Vitrectomy and air tamponade combined with 1- to 3-day face-down positioning produced an excellent rate of macular hole closure. Already on the first and second day postoperatively OCT on patients in a prone position enabled the monitoring of the progress of the macular hole closure through the air bubble. This method allows effective adjustment of the duration of face-down positioning based on OCT findings.

The first priority in the treatment of patients with definite or suspected EKC is the rigorous application of hygienic measures in medical facilities, particularly because there is still no effective drug treatment for this disease. No virostatic agent has yet been demonstrated to influence its course, either subjectively or objectively.

The 79% initial closure rate in the present study is about 10% lower than that reported in other studies employing long-acting gas tamponades. However, renewed surgery with air tamponade achieved a closure rate of 96%. Early partial closure is sufficient for subsequent complete closure, requires no further tamponade or prolonged prone positioning, and has no negative effect on the functional results. Short-term prone positioning is sufficient for most patients.

Although there are some hints for a correlation between diabetes and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), it remains unclear in which way diabetes influences eye pressure (IOP) and glaucoma. Despite this, the main reason for neovascular glaucoma in diabetes is proven to be retinal ischaemia due to diabetic vessel damage. Primary open angle glaucoma is more frequent than neovascular glaucoma, but neovascular glaucoma is very aggressive and difficult to treat. The mainstay of the treatment is panretinal photo- or cryocoagulation. The next treatment options are cryodestructive procedures followed by filtering surgeries. In most cases a combination of treatments is necessary. In end-stage neovascular glaucoma sometimes enucleation is the only possible therapy when the IOP cannot be controlled or phthisis bulbi occurs.

The trabectome offers a safe and significant lowering of IOP for around 36 % and seems to be very effective in secondary glaucomas. In dysgenetic alterations and open-angle glaucoma a moderate lowering of IOP (ca. 20 %) may be expected. The amount of eye drops can be reduced for about 42 %. After surgery every second patient requires at most 1 eye drop. The technique can be combined with cataract surgery and permits a penetrating operation at a later date.

DS is an effective long-term IOP-lowering procedure leading to visual field stabilisation.

Combined cataract-canaloplasty surgery has no significant additional IOP-lowering effect compared to canaloplasty alone.

No abstract