. Repeat PPV was necessary in some cases. Although anatomical repair of the vitreoretinal complications was achieved in most cases, post PPV visual acuity remained poor in the majority. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that although PPV through the Boston KPro is a viable approach for vitreoretinal disease repair, visual rehabilitation remains poor.

Acute murine cytomegalovirus infection: a model for determining antiviral activity against CMV induced hepatitis.

Acute intraperitoneal infection of weanling BALB/c mice with murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) resulted in an inoculum titer-dependent weight loss, mortality and elevation of plasma transaminases (ALT: alanine transaminase and AST: aspartate transaminase). Three days post infection (p.i.) with 10(4.85) plaque forming units (pfu) there was 90% mortality with a mean death day p.i. of 4.1 +/- 0.2. Plasma levels of ALT and AST were elevated 24- and 15-fold, respectively. Organ titers of virus (log10 pfu/g tissue) were 6.16 in the liver, 6.05 in the spleen, 4.0-4.7 in the lung, heart, kidney and intestine and undetectable in the muscle and brain. Organ concentrations (units/g wet-weight) of ALT were highest in the liver, whilst for AST the highest levels were found in the heart. The concentrations of ALT but not AST were reduced (35-55%) in the infected liver; the concentrations of ALT and AST were not changed in other infected organs. There were excellent correlations (r > 0.95) between viral titers in the liver, increases of plasma ALT and depletion of liver ALT. HPMPC and ganciclovir administered either p.o. or s.c. reduced mortality, increases in plasma transaminases and viral burdens in the liver and prevented depletion of liver ALT. HPMPC was approximately 10-fold more potent than ganciclovir. These results strongly suggest that intraperitoneal infection of the BALB/c mouse with MCMV represents an animal model of CMV hepatitis that can be monitored by measuring plasma ALT.

Blood and urine fluoride concentrations associated with topical fluoride applications on dog gingiva.

The circulatory uptake and urinary excretion of topical fluoride were investigated by applying a sodium fluoride solution containing 18F for six min to healthy gingiva of four adult dogs. Blood and urine samples were taken a regular intervals. Maximal fluoride in blood represented 0.02-0.05% of the applied dose and occurred four min after completion of the application. By 6.0 h, 0.02-0.06% of the applied dose had been excreted in urine. Preliminary data showed that this represented about 8.8% of the fluoride absorbed through the gingiva.