The results of the present study suggest that a single intravitreal injection of 4 mg triamcinolone is reasonably well tolerated by the human eye. The rate of development of severe visual loss was less than reported for historical controls. Because the results are preliminary and uncontrolled, the treatment should not be used routinely until its benefit to patients is established by a prospective, randomized controlled study.

Purpose: To study the efficacy of the antiinflammatory agent triamcinolone (Kenacort A-40) in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration and subfoveal and juxtafoveal choroidal new vessels, considered unsuitable for laser photocoagulation.Method: Thirty eyes of 28 patients were treated with intravitreal injection of triarncinolone. The subsequent visual acuity (VA) of treated eyes was compared with published VA outcomes of untreated eyes. Patients were classified into three types according to their responses to treatment.Results: Within two weeks of receiving treatment, exudation decreased and vision improved in the majority of Types I and II patients (870/0), the trend continuing in longer term follow-up. The overall VA outcome for treated eyes was significantly better than published VA data for untreated exudative macular lesions. Conclusions:The preliminary results are encouraging and no serious side effects of a single injection of triamcinolone have been detected in patients followed for up to 18 months. The treatment should, however, continue to be regarded as unproven and only administered in the context of a prospective, case-controlled clinical trial.

Although our findings demonstrate strong associations between structural and functional measures of optic nerve integrity, the functional loss was more marked. This fact, together with amplitude and latency changes of the mfVEPs observed in clinically normal fellow eyes, may indicate greater sensitivity of mfVEPs in detecting optic nerve abnormality or the presence of widespread inflammation in the central nervous system, or both. The significant correlation of the mfVEP latency with RNFL thickness suggests a role for demyelination in promoting axonal loss.

The study reveals interbreed differences with respect to sex, age and risk of ulcerative keratitis which have not been detailed previously in a referral population.

Our study identified β-hemolytic Streptococcus and Pseudomonas spp. as the most common bacterial pathogens in canine bacterial keratitis presenting for referral. Many cases exhibited clinical factors known to influence corneal integrity that may predispose them to ulceration and infection. Based on in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility patterns and clinical outcomes, monotherapy with a fluoroquinolone may be ineffective in ulcers caused by β-hemolytic Streptococcus spp.

Secondary glaucoma is an important sequela in patients who undergo surgery for congenital cataracts. It is imperative that these patients get lifelong surveillance, as glaucoma can occur years after the initial operation.

Sera from 128 patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were examined and profiles of a variety of serum constituents, including immunoglobulins, alpha and beta globulins and autoantibodies, were tabulated. A similar series of tests were carried out on 20 control sera. The results indicate a higher incidence of serum abnormalities, particularly involving alpha-2 globulin, in patients with disturbance of pigmentation of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The sera were further tested for the presence of autoantibodies with specificity for retinal tissue, and five major staining patterns were observed. Many sera produced patterns of labelling on human retina identical to that observed using labelled monoclonal anti-glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) antibodies, which are an established marker of retinal astrocytes. Although anti-retinal autoantibodies have been reported in association with a number of ocular pathologies, the observation of anti-astrocyte autoantibodies is new. Astrocytes are involved in the maintenance of the blood-retinal barrier (BRB) and also appear to be the facultative antigen-presenting cells of neural tissue. The present results indicate that the formation of anti-astrocyte autoantibodies may be an early feature of the pathogenesis of AMD.

No abstract