The Effects of Alcohol on Visual Evoked Potential and Multifocal Electroretinography.

The aim of this study was to investigate the acute effects of ethanol administration on pattern-reversal visual evoked potential (VEP) and multifocal electroretinography (mfERG). Fifteen healthy subjects with no ocular or general disease were recruited. VEP (0.25° pattern sizes) and mfERG with 19 elements in two recording segments were performed before ethanol administration to obtain baseline for each participant. A few days later, the participants visited again for VEP and mfERG measurements after ethanol administration. Ethanol (0.75 g/kg) was administered orally over the course of 30 minutes. VEP and blood alcohol concentration were evaluated one hour after ethanol administration, and mfERG was conducted after pupil dilation. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used to compare parameter changes after randomized eye selection. The mean blood alcohol concentration was 0.034% ± 0.05% by volume. VEP revealed a P100 latency delay (109.4 ± 5.3; 113.1 ± 8.2; P = 0.008) after alcohol administration. The P1 implicit time of ring 1 on mfERG showed a trend of shortening after alcohol administration (37.9 ± 1.0; 37.2 ± 1.5; P = 0.048). However, the changes did not show statistical significance after Bonferroni correction. In conclusion, orally administrated ethanol (0.75 g/kg) appears to suppress the central nervous system, but it is not clear whether alcohol intake affects the retina.

Central serous chorioretinopathy fundus autofluorescence comparison with two different confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopes.

PURPOSE: To compare the lesion characteristics of two different types of confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) autofluorescence (AF) images in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). METHODS: The study included 63 eyes of 61 patients; 63 pairs of fundus autofluorescence (FAF) images were compared before CSC resolution in 63 eyes, FAF images of 31 eyes were also compared after CSC resolution. The lesion characteristics (brightness and composite pattern) were compared between Heidelberg Retina Angiograph 2 (HRA2; Heidelberg Engineering, Germany) and Optomap Tx (Optomap; Optos, Scotland) FAF images. The lesion composite pattern was categorized as diffuse or granular. Diffuse AF was defined as homogenously increased or decreased AF, and granular AF was defined as dot-like, coarse changes in AF. The mean disease duration and subretinal fluid (SRF) height in the spectral domain optical coherence tomography were compared according to the FAF image characteristics. RESULTS: Lesion brightness before CSC resolution was hypo-AF in 48 eyes (76.2 %), hyper-AF in three (4.8 %), and mixed-AF in 12 (19.0 %) in HRA2 FAF images. In comparison, nine (14.3 %) images were hypo-AF, 44 (69.8 %) were hyper-AF, and 10 (15.9 %) were mixed-AF in Optomap FAF images (P < 0.0001). There was no significant difference in lesion composite pattern between the two FAF image wavelengths. Patients with lesions that were hyper-AF in Optomap FAF and hypo-AF in HRA2 FAF had a shorter disease duration and greater SRF height (1 month, 281 um) than those who were hyper-AF in both Optomap and HRA2 images (26 months, 153 um; P = 0.004, 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The two types of FAF images of CSC showed different lesion brightness before and after CSC resolution but demonstrated similar lesion composite patterns.

Investigation of fluorinated (Meth)acrylate monomers and macromonomers suitable for a hydroxy-containing acrylate monomer in UV nanoimprinting.

We investigated reactive fluorinated (meth)acrylate monomers and macromonomers that caused segregation at the cured resin surface of a viscous hydroxy-containing monomer, glycerol 1,3-diglycerolate diacrylate (GDD), and decreased the demolding energy in ultraviolet (UV) nanoimprinting with spin-coated films under a condensable alternative chlorofluorocarbon gas atmosphere. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and contact angle measurements used to determine the surface free energy suggested that a nonvolatile silicone-based methacrylate macromonomer with fluorinated alkyl groups segregated at the GDD-based cured resin surface and decreased the surface free energy, while fluorinated acrylate monomers hardly decreased the surface free energy because of their evaporation during the annealing of the spin-coated films. The average demolding energy of GDD-based cured resins with the macromonomer having fluorinated alkyl groups was smaller than that with the macromonomer having hydrocarbon alkyl groups. The fluorinated alkyl groups were responsible for decreasing the demolding energy rather than the polysiloxane main chains. We demonstrated that the GDD-based UV-curable resin with the fluorinated silicone-based macromonomer was suitable for step-and-repeat UV nanoimprinting with a bare silica mold, in addition to silica molds treated by chemical vapor surface modification with trifluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydropropyltrimethoxysilane (FAS3) and tridecafluoro-1,1,2,2-tetrahydrooctyltrimethoxysilane (FAS13).

Simplified method to measure the peripapillary choroidal thickness using three-dimensional optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE: To evaluate a simplified method to measure peripapillary choroidal thickness using commercially available, three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (3D-OCT). METHODS: 3D-OCT images of normal eyes were consecutively obtained from the 3D-OCT database of Korea University Medical Center On the peripapillary images for retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) analysis, choroidal thickness was measured by adjusting the segmentation line for the retinal pigment epithelium to the chorioscleral junction using the modification tool built into the 3D-OCT image viewer program. Variations of choroidal thickness at 12 sectors of the peripapillary area were evaluated. RESULTS: We were able to measure the peripapillary choroidal thickness in 40 eyes of our 40 participants, who had a mean age of 41.2 years (range, 15 to 84 years). Choroidal thickness measurements had strong inter-observer correlation at each sector (r = 0.901 to 0.991, p < 0.001). The mean choroidal thickness was 191 ± 62 µm. Choroidal thickness was greatest at the temporal quadrant (mean ± SD, 210 ± 78 µm), followed by the superior (202 ± 66 µm), nasal (187 ± 64 µm), and inferior quadrants (152 ± 59 µm). CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of choroidal thickness on peripapillary circle scan images for RNFL analysis using the 3D-OCT viewing program was highly reliable and efficient.

3D asthenopia in horizontal deviation.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to investigate the asthenopic symptoms in patients with exotropia and esotropia while watching stereoscopic 3D (S3D) television (TV). METHODS: A total 77 subjects who more than 9 years of age were enrolled in this study. We divided them into three groups; Thirty-four patients with exodeviation (Exo group), 11 patients with esodeviation (Eso group) and 32 volunteers with normal binocular vision (control group). The S3D images were shown to all patients with S3D high-definition TV for a period of 20 min. Best corrected visual acuity, refractive errors, angle of strabismus, stereopsis test and history of strabismus surgery, were evaluated. After watching S3D TV for 20 min, a survey of subjective symptoms was conducted with a questionnaire to evaluate the degree of S3D perception and asthenopic symptoms such as headache, dizziness and ocular fatigue while watching 3D TV. RESULTS: The mean amounts of deviation in the Exo group and Eso group were 11.2 PD and 7.73PD, respectively. Mean stereoacuity was 102.7 arc sec in the the Exo group and 1389.1 arc sec in the Eso group. In the control group, it was 41.9 arc sec. Twenty-nine patients in the Exo group showed excellent stereopsis (≤60 arc sec at near), but all 11 subjects of the Eso group showed 140 arc sec or worse and showed more decreased 3D perception than the Exo and the control group (p < 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test). The Exo group reported more eye fatigue (p < 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test) than the Eso and the control group. However, the scores of ocular fatigue in the patients who had undergone corrective surgery were less than in the patients who had not in the Exo group (p < 0.001, Kruskal-Wallis test) and the amount of exodeviation was not correlated with the asthenopic symptoms (dizziness, r = 0.034, p = 0.33; headache, r = 0.320, p = 0.119; eye fatigue, r = 0.135, p = 0.519, Spearman rank correlation test, respectively). CONCLUSION: Symptoms of 3D asthenopia were related to the presence of exodeviation but not to esodeviation. This may indicate that S3D symptoms are closely related to the convergence demand.