Comparison of Transcanalicular Multidiode Laser Dacryocystorhinostomy with and without Silicon Tube Intubation.

Aim. To compare the surgical outcomes of surgery with and without bicanalicular silicon tube intubation for the treatment of patients who have primary uncomplicated nasolacrimal duct obstruction. Methods. This retrospective study is comprised of 113 patients with uncomplicated primary nasolacrimal duct obstruction. There were 2 groups in the study: Group 1 (n = 58) patients underwent transcanalicular diode laser dacryocystorhinostomy surgery with bicanalicular silicon tube intubation and Group 2 (n = 55) patients underwent transcanalicular diode laser dacryocystorhinostomy surgery without bicanalicular silicon tube intubation. The follow-up period was 18.42 ± 2.8 months for Group 1 and 18.8 ± 2.1 months for Group 2. Results. Success was defined by irrigation of the lacrimal system without regurgitation and by the absence of epiphora. Success rates were 84.4% for Group 1 and 63.6% for Group 2 (P = 0.011). Statistically a significant difference was found between the two groups. Conclusion. The results of the study showed that transcanalicular diode laser dacryocystorhinostomy surgery with bicanalicular silicon tube intubation was more successful than the other method of surgery. Consequently, the application of silicone tube intubation in transcanalicular diode laser dacryocystorhinostomy surgery is recommended.

Efficacy of adjunctive mitomycin C in transcanalicular diode laser dacryocystorhinostomy in different age groups.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of adjunctive mitomycin C (MMC) in transcanalicular multidiode laser dacryocystorhinostomy (TCL-DCR) in different age groups. METHODS: Ninety-six eyes of 96 patients who underwent TCL-DCR for the treatment of nasolacrimal duct obstruction were included in this retrospective, comparative study. Patients were divided into 4 groups based on age and intraoperative use of MMC: group 1, TCL-DCR without MMC in the 20- to 44-year age group; group 2, TCL-DCR with MMC in the 20- to 44-year age group; group 3, TCL-DCR without MMC in the 45- to 76-year age group; group 4, TCL-DCR with MMC in the 45- to 76-year age group. The postoperative evaluation consisted of calculating and comparing the success rates between groups. RESULTS: Success rates at the final visit were 50% for group 1, 66.66% for group 2, 79.16% for group 3, and 84.61% for group 4. The differences between group 1 and group 4, and group 1 and group 3, were significant (p = 0.01 and p = 0.038, respectively). Logistic regression showed that age group had significant effect on success rate (p = 0.013). However, use of MMC had no significant effect on success rate (p = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: The success rates of the TCL-DCR with MMC application were found to be higher than those of TCL-DCR without MMC in different age groups. However, the differences did not reach statistical significance. In addition, our study demonstrated that age may be a significant factor influencing the surgical outcome of TCL-DCR.

The Relationship between Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Olfactory Function.

BACKGROUND: Olfactory dysfunction is a common symptom of many neurodegenerative diseases, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a late-onset neurodegenerative disease. OBJECTIVE: Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate olfactory functions in patients with AMD. METHODS: A total of 69 subjects with AMD and 69 age- and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled. After a complete ophthalmic evaluation, the AMD patients were subclassified as early- and late-stage AMD. Psychophysical testing of olfactory function was performed using the validated Sniffin' Sticks test. RESULTS: This study was carried out in 138 subjects, with a mean age of 74.3 ± 8.9 years (range 51-89). The current investigation showed the following two major findings: (1) patients with AMD had decreased olfactory abilities, especially in odor discrimination and odor identification, even at early stages compared to controls, whereas patients had decreased olfactory abilities in all subtasks of olfactory testings in advanced stages of AMD disease, and (2) as the visual acuity of AMD patients decreased, the olfactory abilities of these patients worsened. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that AMD had significant negative effects on all orthonasal olfactory tasks, particularly in advanced stages. Similar to other neurodegenerative diseases, odor discrimination and identification seemed to be more affected than odor detection threshold tasks.