Patellar angle in Osgood-Schlatter disease

A new patellar angle is described in lateral radiographs of the knee joint. One line is drawn along the articular surface of the patella and another from the end of the inferior articular cartilage to the patellar apex. The angle formed by these two lines averaged 33° in 68 knees joints afflicted with Osgood-Schlatter disease and 47° in 71 age-matched controls and 198 adult controls. The small angle in Osgood-Schlatter disease is proposed to be an important factor in the pathogenesis of the traction apophysitis.     

Late-onset intermittent fasting dietary restriction as a potential intervention to retard age-associated brain function impairments in male rats

Lifelong dietary restriction (DR) is known to have many potential beneficial effects on brain function as well as delaying the onset of neurological diseases. In the present investigation, the effect of late-onset short-term intermittent fasting dietary restriction (IF-DR) regimen was studied on motor coordination and cognitive ability of ageing male rats. These animals were further used to estimate protein carbonyl content and mitochondrial complex I-IV activity in different regions of brain and peripheral organs, and the degree of age-related impairment and reversion by late-onset short-term IF-DR was compared with their levels in 3-month-old young rats. The results of improvement in motor coordination by rotarod test and cognitive skills by Morris water maze in IF-DR rats were found to be positively correlated with the decline in the oxidative molecular damage to proteins and enhanced mitochondrial complex IV activity in different regions of ageing brain as well as peripheral organs. The work was further extended to study the expression of synaptic plasticity-related proteins, such as synaptophysin, calcineurin and CaM kinase II to explore the molecular basis of IF-DR regimen to improve cognitive function. These results suggest that even late-onset short-term IF-DR regimen have the potential to retard age-associated detrimental effects, such as cognitive and motor performance as well as oxidative molecular damage to proteins.     

Optical coherence tomography of idiopathic juxtafoveolar telangiectasia.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To document optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings in a series of eyes with group 2A idiopathic juxtafoveal telangiectasia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study is a retrospective review of patient charts, OCT, fundus photography, and fluorescein angiography involving 23 eyes (12 patients). Mean retinal thickness in 9 macular areas was calculated and compared to previously published measurements from normal eyes. RESULTS: OCT in 8 of 13 stage 3 eyes revealed foveal cysts without evidence of cystoid macular edema on fluorescein angiography or biomicroscopy, and 1 lamellar hole. In stage 3 eyes, mild retinal thickening was found in 7 of 9 macular areas (P < .05). CONCLUSIONS: OCT commonly reveals foveal cysts in stage 3 idiopathic juxtafoveal telangiectasia. Consistent findings of associated mild macular thickening and lack of late petaloid hyperfluorescence on fluorescein angiography suggest that these cysts differ in pathophysiology from cystoid macular     

Virtual vitreoretinal surgical simulator as a training tool

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the feasibility and potential applicability of a virtual reality simulator for vitreoretinal surgery as a training and/or assessment tool. METHODS: The subjects of this study included medical students, ophthalmologic residents, and trained vitreoretinal surgeons. There were three study groups. Group I comprised 22 subjects who performed a navigation task. The time to complete the task was recorded. The relationship between the completion time, experience, and stereopsis was evaluated. Group II included 6 subjects who consecutively performed the navigation task to evaluate their learning curve. Group III included 16 subjects who performed the membrane peeling task. The number of retinal contacts and the completion time were recorded. The relationship between experience and stereopsis with the number of contacts and the completion time were evaluated. RESULTS: The average completion time in Group I for students, residents, and trained surgeons was 121.6, 92.5, and 70.6 seconds. There was a significant difference between students and trained surgeons (P = 0.004). In Group II, there was a significant decrease in the completion time with training (P = 0.001). In Group III, the average completion time for students, residents, and trained surgeons was 197, 144, and 118.2 seconds; the respective number of retinal contacts was 14, 8, and 3. There was a significant difference between students and residents (P = 0.05) and between residents and trained surgeons (P = 0.003) for the average completion time in Group III. There was a significant difference between students and trained surgeons (P = 0.003) for the number of contacts per average time and between students and residents (P = 0.05). There was a significant inverse correlation between stereopsis vision score and completion time in Group I and number of contacts per average time (P = 0.0004 and P = 0.01, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates potential applications of a vitreoretinal surgical simulator as a training and skills assessment tool for novice, inexperienced, and trained surgeons. A simulator can be used to teach specific techniques and train surgeons.     

Effects of intravitreal indocyanine green injection in rabbits

PURPOSE: To report the clinical, electrophysiologic, and histologic findings of different concentrations of indocyanine green (ICG) injected into the vitreous cavity of rabbit eyes. METHODS: Forty-two rabbits underwent intravitreal injection of 0.1 mL of ICG in three different concentrations: 0.5 mg/mL (250 mOsm), 5 mg/mL (270 mOsm), and 25 mg/mL (170 mOsm). Fellow eyes were injected with 0.1 mL of balanced salt solution. Biomicroscopy, ophthalmoscopy, electroretinography, fluorescein angiography, and histologic evaluation were performed. RESULTS: Eyes injected with 0.5 mg/mL of ICG showed b-wave latency delay on the first day after injection. Eyes injected with 5 mg/mL of ICG showed b-wave latency delay and decreased b-wave amplitude on the first and seventh days after injection; delayed a-wave latency on the first day after injection was also observed. Eyes injected with 25 mg/mL of ICG showed b- and a-wave amplitude and latency abnormalities during the entire follow-up. Direct correlation of increasing retinal edema proportional to the progressively increasing ICG concentrations was shown on histologic evaluation. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal ICG injection in rabbit eyes may impair retinal function and morphology proportional to the progressively increasing ICG dosages.     

Advances in the development of visual prostheses

Visual prostheses are based on neuronal electrical stimulation at different locations along the visual pathway (ie, cortical, optic nerve, epiretinal, subretinal). In terms of retinal prostheses, advances in microtechnology have allowed for the development of sophisticated, high-density integrated circuit devices that may be implanted either in the subretinal or epiretinal space. Analogous to the cochlear implants for some forms of deafness, these devices could restore useful vision by converting visual information into patterns of electrical stimulation that would excite the remaining spared inner retinal neurons in patients with diseases such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration. The different types of implants and recent results are discussed, but special emphasis is given to retinal implants.     

Insufficiency-type stress fractures in rheumatoid arthritis: report of an interesting case and review of the literature

A case of multiple insufficiency-type stress fractures (32 fractures), in the absence of any trauma, in a 51-year-old white woman with rheumatoid arthritis is described. The fractures healed satisfactorily with rest, treatment of osteoporosis, and discontinuation of her steroid therapy, following which a proximal humeral and total knee arthroplasties were successfully performed. The factors contributory to the development of stress fractures in rheumatoid arthritis are discussed, the literature is reviewed, and the salient features of our case are highlighted.     

Eosinophilia associated with perimyositis and pneumonitis

We describe a patient who had severe myalgias, bronchial asthma, pulmonary infiltrates, and eosinophilia. The findings on physical examination and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate were normal; there was no elevation of the serum creatine kinase. Muscle biopsy demonstrated an inflammatory exudate that contained eosinophils, localized primarily to the perimysium. Pulmonary and muscle manifestations responded to corticosteroids. Systemic eosinophilic disease associated with perimyositis or myositis has not been reported previously. In addition, we review the spectrum of eosinophilic muscle diseases--eosinophilic perimyositis, eosinophilic polymyositis, and focal eosinophilic myositis.     

Stimulation of resting normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells by fetal calf sera. Activation to an interleukin-2 responsive state

Normal adult human peripheral blood mononuclear cells which are negative for interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptors as assessed by flow cytofluorometry, acquire IL-2 receptors and IL-2 responsiveness after culture in media supplemented with fetal calf sera. Thus, in the absence of any known external stimuli, fetal calf sera used to supplement culture media can induce the transformation of resting (G0) peripheral blood mononuclear cells to an activated (G1) state. The activated (G1) cells are able to progress through the rest of the cell cycle (S, G2, M) in the presence of IL-2. As a result, studies of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in fetal calf serum-supplemented culture media should be interpreted with appropriate caution.