Intracameral 2.3% sodium hyaluronate to treat postoperative hypotony in patients with glaucoma.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the intracameral use of Healon5 (2.3% sodium hyaluronate) (Advanced Medical Optics, Santa Ana, CA) in patients with hypotony. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Fifteen consecutive patients with glaucoma who had hypotony for at least 7 days were prospectively recruited. Indications for the intracameral injection of Healon5 were an intraocular pressure (IOP) of less than 6 mm Hg with negative results on Seidel test. RESULTS: The mean IOP readings at baseline, 1 to 2 weeks post-injection, and 4 to 6 weeks post-injection were 3.8 +/- 1.58, 6.58 +/- 2.62, and 6.50 +/- 2.24 mm Hg, respectively. The increase in IOP at both follow-up points was significant (P < .01). The visual acuity improvement was small but significant at the 4 to 6 week point (P = .05). In the early-onset cases, IOP increased significantly from baseline at both follow-up points (P< .05), but visual acuity did not. No significant change from baseline IOP or visual acuity occurred among the late-onset cases. The existing hypotony-related conditions consistently improved by the 4 to 6 week point. CONCLUSIONS: Intracameral injection of Healon5 raised IOP more in early-onset hypotony cases than in late-onset cases. Although the improvements in IOP and visual acuity were statistically significant, the overall clinical picture did not change because the endpoint IOP was still hypotonus. Twenty percent of the patients had IOP spikes that required medical treatment.     

Reliability of the disk damage likelihood scale

PURPOSE: To report the reliability of the glaucoma disk damage likelihood scale (DDLS) in comparison to the Armaly cup/disk ratio by determining the interobserver and intraobserver agreement for optic disk stereo photographs and the interobserver agreement for in vivo patient measurements of the optic disk. DESIGN: Observational case series. METHODS: Optic disk photographs: 48 stereo pairs of optic nerve photographs were selected from patients with a spectrum of glaucomatous visual field loss. Two masked observers graded the optic disk photographs three times according to the DDLS and Armaly cup/disk ratio. Interobserver and intraobserver agreements were calculated using the test-retest method. Patient measurements: three observers performed in vivo patient measurements on 34 eyes of glaucoma clinic patients and made a single determination of the DDLS stage and Armaly cup/disk ratio, based on the indirect biomicroscopic examination. Level of interobserver agreement was tabulated. RESULTS: Optic disk photographs: interobserver and intraobserver agreement for the vertical DDLS measurement was greater than for two determinations (clinical impression and measured) of the vertical Armaly cup/disk ratio (interobserver: 85% vs 68% and 74%, respectively; intraobserver grader 1: 97% vs 89% and 80%, grader 2: 99% vs 95% and 89%, respectively). In vivo patient measurements: the interobserver agreement for the DDLS and Armaly cup/disk ratio was similar (70.1% vs 67.6%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: For the stereo optic disk photographs, the inter- and intra-observer agreement for the DDLS is greater than the Armaly cup/disk ratio. For the in vivo patient measurements, the level of agreement for the DDLS and the Armaly cup/disk ratio is similar.     

Performance-based Measures of Visual Function

Review of the substantial literature reveals that the importance of performance-based measures of visual function is becoming increasingly recognized. Alone, or in combination with other assessment modalities, they have been shown to provide a reliable and valid means of evaluating visual ability. Further, they have been demonstrated to predict outcomes better than self-report or clinical measures alone.     

Influence of Impurities on the Front Velocity of Sputter Deposited Al/CuO Thermite Multilayers

CuO and Al thin films were successively deposited using direct current (reactive) magnetron sputter deposition. A multilayer of five bilayers was deposited on glass, which can be ignited by heating a Ti resistive thin film. The velocity of the reaction front which propagates along the multilayer was optically determined using a high-speed camera. During the deposition of the aluminum layers, air was intentionally leaked into the vacuum chamber to introduce impurities in the film. Depositions at different impurity/metal flux ratios were performed. The front velocity reaches a value of approximately 20 m/s at low flux ratios but drops to approximately 7 m/s at flux ratios between 0.6 and 1. The drop is rather abrupt as the front velocity stays constant above flux ratios larger than 1. This behavior is explained based on the hindrance of the oxygen transport from the oxidizer (CuO) to the fuel (Al).     

Visual function,disability, and psychological impact of glaucoma

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: This report briefly reviews recent instruments designed to test the visual function and quality of life of patients with glaucoma. RECENT FINDINGS: Several investigators have examined the functional status and vision-related quality of life among patients with glaucoma. These studies have shown that patients with glaucoma experience diminished visual function and poorer quality of life. SUMMARY: Because glaucoma and its treatment, either medical or surgical, can affect global quality of life as well as vision-related functioning, the assessment of both general and visual system health status is relevant.     

Current strategies in the diagnosis and management of chronic neutrophilic leukemia

ObjectiveTo review the implications for diagnosis, pathogenesis and potential for new therapeutic option for chronic neutrophilic leukemia (CNL).

Datasources Data cited in this review were obtained mainly from PubMed and Medline from 1993 to 2013 and highly regarded older publications were also included. The terms “chronic neutrophilic leukemia” and “diagnosis” were used for the literature search.

Studyselection We identified, retrieved and reviewed the information on the clinical and laboratory features, the new genetic findings, prognosis and disease evolution and management of CNL.

ResultsThe discovery of high-frequency granulocyte-colony stimulating factor receptor (CSF3R) mutations in CNL identifies a new major diagnostic criterion, and lends more specificity to the World Health Organization (WHO) diagnostic criteria for CNL, which are variably applied in routine clinical practice.

ConclusionsIn patients for whom the cause of neutrophilia is not easily discerned, the incorporation of CSF3R mutation testing can be a useful point-of-care diagnostic to evaluate the presence of a clonal myeloid disorder, as well as providing the potential for genetically informed therapy. The oncogenic CSF3R mutations are molecular markers of sensitivity to inhibitors of the SRC family–TNK2 and JAK kinases and may provide a new avenue for therapy.

     

Knowledge about glaucoma and barriers to follow-up care in a community glaucoma screening program

Objective: To assess perceived barriers to glaucoma follow-up care, including the lack of glaucoma knowledge and the lack of health care access, among participants in a community glaucoma screening program.Design: Community survey.Participants: Two hundred forty-three consecutive participants in a series of free glaucoma screenings between November 2002 and August 2003.Methods: The survey consisted of 20 questions designed to elicit knowledge of glaucoma and perception of potential barriers to follow-up care. Our aim was to find correlations between patient demographics and knowledge of glaucoma as well as perceived potential barriers to follow-up care. The data were analyzed using SPSS, v. 10.1.Results: The average age of the respondents was 70 years, and females predominated (66%). About half of the respondents knew of an eye doctor in their neighborhood, and 60% had had an eye examination in the past year. Two hundred twenty-two (91%) indicated they could get to an eye doctor if the screening examination indicated they needed a follow-up examination. Two hundred twenty (90.5%) had medical insurance. One hundred seventy-eight (73%) of the participants had heard of glaucoma; 71 (29%) identified an accurate definition of glaucoma. The level of education and the language spoken at home were correlated with both glaucoma awareness (p < 0.001; p < 0.001) and knowledge of an accurate definition of glaucoma (p < 0.001; p < 0.025).Conclusions: In this population, a lack of adequate education about glaucoma may be more significantly associated with poor follow-up rates than a lack of access to care in those identified as glaucoma suspects.     

Assessment of function related to vision (AFREV)

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship of a performance-based measure of visual functioning to clinical and subjective measures in glaucoma patients. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of glaucoma patients. Participants: Forty-three patients with primary open-angle glaucoma. METHODS: Patients were evaluated using a novel performance-based measure, the Assessment of Function Related to Vision (AFREV), standard clinical tests of visual function, and the National Eye Institute's Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), a self-reported quality of life measure. Correlations of the AFREV scores with visual field scores, monocular and binocular visual acuity, contrast sensitivity scores, and NEI-VFQ scores were calculated. Rasch analysis was used to estimate the visual ability required by each task of AFREV for a particular response (item measures) and to estimate the visual ability of each patient (person measures). Main Outcome Measures: AFREV and NEI-VFQ total scores. RESULTS: The AFREV total scores were highly correlated with contrast sensitivity (r = 0.772), binocular visual acuity (r = -0.768), better-eye visual acuity (r = -0.737), worse-eye visual acuity (r = -0.675), and Estermann visual field efficiency scores (r = 0.606) as well as with NEI-VFQ scores (r = 0.70). The resulting index, constructed from 5 items of the AFREV, is unidimensional, thereby satisfying the primary assumption of the Rasch model. The Rasch person-item map demonstrates that the "putting stick into holes" and "reading small print" tests require the most visual ability. CONCLUSIONS: The AFREV performance-based measure, a new test of a spectrum of activities, correlates well with some standard measures of visual function and certain aspects of self-report assessments. AFREV appears to be a valid measure of performance ability that may provide information not obtainable from standard measures of visual function or subjective surveys.     

A Physician Order Category-Based Clinical Guideline Comparison System

Today, in order to provide high-quality medical services and to extend resources and reduce costs, many large hospitals have adopted clinical guidelines as a structured way to manage medical activities. However, customization of clinical guidelines in order to treat a large number of patients is a major challenge. In this paper, we present a physician order category-based clinical guideline comparison system. The system uses a preprocessor software to convert the clinical guidelines from a Microsoft Word document into XML format, and it can also compare clinical guidelines over the conceptual view such as the physician order category. The system has already been used to compare the HCC surgical clinical guidelines of Taiwan and Mongolia-resulting in some differences being found, for which possible causes were discussed. Therefore, it can be seen that our research provides a practical and convenient way in which to compare clinical guidelines based on physician order category-thereby saving time and enabling physicians to quickly resolve discrepancies and make necessary adjustments to clinical guidelines.