Treatment of glaucomatous patients by means of food supplement to reduce the ocular discomfort: a double blind randomized trial.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Chronic use of multi-dose eye drops containing preservatives, such as it may happen in patients affected by primary open angle glaucoma, often results in a damage of the ocular surface due to the inherent toxicity of preservatives, that with time may lead to a lacrimal dysfunction syndrome and eye dryness. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This double blind, randomized, pilot study was conducted on 38 glaucomatous patients suffering from dry eye induced by long-term use of eye drops preserved with BAK. RESULTS: Treatment of these patients with a food supplement containing an association of forskolin, rutin and vitamins B1 and B2 for 30 days increased significantly their OPI values and improved the symptoms of dry eye with respect to a placebo-treated control group. CONCLUSIONS: The association of forskolin, rutin and vitamins B1 and B2 appears to be protective for the ocular surface, contributing to restore a normal equilibrium of the tear film in those subjects in which toxic agents such as BAK had determined alterations of its homeostasis.

[Persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous: case report and literature review]. / Persistenza del Vitreo Primitivo Iperplastico: presentazione di un caso clinico e breve revisione della letteratura.

Persistent hyperplastic primary vitreous (PHPV) is a congenital developmental anomaly of the eye caused by the incomplete regression of primary vitreous with the abnormal persistence of hyaloid vasculature. Aim of this work is to report the case of unilateral PHPV in a 4-week-old child presented to our Department with microphtalmia and leukocoria in the right eye. We will describe the main ocular, echographic and magnetic resonance findings that are essential to conduct a right differential diagnosis.

Ocular traumatology in children. A retrospective study.

UNLABELLED: OBIECTIVE: This study assesses the descriptive epidemiology of children with eye injuries presenting to the Emergency Department of a non exclusive Paediatric University Hospital - First Division of Ophthalmology of "Sapienza" University of Rome - over a period of 12 years. STUDY DESIGN: A retrospective long term study of 12 years. PARTICIPANTS: All paediatric patients (up to 14 years of age) presenting with ocular injuries and hospitalized. METHODS: It was analyzed the incidence of the ocular trauma among males and females. The situation in which the trauma occurred, type of trauma (contusive or perforating), the presence of endo-bulbar foreign bodies, visual acuity outcome. RESULTS: There were 203 patients who presented to the Emergency Department in the period examined. Contusive traumas were 130 (90 males, 40 females). The perforating trauma were 73 (63 males, 10 females). The presence of an endo-bulbar foreign body was registered in 10 patients. A detailed analysis of the causes of the trauma is therefore provided. We evidence that males were almost exclusively involved in sport traumas (60 males versus 2 females), and in second instance accidental trauma is almost equally divided between two genders. CONCLUSIONS: Our retrospective study presents the paediatric cases of a non exclusive Paediatric University Hospital where 3% of ocular traumas requiring hospitalization were in children. Therefore our data could be useful in order to bring about the necessary preventive measures to minimize paediatric eye injuries.

[Nystagmus in ophthalmology]. / Il Nistagmo in Oftalmologia.

Nystagmus is a type of eye movement characterized by alternating smooth pursuit in one direction and saccadic movement in the other direction. Nystagmus may be physiologic when occurring normally and serving its normal function or pathologic when occurring abnormally. The presence of Nystagmus can be benign, or it can indicate an underlying visual or otorhino-neurological problem.Through more and more sophisticated video oculagraphy, video oculoscophy and electronystagmography is possible to study the main characteristics of saccadi such as: amplitude and frequency.In the end it is possible to face the kind of therapy: pharmacological, optical, pleoptic, orthotic, prismatic and surgical.

Adrenomedullin plasma concentrations in patients with retinitis pigmentosa.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the relationship between retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and plasma adrenomedullin (ADM) levels. METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from a group of 40 consecutive patients with RP matched with 35 healthy subjects (HS) as control. We carried out a complete ophtalmological examination. The study group included 26 patients with RP and 14 patients with syndromic RP. Plasma ADM levels were determined in duplicate with a specific radioimmunoassay method. RESULTS: In the HS plasma ADM levels were 13.7 +/- 6.1 pg/mL. The mean of plasma ADM concentrations in all patients with RP (23.4 +/- 10.7 pg/mL) was significantly (P < 0.0001) higher than that of HS. Moreover, in the syndromic RP patients, plasma ADM levels (28.6 +/- 14.35 pg/ml) were higher than those of HS and RP patients (P < 0.0017). CONCLUSION: The increase of plasma ADM levels in RP patients may be a response to photoreceptor damage.