Teleophthalmology: the use of real-time telementoring to remove an orbital tumor.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether current telemedicine technology can support real-time surgical telementoring to remove an orbital tumor. DESIGN: Interventional case report METHODS: An orbital specialist guided a general ophthalmologist in the removal of a lateral orbital tumor from a site 210 miles away on another island. A 3-mm endoscope connected to a three-chip digital video camera attached to a Concorde 4500 Picture-Tel videoconferencing system was used to transmit images at a rate of 384 kb per second over integrated service digital network lines. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Successful performance and outcome of the telementored procedure comparable to hands-on orbital surgery. RESULTS: The surgical procedure was successfully telementored with uncomplicated removal of the orbital tumor. CONCLUSIONS: Current telemedicine technology can support real-time telementoring to remove an orbital tumor.

The safety and efficacy of mitomycin C in endonasal endoscopic laser-assisted dacryocystorhinostomy.

PURPOSE: The adjunctive use of mitomycin C (MMC) in glaucoma and pterygium surgery has been widely published, but there has not been any large long-term study of its use in endonasal endoscopic laser-assisted dacryocystorhinostomy (ELA-DCR). The purpose of this study was to examine the safety and efficacy of the adjunctive use of MMC in this procedure. METHODS: A nonrandomized, retrospective, single-masked, interventional case-controlled study was performed wherein 123 consecutive procedures using MMC in ELA-DCR procedures, using the Holmium:YAG laser, were compared with a historical control group consisting of 48 consecutive procedures in which MMC was not used. One surgeon performed all procedures. The two groups were compared with regard to complications as well as success rate. The main outcome measures for success were the resolution of epiphora and patency with lacrimal irrigation. Success rates were analyzed using the Fisher's exact test. The main outcome determinants for complications were the presence or absence of delayed wound healing, wound necrosis, infection, or excessive bleeding. Postoperative follow-up interval ranged from 30 months to 72 months. RESULTS: There were no complications in the group receiving MMC. One case of turbino-septal synechia formation occurred in the non-MMC group. The success rate of the MMC group was 99.2% compared with 89.6% in the control group. This difference (9.6%) was statistically significant using Fisher's exact test (p = 0.007). CONCLUSION: This study supports the safety and efficacy of the intraoperative use of MMC in endonasal ELA-DCR.

Lipid composition of the pecan weevil,Curculio caryae (Horn).

The lipids of larvae, male adults, and female adults of the pecan weevil,Curculio caryae (Horn), were studied, and special attention was given the fatty acid composition. The larvae contained an unusually high amount of lipid material (40.6%), most of it concentrated in the neutral lipid fraction. Male and famale adults contained more conventional quantities, 5.8 and 8.2%, respectively. Oleic acid was the major fatty acid in the total and neutral lipids of all stages; linoleic acid was the most abundant in the phospholipid fractions.

Constituents of the cotton bud: XII. The carotenoids in buds, seeds and other tissue.

Eleven carotenoid pigments were found in the bud, leaf, flower petal, seedling and seed of the cotton plant; nine were identified and quantitated. The most abundant carotenoids in the green tissue of the cotton plant were beta-carotene and lutein. Carotene hydrocarbons comprised 12% of the total carotenoids in the seed, 15% in the 1-day-old flower petal, 51% in the bud and 57% in green leaves. Only 5,8-epoxy carotenoids were found in the flower petals and only 5,6-epoxides in the other tissue but both were present in the seed. The colorless phytoene precursors to the carotenoids comprised from 20% to 38% of the total carotenoid pigment in the growing tissue of the plant.