Intraocular pressure correlates with optic nerve sheath diameter in patients with normal tension glaucoma

Purpose

1. Identify differences in optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) as an indirect measure of intracranial pressure (ICP) in glaucoma patients and a healthy population. 2. Identify variables that may correlate with ONSD in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and normal tension glaucoma (NTG) patients.

Methods

Patients with NTG (n?=?46) and POAG (n?=?61), and healthy controls (n?=?42) underwent B-scan ultrasound measurement of ONSD by an observer masked to the patient diagnosis. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured in all groups, with additional central corneal thickness (CCT) and visual field defect measurements in glaucomatous patients. Only one eye per patient was selected. Kruskal–Wallis or Mann–Whitney were used to compare the different variables between the diagnostic groups. Spearman correlations were used to explore relationships among these variables.

Results

ONSD was not significantly different between healthy, NTG and POAG patients (6.09?±?0.78, 6.03?±?0.69, and 5.71?±?0.83 respectively; p?=?0.08). Visual field damage and CCT were not correlated with ONSD in either of the glaucoma groups (POAG, p?=?0.31 and 0.44; NTG, p?=?0.48 and 0.90 respectively). However, ONSD did correlate with IOP in NTG patients (r?=?0.53, p?<?0.001), while it did not in POAG patients and healthy controls (p?=?0.86, p?=?0.46 respectively). Patient’s age did not relate to ONSD in any of the groups (p?>?0.25 in all groups).

Conclusions

Indirect measurements of ICP by ultrasound assessment of the ONSD may provide further insights into the retrolaminar pressure component in glaucoma. The correlation of ONSD with IOP solely in NTG patients suggests that the translaminar pressure gradient may be of particular importance in this type of glaucoma.     

Outcomes of different management options for malignant glaucoma: a retrospective study

Background  

To assess the outcomes of the various medical and surgical treatment options for malignant glaucoma.     

Micro- and tissue chimerism in physiologic, autoimmune, and transplantation settings: A meta-analysis

We give an overview on chimerism in all its forms of appearance and discuss the methodologic complications with which this field of research is confronted. The data of 42 articles, 23 on transplantation and 19 on autoimmune disease, were entered into a meta-analysis. We found that (micro-) chimerism after solid-organ transplantation occurred significantly more often than in healthy controls (P < .001). Also, chimerism was more prevalent in patients with autoimmune diseases than in healthy controls (P < .001). Most of the criticism on transplantation studies focuses on whether the chimeric cells were not already there before the transplantation took place. The results of our meta-analysis seem to contradict this assumption. In autoimmune diseases, a hypothesis on how chimeric cells would influence the development of these diseases is still lacking. However, our results show that (micro-) chimerism occurs significantly more often in patients than in healthy controls, possibly underlining a causative relationship.     

Lopinavir shows greater specificity than zinc finger ejecting compounds as a potential treatment for human papillomavirus-related lesions

Non-surgical, antiviral treatment options are desirable for HPV-related lesions within the genitourinary and upper digestive tract. We compared the toxicity of three zinc finger-ejecting (ZFE) compounds (4,4-dithiodimorpholine, azodicarbonamide, and diamide) to the HIV protease inhibitor lopinavir using HPV-positive SiHa, CaSki, HeLa, ME180, and HPV-negative C33A cervical carcinoma cell lines as well as primary human foreskin keratinocytes (PHFKs). Colorimetric growth assays revealed selective toxicity when treated with lopinavir. All carcinoma cell lines, except CaSki, were sensitive to 20 μM lopinavir whereas primary PHFKs were highly resistant. In contrast, 4,4-dithiodimorpholine was uniformly toxic to all cells tested while azodicarbonamide and diamide showed no effect at all. It is concluded that lopinavir may be an attractive candidate to treat pre-cancerous and cancerous HPV-positive lesions.     

Association between psychological complaints and recurrence of vasovagal syncope

Purpose  

Vasovagal syncope (VVS), the most common cause of transient loss of consciousness (T-LOC), is often accompanied by higher levels of psychological distress.