Rosacea – the ophthalmic perspective

Context: Rosacea is a chronic cutaneous inflammatory disorder with variable presentations. Although primarily considered a skin disease, rosacea may involve the eyes in a significant number of patients leading to ocular complications. It has been recognized that many patients of ocular rosacea in dermatological outpatient department (OPD) go unnoticed as the physicians don’t ask about eye symptoms. Same holds true in ophthalmic OPD’s where the doctors usually don’t consider this diagnosis. The diagnosis of ocular rosacea primarily relies on observation of ophthalmic clinical features but it can be easily missed if accompanying cutaneous features are subtle or inconsistent. The subject diagnosis if not diagnosed and treated promptly, may cause varying degrees of ocular morbidity and may impair vision secondary to corneal involvement.

Objective: To review published literature and provide an overview on different pathophysiologic mechanisms of ocular rosacea and clinical features required for its diagnosis. As well as to highlight various treatment modalities available for ocular rosacea.

Materials and methods: In our study Medline and Google Scholar were the key search engines to find literature using keywords like epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical features, management and complications of ocular rosacea.     

Ipsilateral Fibular Transport Using Ilizarov–Taylor Spatial Frame for a Limb Salvage Reconstruction: a Case Report

Segmental bone defects of the tibia present a challenging problem, particularly when they are associated with soft tissue injuries or instability. Various techniques have been reported to treat bone loss in the tibia. This case report describes a patient with massive segmental bone loss associated with a soft tissue injury, which required a flap for coverage. The injury was treated with an ipsilateral fibular transport utilizing an Ilizarov/Taylor spatial frame. At one and a half year follow-up, the patient was able to walk without any support at home and wore a protective shell for outdoor activities. The outcome of this case study indicates that ipsilateral fibular transport using the Ilizarov method is a valuable technique for limb salvage reconstruction.     

Synaptic activity and F-actin coordinately regulate CaMKIIalpha localization to dendritic postsynaptic sites in developing hippocampal slices

We examined the timing and mechanisms of CaMKIIalpha recruitment to nascent synapses of developing rat hippocampal pyramidal neurons in slice culture. Time-lapse confocal imaging shows that GFP-CaMKIIalpha in transfected neurons accumulates in spines as they are forming, and loss of CaMKIIalpha coincides with spine destabilization. Immunolabeling shows that endogenous CaMKIIalpha is concentrated at postsynaptic sites in spines under ambient slice culture conditions, and this is not disrupted by short-term (3 h) synaptic activity blockade or Latrunculin-induced F-actin depolymerization. However, the combination of activity blockade and F-actin depolymerization significantly reduces synaptic CaMKIIalpha. Conversely, postsynaptic activation induces synaptic recruitment of CaMKIIalpha even in the presence of F-actin depolymerizing drugs. Thus, synaptic-activity-dependent mechanisms and (synaptic activity-independent) F-actin-based mechanisms are individually sufficient and act in parallel to localize CaMKIIalpha to the dendritic spine compartment. Moreover, the timing of CaMKIIalpha recruitment to developing spines suggests a role for CaMKIIalpha in spine assembly and maintenance.