Alteration of choroidal vascular structure in diabetic macular edema

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology - The aim of this study was to analyze choroidal structures in healthy subjects and patients with/without diabetic macular edema...     

Relationship between peripapillary choroidal thickness and degree of tessellation in young healthy eyes

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology - To determine the relationship between the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) and the degree and distribution of the...     

Sex judgment using color fundus parameters in elementary school students

Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology - Recently, artificial intelligence has been used to determine sex using fundus photographs alone. We had earlier reported that sex...     

A new posture measurement method for measuring intrinsic standing posture

Aims: Although body posture in relation to the dental condition has been of great interest in the dental profession, rumination bias has been a substantial obstacle to achieving a reliable objective evaluation of the intrinsic body posture. The aim of this study was to establish a posture control protocol that would minimize the effect of bias.

Methodology: Fifteen healthy male volunteers (23–33 years of age) participated in this study. The posture movement was recorded for 10 seconds by a three-dimensional motion capture system. The experiment was performed on four different days.

Results: The posture was most stable at 4–5 seconds after the start of the front bulb gaze (the mean coefficient of variation ranged from 0·1 to 44·1). The intraclass correlation coefficients for four days were 0·871–0·975 (P≤0·001).

Conclusions: It was concluded that the use of this measurement method helped in producing a reliable intrinsic standing posture where unbiased evaluation of the effect of any intervention on the body posture is researched.     

An outbreak of measles in Saitama City in 2007. What is the vaccination strategy to eliminate measles in Japan?

In the present study, to elucidate an outbreak of measles in Saitama City, Japan, we analyzed the data for all notified subjects with measles. According to an active surveillance program, a total of 464 subjects were notified in 2007. The clinical criteria for the diagnosis of measles were defined as at least 3 days of a generalized maculopapular rash; a fever of 38.0 degrees C or more; and cough, mucus, or pharyngitis. Two peaks according to age group were recognized: namely, children less than 2 years of age and adolescents from 15 to 19 years of age. The latter peak was associated with the period of time when the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine had become a social problem (40.9% of vaccinees and 41.6% of non-vaccinees in this group). Japan is said to be a developing country regarding its measles vaccination strategy. In addition, no national program against measles has yet been established. Continuous efforts to increase immunization coverage are needed to interrupt indigenous measles transmission. The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare should therefore plan and implement a nationwide program to eliminate measles in Japan.     

Effect of actual age on outcome at discharge in patients by surgical clipping and endovascular coiling for ruptured cerebral aneurysm in Japan

The Japanese population features the highest rate of elderly individuals worldwide. However, the difference of actual age indication for surgical clipping (SC) and endovascular coiling (EC) has never reported. We clarified the effect of actual age on poor outcome at discharge in patients by each treatment for ruptured cerebral aneurysm according to the Japanese Stroke Data Bank. A total of 3593 patients with ruptured saccular cerebral aneurysm were treated by SC and/or EC between 2000 and 2013. The effect of actual age on poor outcome (modified Rankin scale [mRS] score >?2) at discharge was evaluated by the cutoff age using receiver operating characteristic analysis for each treatment. There were 2666 cases in the SC group and 881 cases in the EC group. The cutoff age for poor outcome was 3 to 9 years older for EC than for SC. The gap of cutoff age between two treatments was 3 years shorter in mild subarachnoid hemorrhage than severe cases. The gap of cutoff age between two treatments was 7 years in elderly patients over 65 years old. The cutoff age was 78 years old for both SC and EC in elderly female patients. In conclusion, the cutoff age for poor mRS score >?2 was 3 to 9 years older for EC than for SC. Actual age was one of the indications for elderly patients to achieve the optimum outcome; however, the treatment indication should be carefully considered based on the condition in each country.