Aim To evaluate the efficacy of conventional argon laser for the treatment of serosanguineous maculopathy secondary to polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Methods A retrospective audit of patients who had argon laser photocoagulation to angiographically determined polypoidal lesions and subsequently followed up at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months post treatment. Results Twenty-one eyes (75%) had stable or improved vision at 12 months. Twenty-three eyes had extrafoveal, two eyes had juxtafoveal, and three eyes had subfoveal polyps. In the extrafoveal group, 18 eyes (78%) had stable or improved vision at 12 months. Eighteen eyes (64.3%) showed clinical or angiographic resolution of maculopathy. Three eyes (10.7%) had recurrence of polyps subfoveally, three eyes (10.7%) had subsequent choroidal neovascularisation, and four eyes (14.3%) had persistent leakage with neurosensory detachment. Conclusion In our study, 18 of the 23 eyes which had extrafoveal polyps had stable or improved best-corrected visual acuity and showed complete resolution of maculopathy at 12 months follow-up. Argon laser photocoagulation would appear to be most beneficial for extrafoveal PCV. However, in view of the retrospective nature of this study, the true efficacy of argon laser treatment would have to be evaluated with a larger, prospective and randomised controlled trial.
ME-NBI and EUS are accurate predictors of SESCC invasion depth. If both methods suggest a mucosal depth of lesion invasion, the accuracy of the prediction is increased. Therefore, when possible, it would be better to evaluate the invasion depth of SESCC using both ME-NBI and EUS before deciding to perform endoscopic resection.
We report on the long-term safety of AAV2.sFlt-1 (a recombinant adeno-associated virus serotype 2 carrying the soluble form of the Flt-1 receptor) injection into the subretinal space of non-human primates. Levels of sFlt-1 protein were significantly higher (Po0.05) in the vitreous of four out of five AAV2.sFlt-1-injected eyes. There was no evidence of damage to the eyes of animals that received subretinal injections of AAV2.sFlt-1; ocular examination showed no anterior chamber flare, normal fundus and electroretinography responses equivalent to those observed before treatment. Notably, immunological analysis demonstrated that gene therapy involving subretinal injection of AAV2.sFlt-1 does not elicit cell-mediated immunity. Biodistribution analysis showed that AAV2.sFlt-1 could be detected only in the eye and not in the other organs tested. These data indicate that gene therapy with subretinal AAV2.sFlt-1 is safe and well tolerated, and therefore promising for the long-term treatment of neovascular diseases of the eye.
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