A 45 year old woman is reported who initially presented with a cerebellar syndrome, severe ataxia, and dysarthria. She rapidly deteriorated to coma vigile with bilateral myoclonic jerks, flexion rigidity, and immobility necessitating complete nursing. Her EEG showed generalised slow activity and periodic biphasic and triphasic waves. The CSF concentration of neuron specific enolase was very high. Consequently the diagnosis of CreutzfeldtJakob disease was established. Eight months later she died of respiratory complications. Thirty years earlier the patient had undergone corneal transplantation for keratoconus. Review of the organ donor's hospital records showed that death was caused by intercurrent pneumonia subsequent to subacute spongiform encephalopathy confirmed by necropsy. In view of two previous case reports in the literature it is presumed that the cadaveric cornea was the source of transmission of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in this patient.
Achromatic perimetry is the gold standard in glaucoma diagnosis for detecting functional defects from glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Because achromatic perimetry is only able to detect scotomas after loss of up to 30-40% of retinal ganglion cells, early diagnosis using this method is rarely possible. Therefore, a lot of new perimetric procedures have been developed in recent years to detect new scotomas at a very early stage. This review summarizes the theoretical background of retinal ganglion cells in order to better understand the theoretical approaches of new perimetric methods. In addition, the most important commercial perimetric devices currently available are presented.
The primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is an optic neuropathy which is influenced by a number of different risk factors. Some of them can induce the transcriptional factor NF-kappaB, a nuclear protein which binds to specific areas of the DNA to stimulate different genes. NF-kappaB can be activated by increased intraocular pressure, increased age, vascular diseases and by oxidative stress. In the case of POAG NF-kappaB might be overstimulated with the induction of uncontrolled biochemical reactions. Treatment strategies for reducing NF-kappaB are to reduce intraocular pressure as well as therapies with statins, omega-3-fatty acids and alpha-lipoic acid. This model is a hypothesis and is intended to provide a basis for further discussions and basic research.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.