This study was conducted to quantify and compare the extent of fibre degenerative and regenerative processes in different muscles of the rat hindlimb following single or repeated daily bouts of treadmill exercise. Wistar rats were used as non-exercised controls, or subjected to one, five, or ten (n = 8 per group), 30-minute daily bouts (-16 degrees, 12-15m.min-1) of downhill exercise. Soleus (S), vastus lateralis (VL), medial gastrocnemius (MG), plantaris (P), and tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were analyzed from transverse cryosections stained with either H&E for morphological alterations indicative of fibre degeneration or regeneration, or mATPase activity for determination of fibre type. Results showed that in all groups, the percentage of morphologically altered fibres (%AF) was greater in S (4-8%) than in MG, VL, P, or TA (1-2%). The %AF across all muscles was greater following only one, versus multiple exercise bouts, or versus no exercise. The proportions of AF of different histochemical types followed the same distribution as the fibre type in the muscle area examined. These direct assessments indicate that the extent of fibre degenerative and regenerative processes varies among the different muscles involved, and is greater following a single bout, compared to repeated daily bouts of exercise.

This study revealed that approximately three out of four post-mortem DBS cases exhibited pathological evidence of a glial collar or scar present at the ventral DBS lead tip. The amount of gliosis was not significantly associated with duration of DBS. Future studies should include serial sectioning across all DBS contacts with correlation to the volume of tissue activation and to the clinical outcome.

Precis: A comparison of 186 glaucoma patients with mixed diagnoses who underwent nonvalved glaucoma drainage device (GDD) implant surgery showed similar long-term intraocular pressure (IOP), medication, and visual acuity (VA) outcomes between those with prior failed trabeculectomy surgery versus those without. Purpose:The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether prior failed trabeculectomy adversely affects the outcome of glaucoma tube surgery.Patients and Methods: A total of 186 eyes of 186 patients who underwent a nonvalved GDD implant surgery by a single surgeon between 1996 and 2015 at a University practice were included. Patients were of mixed diagnoses and over 18 years old. Before the GDD surgery, 65 had a previous failed glaucoma filtering surgery and 121 had no prior glaucoma surgery. Demographic information, preoperative and postoperative IOP, medication, VA, and complications were collected from chart review.Results: No significant difference was noted in mean IOP and mean medication use (13.0 and 12.6 mm Hg on 2.0 and 1.7 medication classes at 5 y postoperatively, respectively), mean VA and change in VA from baseline, or numbers of complications (P > 0.05), between eyes that had a prior failed filtration surgery and those that had not. Kaplan-Meier plots for failure over 5 years using a lower limit of <5 mm Hg and an upper limit of ≥ 18, ≥ 15, or ≥ 12 mm Hg did not show a significant difference between groups. Subanalyses were performed to examine only primary glaucoma eyes and results were similar. Further group subanalyses comparing those with baseline IOP ≥ 25 or <25 mm Hg, age 65 and above or below 65 years and those specifically with Baerveldt 350 mm 2 implants also did not show significant differences. Conclusion:Prior failed filtration surgery does not appear to affect the outcome of future GDD surgery.

Purpose: To report outcomes of glaucoma drainage device (GDD) surgery based on primary or secondary glaucoma diagnosis and lens status. Design: Single-center, retrospective, consecutive cohort study. Methods: University of Florida patients aged 18 to 93 years who underwent nonvalved GDD surgery between 1996 and 2015 with a minimum of 1-year follow-up were examined. Of the 186 eyes of 186 patients enrolled, 108 had a primary glaucoma and 78 a secondary glaucoma diagnosis. Excluding 13 aphakic patients, 57 eyes were phakic and 116 pseudophakic. Mean intraocular pressure (IOP), mean number of medications, visual acuity (VA), surgical complications, and failure (IOP ≥18 mm Hg, IOP <6 mm Hg, reoperation for glaucoma, or loss of light perception) were the main outcome measures. Results: No significant difference was noted in mean IOP and mean medication use (12.8 ± 4.5 and 13.0 ± 6.6 mm Hg on 2.0 ± 1.2 and 1.5 ± 1.1 medication classes, respectively), mean VA (1.08 ± 0.98 and 0.94 ± 0.89, respectively), failure, or numbers of complications and reoperations ( P > 0.05) between eyes with primary and secondary glaucomas at up to 5 years postoperatively. Comparison of phakic and pseudophakic eyes showed a statistically significant higher success rate for the pseudophakic patient group at the ≥18 mm Hg upper limit and <6 mm Hg lower limit ( P = 0.01), and significantly fewer eyes required reoperation to lower IOP (6.9% vs 23%). Conclusions: GDD surgery appears equally effective for secondary glaucomas as for primary glaucomas, and has a better outcome for pseudophakic eyes than phakic eyes.

The aim of this study is to evaluate whether trabeculectomy with antimetabolites or glaucoma drainage device (GDD) surgery is more likely to achieve an intraocular pressure (IOP) 10 mm Hg. Design: Retrospective, nonrandomized, cohort study of pseudophakic, primary glaucoma patients. Methods: 53 pseudophakic patients underwent trabeculectomy and 65 received GDD at the University of Florida by one surgeon between 1993 and 2015. The main outcome measures were mean IOP and percentage of patients obtaining an IOP 10 mm Hg for up to 5 years postoperatively. A subgroup undergoing a first time glaucoma surgery was also analyzed because there were more redo glaucoma procedures in the GDD group. Results: Over 5 years, the mean annual IOP for the trabeculectomy eyes was between 6.9 and 7.8 mm Hg on an average of 0.2 medications, and that for GDD eyes was between 11.4 and 12.1 mm Hg on a mean of 1.6 to 1.9 medications (P < 0.002). A significantly higher percentage of trabeculectomy eyes than GDD eyes achieved a pressure of 10 mm Hg, for years 1 to 4 (P < 0.05). Visual acuity (VA) change was not statistically different between the groups, both for mean logMAR acuity and percentage of patients that lost !2 Snellen lines. Complication rates were similar between the groups. Postoperative VA change was similar for eyes achieving low IOP 5 mm Hg and those eyes with an IOP !10 mm Hg. Conclusions: Trabeculectomy provided significantly lower IOP for 5 years postoperatively in pseudophakic primary glaucoma patients, and was more likely to achieve an IOP 10 mm Hg.

AimTo compare the intermediate-term efficacy of a large surface area Baerveldt 350 mm2 glaucoma drainage device (GDD) with medium surface area implants (Baerveldt 250 mm2 and Molteno 3, 230, or 245 mm2).DesignThis is a retrospective, nonrandomized comparative trial.Materials and methodsA total of 94 eyes of 94 patients of mixed glaucoma diagnoses without any prior glaucoma surgical procedures and who had undergone a glaucoma drainage implant surgery with either a large Baerveldt 350 mm2 GDD or a medium-sized GDD (Baerveldt 250 mm2 or Molteno 230 or 245 mm2) were reviewed for intraocular pressure (IOP), number of glaucoma medications, and visual acuity (VA) preoperatively, and at 1, 2, and 3 years postprocedure.ResultsNo significant differences were found in mean IOP, number of glaucoma medications used, and VA at 1, 2, and 3 years postoperatively. The rate of additional glaucoma procedures was similar between the two groups.ConclusionThere is no clear evidence that a larger implant surface area beyond 230 to 250 mm2 is advantageous in providing intermediate-term IOP control.Clinical significanceIt may be technically easier to surgically place a GDD that does not need to have its wings placed underneath the recti muscles, and the IOP results are similar.How to cite this articleMeyer AM, Rodgers CD, Zou B, Rosenberg NC, Webel AD, Sherwood MB. Retrospective Comparison of Intermediate-term Efficacy of 350 mm2 Glaucoma Drainage Implants and Medium-sized 230-250 mm2 Implants. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2017;11(1):8-15.

A simple criterion is derived in terms of molecular parameters to determine whether collisional narrowing is of importance in determining the equivalent widths of spectral lines of any combination of emitting and broadening gases. The criterion is verified by numerical integration, and a simple formula is given for the maximum error obtained when the Voigt profile is used as an approximation to the Galatry profile.

There is ambiguity in the literature regarding whether a larger glaucoma drainage device (GDD) achieves a lower long-term intraocular pressure (IOP). There is some evidence on both sides, but overall there seems to be an optimal surface area of approximately 200-250 mm2 beyond which there may be little advantage to increasing the plate size for most patients.How to cite this articleRodgers CD, Meyer AM, Sherwood MB. Relationship between Glaucoma Drainage Device Size and Intraocular Pressure Control: Does Size Matter? J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2017;11(1):1-2.