Purpose To investigate structural measurements of the macular area in preperimetric glaucoma (PG) patients using spectral domain optical coherence tomography with two functional measurements [10-2 Humphrey visual field (HFA) and 10-2 Microperimeter-1 (MP-1)] and by macular symmetry testing. Methods Fifteen eyes of 15 PG subjects with a retinal nerve fiber layer defect in the inferior hemisphere and 15 eyes of 15 normal control subjects were enrolled. Macular symmetry testing was performed between the superior and inferior zones by comparing zone thickness in each hemisphere. Perimetric sensitivity asymmetry was calculated with two functional measurements. Structure-function relationships between macular symmetry testing and the mean retinal sensitivity of the corresponding hemifield or perimetric sensitivity asymmetry were calculated using Spearman's rank correlation and linear regression. Results Macular zone thickness in the abnormal hemispheres was significantly less than that in normal hemispheres in PG eyes and the corresponding hemispheres in control eyes (P \ 0.001). Macular symmetry testing was significantly lower in PG eyes compared to control eyes (P \ 0.001). HFA (10-2) and MP-1 (10-2) correlated significantly (rs = 0.81, P \ 0.0001). Macular symmetry testing values were significantly correlated with perimetric sensitivity and perimetric sensitivity asymmetry with two functional measurements (rs = 0.61, P = 0.02; HFA and rs = 0.68, P = 0.006; MP-1). Conclusions Our results suggest that macular asymmetry analysis can reveal the structure-functional relationship in PG eyes.

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The short-term bilateral treatment revealed a different IOP-lowering efficacy of bimatoprost compared to other PGAs in healthy subjects.

Duplication of the biliary tract is extremely rare. In fact, to the best of our knowledge, only four previous reports of pediatric patients with this disease have been documented in the Japanese literature. This anomaly was diagnosed by perioperative endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) in three of these patients, and incidentally during surgery for congenital biliary dilatation in the other one. We report herein a case of biliary tract duplication which was diagnosed by T-tube cholangiography, only in the oblique view, after cholecystectomy and choledochotomy with T-tube drainage. The patient was a 13-year-old girl who was initially diagnosed as having choledocholithiasis based on the results of preoperative and intraoperative cholangiography; however, a postoperative T-tube cholangiography revealed residual stones. At this point, duplication of the biliary tract was diagnosed only in the first oblique view. Reoperation was carried out 26 days after the first operation. The biliary tract was dissected completely from the pancreaticobiliary junction to the left and right hepatic ducts in the porta hepatis and found to be duplicated from the level of porta hepatis to the suprapancreatic area. We report our experience of this case, followed by a discussion on the relevant literature.

PurposeThis study aimed to determine if rebamipide eyedrops can improve ocular surface damage caused by the use of glaucoma eyedrops.MethodsFemale Kbl:Dutch rabbits were used to evaluate glaucoma eyedrop-induced ocular surface damage; one eye of each rabbit was untreated and the other was administered glaucoma eyedrops for 30 days. To evaluate the effects of rebamipide on ocular surface damage, one eye of each rabbit was administered vehicle-treated glaucoma eyedrops and the other was administered rebamipide-treated glaucoma eyedrops for 30 days. Corneal and conjunctival epithelial damage was evaluated using fluorescein and rose bengal staining, respectively. Conjunctival inflammation was observed by light microscopy with hematoxylin-eosin staining. Dark cells (in which the corneal microvilli were damaged) were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy.ResultsThere were no significant differences in fluorescein staining between the untreated and glaucoma eyedrop-treated groups; however, rose bengal staining and the number of inflammatory cells in the conjunctiva significantly increased after glaucoma eyedrop treatment. There was a four-fold increase in the number of dark cells in the glaucoma eyedrop-treated group compared to untreated. In contrast, in the conjunctiva of the rebamipide-treated glaucoma eyedrop group, rose bengal staining scores, the number of inflammatory cells, and the number of dark cells were decreased compared to the vehicle-treated glaucoma eyedrop group.ConclusionsResults from our in vivo rabbit study demonstrated that short-term use of glaucoma eyedrops induces corneal epithelium disorders at the cellular level, but that simultaneous use of rebamipide has the potential to protect and repair the ocular surface.