Non-caseating conjunctival granulomas in patients with multifocal choroiditis and panuveitis.

PURPOSE: This study describes a group of patients with clinical findings of peripheral punched-out lesions and panuveitis who had non-caseating granulomas found by non-directed conjunctival biopsy. METHODS: A series of 10 patients seen at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics between August 1989 and August 1990 with ocular findings similar to those of multifocal choroiditis with panuveitis, including peripheral punched-out chorioretinal lesions, vitritis, and frequently, cystoid macular edema, was examined. All patients underwent ophthalmic examination, ancillary testing, and non-directed conjunctival biopsy. RESULTS: Of the ten patients, nine were women. Results of FTA-ABS were negative for all patients. A non-directed conjunctival biopsy disclosed non-caseating granulomata in seven of the patients. Acid-fast bacilli were not detected in any specimens. Four of the seven patients with positive biopsy results had either elevated serum angiotensin-converting enzyme levels or chest x-rays consistent with sarcoid. Six of these seven patients were 58 years of age or older. CONCLUSION: It is recommended that non-directed conjunctival biopsy specimens be examined to exclude the presence of non-caseating granulomata in uveitis patients with small, inferior, peripheral, punched-out chorioretinal scars, especially in women older than 55 years of age.

Pneumatic retinopexy perfluoroethane (C2F6) in the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Due to differences in expansile properties and duration, perfluorethane gas may offer advantages over other gases presently used for pneumatic retinopexy. Seventeen eyes with retinal detachments with single retinal breaks or groups of breaks no greater than 1 clock hour in extent were prospectively treated with perfluoroethane gas injection and retinocryopexy and followed up for a minimum of 6 months. Twelve eyes (71%) were attached with one procedure, and five eyes (29%) were attached with two or three procedures. Post-operative proliferative vitreoretinopathy occurred in two eyes (12%), new or missed breaks in three eyes (18%), and premacular fibroplasia in one (6%) eye. No eyes had an apparent progression of cataracts. Seven (88%) of eight eyes with preoperative macular detachments had improved visual acuity after surgery. All nine eyes (100%) with preoperative macular attachment had the same or improved visual acuity after surgery. The efficacy of perfluoroethane appears similar to that of other perfluorocarbon gases.

The effect of neodymium:YAG laser shocks on the blood-aqueous barrier.

An animal model demonstrates that the acute inflammation seen after neodymium: YAG (Nd:YAG) capsulotomy is related to the presence of disrupted tissue suspended in the aqueous, rather than to the mechanical insults by the repeated shock waves. Seven rabbits were treated in the lens cortex of one eye with 20 bursts of 4 pulses, 24 mJ each, and followed fluorophotometrically using albumin labelled with fluorescein. This allowed transmission of shock waves to the anterior segment without releasing debris in five eyes that showed no inflammation. Two eyes with inadvertent capsular rupture showed marked blood-aqueous barrier breakdown. This suggests the use of a capsulotomy technique that relies on discission rather than pulverization of the membrane and avoids the thicker portions of the membrane when possible.