[Visual outcome after trabeculectomy - a retrospective study]. / Visusentwicklung nach Trabekulektomie - eine retrospektive Studie.

BACKGROUND: Trabeculectomy (TE) is the standard operation for glaucoma. An alternative interventional treatment of glaucoma is the cyclophotocoagulation (CPC). In a data analysis in 2012, a visual loss was found after transscleral CPC. The aim of this study was to investigate the outcome after TE. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 91 patients with pseudoexfoliation (n=38), open angle (n=22), normal tension (n=8), congenital (n=1) and secondary glaucoma (n=22) were included. The follow-up time was 24 months. Intraocular pressure (IOP), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and the total number of antiglaucoma drugs (AGD) were recorded. RESULTS: The mean age was 68.18±12.12 years. Mean IOP reduction after 24 months was 14.76±10.62 mmHg (-49%, p<0.001). On average, 2.34±1.17 (-85%, p<0.001) AGDs could be reduced. A mean BCVA decrease of 0.15 logMAR (±0.26, p<0.001) was found. CONCLUSION: TE is a successful method for lowering the IOD. However, postoperative visual loss is possible.

Suicide among North Carolina women, 1989-93: information from two data sources.

OBJECTIVES: To characterize the events and examine suicide precursors among women and to examine gaps in surveillance. SETTING: A statewide study in North Carolina. METHODS: Suicides of women age 15 and older for the time period 1989-93, as identified from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, were included. All case files were reviewed by hand and telephone interviews were attempted with investigating law enforcement officials for every case in 1993. RESULTS: Altogether 882 suicides met the case definition, for an age adjusted rate that fluctuated between 5.53 and 7.26 per 100 000 women across the period. Interviews with law enforcement officials were completed for 135 of the 177 cases from 1993. White women had rates nearly three times those of racial minorities. Women under age 45 were proportionally more likely than older women to have recently experienced the breakup of an intimate relationship. Information about precursors was not as consistently reported as had been hoped. Medical examiner records were variable in completeness. Law enforcement interviews frequently did not yield information about the factors we had hoped to examine, probably because the investigations were conducted primarily to rule out homicide. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests somewhat different precursor patterns by age group. It also points to the need for reconsidering how suicide surveillance is accomplished as a strategy to guide intervention.