Blur adaptation: clinical and refractive considerations

The human visual system is amenable to a number of adaptive processes; one such process, or collection of processes, is the adaptation to blur. Blur adaptation can be observed as an improvement in vision under degraded conditions, and these changes occur relatively rapidly following exposure to blur. The potential important future directions of this research area and the clinical implications of blur adaptation are discussed.     

Volumetrical measurements in vestibular schwannoma, the influence of slice thickness and patient's repositioning.

OBJECTIVE: Conservative treatment in vestibular schwannomas is mainly dependent on optimal tumor size determination. The first objective of this study was to establish interobserver and intraobserver variability and the accuracy and reproducibility of three different measurement methods: one bidimensional and two volumetrical. The second objective was to evaluate the influence of the use of different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) slice thickness and the influence of patient's repositioning on the measurements' outcome. STUDY DESIGN: Two consecutive studies have been prospectively performed, both mainly concerning volumetrical measurements. SETTING: Both studies were performed in a tertiary academic, multidisciplinary center. PATIENTS: In the first study, 19 patients were included between March 1996 and May 2002, with a total of 52 scans. The second study comprised 14 patients. All patients in the first study had at least two MRI examinations performed according to a standard protocol (T1-weighted gadolinium-enhanced, slice thickness of 3 mm, and interslice gap of 0.3 mm). The population in the second study underwent a conservative wait and scan (W&S) treatment. METHODS: Both studies are discussed separately. In the first study, all scans were measured by four investigators, two of whom performed the measurements twice using three different methods. The first method concerns a manually performed bidimensional surface measurement along the petrous pyramid. The second method concerns a semiautomatic volumetrical measurement on a computer, relying on contour detection, and the last method concerns a fully automatic volume reconstruction also performed on a computer using different gray shade scales.All 14 patients included in the second study underwent three magnetic examinations. Three different T1-weighted gadolinium-enhanced sequences were used: the first using a slice thickness of 1 mm, the second again with 1-mm slice thickness but after having repositioned the patient. In the third sequence, a slice thickness of 3 mm was used. All scans were measured by two investigators using the three different methods, as described previously. RESULTS: The manual surface method shows large intraobserver variability, and its reproducibility is significantly lower compared with volume measurements. Because of a relatively large systematic error in small tumors, sensitivity of growth detection is low. Both volumetrical methods are hardly interobserver- and intraobserver-dependent, and the gray shade method turned out to be the most accurate. Radiologic progression is only significant at a volume increase of at least 50%. The influence of patient repositioning is negligible, whereas the use of 1-mm slice thickness seems to be superior to a 3-mm slice thickness. CONCLUSION: The volumetrical gray shade method is the most accurate method to detect early tumor progression. As tumor increase of at least 50% is needed to be able to speak of statistically significant tumor growth, the absence of radiologic progression does not mean that there is no tumor growth. Repositioning of the patient has no influence on the measurements' outcome, whereas for optimal magnetic resonance imaging examinations, a 1-mm slice thickness protocol seems to be superior.     

The value of pretreatment clinical and biochemical parameters in patients with newly diagnosed untreated prostate carcinoma and no indications for bone metastases on the bone scintigram

Between 10% and 25% of patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer without bone metastases at the time of diagnosis will develop metastases during follow-up. To determine the value of clinical and biochemical parameters for assessment of prognosis at the time of diagnosis, a retrospective study was performed in 124 consecutive patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer without bone metastases. The mean follow-up was 41 months, during which time 36 patients died and 15 patients developed metastases. Bone scans were classified from 0 (=normal) through 2 (=abnormal, but not typical for metastases) and were correlated with age, alkaline phosphatase (AP), prostate-specific antigen (PSA), tumour grade, T-stage and N-stage. In patients with a class 2 scan, additional roentgenograms and follow-up were used to exclude metastases at initial stage. All parameters, including therapy, were finally correlated with the development of metastases and survival. For survival 38 patients with proven metastases were used as controls. For all parameters tested, no statistically significant differences were found between the three bone scan classifications. The interval between diagnosis and the development of metastases ranged from 12 to 72 months. For the risk of development of metastases only PSA was found to be a significant correlate (P=0.0075). However, when tumour stages were clustered in limited disease (T0–2) and extensive disease (T3–4), the incidence of metastases was significantly higher in patients with extensive disease than in those with limited disease (P=0.0021). Finally, age, PSA and Anderson classification were found to be significant correlates of survival, but in stepwise analysis PSA was selected as the most prognostic variable (P<0.0001). In contrast with a typical pattern of metastases on bone scintigraphy, an abnormal scan (class 1 and 2) at the time of diagnosis is not a poor prognostic parameter of the risk of death. In conclusion, in patients with prostate cancer without bone metastases at the time of diagnosis, pretreatment PSA and tumour stage can be used for the assessment of risk of development of metastases during follow-up and survival. For this purpose, tumour stage should be clustered in limited and extensive disease. Received 14 April and in revised form 9 June 1997     

Serum ionic fluoride levels in haemodialysis and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients

High serum fluoride (F-) in patients with chronic renal failure (CRF) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is associated with risk of renal osteodystrophy and other bone changes. This study was done to determine F- in normal healthy controls and patients with ESRD on haemodialysis (HD) or peritoneal dialysis (PD). Seventeen healthy controls (12 males, 5 females) and 39 ESRD patients on dialysis (17 males, 22 females) were recruited in the study in a community with 47.4 +/- 3.28 microM/l (range 44-51 microM/l) of F- content in drinking water. Control subjects showed a mean serum F- concentration of 1.08 +/- 0.350 microM/l. Males in control group showed slightly higher F- levels (1.15 +/- 0.334, range 0.55-1.9 microM/l) than females (0.92 +/- 0.370, range 0.6-1.5 microM/l). Mean serum F- concentration did not correlate significantly with age and sex among control subjects, whereas such correlation was observed in patients with ESRD on dialysis. Mean serum F- concentration was significantly higher in patients on dialysis (2.67 +/- 1.09, range 0.8-5.2 microM/l) than normal controls. When grouped according to sex, the mean serum F- concentration in males (3.05 +/- 1.04, range 1.8-5.2 microM/l) was significantly higher than females (2.38 +/- 1.08, range 0.8-5.2 microM/l). When patients were grouped according to age, it was observed that F- concentration was significantly higher in patients with age groups 21-70 (2.86 +/- 1.05) than those with age group 13-20 years (1.42 +/- 0.531). Thus F- concentration correlated with age and sex, being higher in males and above 20 years. Despite appreciable clearance of F- (39-90%) across the peritoneum, patients on CAPD showed higher serum F- concentration than those on HD (3.1 +/- 1.97 vs 2.5 +/- 1.137 microM/l). Of the total 39 patients on dialysis 39% had their serum F- concentration above 3.0 microM/l, posing the risk of renal osteodystrophy.      

Clinical significance of rheumatoid factors in early rheumatoid arthritis: results of a follow up study.

Serum rheumatoid factors (RF) were measured yearly in 135 women with rheumatoid arthritis by the Waaler-Rose and latex fixation tests and IgM, IgA, and IgG RF were measured by enzyme linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs). The patients were followed up from an early phase of the disease for a mean duration of six years. Patients with a persistently positive RF test, irrespective of the type of test used, had more radiological abnormalities, more disease activity, worse functional ability, more extra-articular manifestations, and needed more treatment with second line drugs than patients with persistently negative or variably positive and negative test results during the follow up. Increased RF levels, especially a high level of IgA RF within three years of the onset of symptoms, was prognostic for a more severe disease outcome six years after the onset of symptoms.     

The CTLA-4 gene region of chromosome 2q33 is linked to, and associated with, type 1 diabetes. Belgian Diabetes Registry

Susceptibility to autoimmune insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus is determined by a combination of environmental and genetic factors, which include variation in MHC genes on chromosome 6p21 (IDDM1) and the insulin gene on chromosome 11p15 (IDDM2). However, linkage to IDDM1 and IDDM2 cannot explain the clustering of type 1 diabetes in families, and a role for other genes is inferred. In the present report we describe linkage and association of type 1 diabetes to the CTLA-4 gene (cytotoxic T lymphocyte associated-4) on chromosome 2q33 (designated IDDM12). CTLA-4 is a strong candidate gene for T cell- mediated autoimmune disease because it encodes a T cell receptor that mediates T cell apoptosis and is a vital negative regulator of T cell activation. In addition, we provide supporting evidence that CTLA-4 is associated with susceptibility to Graves' disease, another organ- specific autoimmune disease.