Treatment of age-related macular degeneration by laser photocoagulation. Visual results 2-8 weeks and 2-4 years after initial laser treatment

Laser treatment with blue-green argon, green argon and/or krypton red was performed on 578 eyes in 443 patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The visual acuity was examined in all eyes 2 to 8 weeks after initial treatment and in 204 eyes in 167 patients 2 to 4 years after initial treatment. The short term results were as follow: 91/578 eyes (16%) had improved (greater than or equal to 2 lines on Snellen's charge or equivalent steps), 445/578 eyes (77%) remained unchanged and 42/578 eyes (7%) had deteriorated visual acuity (greater than or equal to 2 lines on Snellen's chart or equivalent steps). The reduction in visual acuity, may in about half of the 42 eyes be caused by too intensive laser application in the beginning of this study in 1983 and 1984 where treatment was applied with blue-green argon, which has now been abandoned. In the group with an observation time of 2 to 4 years, 42/204 eyes (21%) had improved, 119/204 eyes (58%) remained unchanged and 43/204 eyes (21%) had a deteriorated visual acuity. In the 204 eyes the subretinal neovascular lesion(s) were located extrafoveally in 52 eyes, juxtafoveally in 114 eyes and subfoveally in 38 eyes. It is to be pointed out, that even patients with a pre-laser visual acuity of 6/60 or worse obtained an improvement of visual acuity in 12/27 eyes. About 40% of the eyes needed re-treatment from 1 to 8 times. It is unknown whether the obtained results are to be considered marginal or more substantial.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Anal sphincter size measured by endosonography in healthy volunteers. Effect of age, sex, and parity.

The anal sphincter muscles consist of the circular internal and external sphincters together with the sling-shaped associated puborectalis muscle. Ten men, 10 women with no vaginal deliveries, and 10 women with one or more vaginal deliveries were studied with anal endosonography using a 7 MHz multiplanar endoprobe. The thickness of the internal sphincter and the thickness, length, and cross-sectional area of the external sphincter were measured and related to age, sex, and parity. Reproducibility was assessed by similar measurements on different days in 10 volunteers. Anal sphincter size was the same in men and women and was not affected by the number of child births. Internal sphincter muscle thickness increased with age. Anal manometry and electromyography with an anal sponge were performed in all volunteers but the results did not correlate to any of the anal sphincter dimensions. Our conclusion is that although there are some limitations, endosonography can be used to determine the size of the anal sphincter muscles.     

Congenital malformations among children of women working with video display terminals

In a case-base study among 214,108 commercial and clerical employees in Denmark the potential effect of the use of video display terminals on the risk of congenital malformations in pregnancy was investigated. The study base was identified by means of register linkage of the Medical Birth Register and the National Register of In-Patients. In the source population 24,352 pregnancy outcomes were registered, 661 of which with congenital malformations entered the case group, and a base sample of 2252 pregnancies was drawn. Data concerning the use of video display terminals, job stress, ergonomic factors, exposure to organic solvents, and life-style factors were obtained from postal questionnaires. The results of this study did not support the hypothesis that the use of video display terminals during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of congenital malformations.     

Angiotensin-II contracts isolated human posterior ciliary arteries

The effect of angiotensin-II (A-II) was studied on ring segments of the terminal extraocular branches of the posterior ciliary artery isolated from human enucleated eyes. It induced a potent concentration-dependent contraction on top of the spontaneous myogenic tone of all arteries studied from five patients with the concentration required to give half-maximal response equal to 51 nM. The spontaneous tone and maximal increase in vessel wall tension induced by A-II was equal to 51% of Emax. The relative response and sensitivity to A-II was unchanged in three endothelial denuded vessels, but the spontaneous tone increased. The arteries became completely insensitive to A-II after one exposure. These results show an immediate direct contractile effect of A-II on human posterior ciliary arteries, but the development of pronounced tachyphylaxis indicates that A-II is probably not an important factor in reducing blood flow to the optic nerve head.     

Molecular identification of a small supernumerary marker chromosome by in situ hybridization: diagnosis of an isochromosome 18p with probe L1.84

A dysmorphic child was found by cytogenetic analysis to have an extra small marker chromosome. The marker chromosome was shown to possess a chromosome 18 centromere by in situ hybridization, and probably represents an isochromosome 18p. Centromere specific probes should be of value in identifying extra small marker chromosomes, and thereby provide better understanding of the clinical significance of these.     

Intraincisional antibiotic in addition to systemic antibiotic treatment fails to reduce wound infection rates in contaminated abdominal surgery

One hundred ninety patients with peritonitis at the time of abdominal surgery were allocated at random to systemic antibiotic treatment alone or systemic antibiotic treatment combined with topical application of antibiotics in the wound at the time of wound closure. The overall wound infection rate was 17 percent without significant difference between the two treatment groups (P>0.80).     

Computer-assisted three-dimensional reconstruction of the hippocampal region based on serial sections

A large series of rabbit hippocampal Neo-Timm stained sections were manually aligned, digitized, and by a modified median filtration noise reduced and reconstructed into a three-dimensional object. From the presented simulated grey tone cuts of this object, the reader may assemble a rabbit hippocampal model, that spatially illustrates its anatomy.