Efficacy of intravitreal conbercept injection on short- and long-term macular edema in branch retinal vein occlusion.

AIM: To observe the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central foveal thickness (CFT) repeatedly after the intravitreal injection of conbercept (IVC) for treating cystoid macular edema (CME) in branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) and explore the relationship between the duration of CME and visual outcome. METHODS: Subgroup analysis was performed to compare short-term (within 90d of CME onset) and long-term (over 90d of CME onset) macular edema in BRVO. After an initial IVC, a pro re nata (PRN) strategy was performed according to the recurrence of CFT or decrease of BCVA. Analysis of variance using repeated measurements, statistical analysis following indicators including BCVA and CFT collected at baseline and 1, 3, and 6mo after IVC. RESULTS: Among the 60 cases included in this retrospective study, 36 were short-term CME, and 24 were long-term CME. There were statistical significances between and within groups of the BCVAs at different time points (P<0.001). The interaction was found between group and time (P=0.006), indicating the difference in the speed of BCVA improvement between groups. In particular, the improvement speed of BCVA in the short-term CME group was faster than that in the long-term CME group. There were significant differences between and with groups of the CFT at different time points (P<0.001). However, the interaction between group and time in relation to CFT had no significant differences (P=0.59). CONCLUSION: IVC treatment for CME following BRVO is effective and safe. The duration of CME before treatment is a significant predictor of the visual outcomes of patients with BRVO. The improvement of vision might be faster with early IVC treatment than with delayed treatment.

Cataract surgery in aged patients: phacoemulsification or small-incision extracapsular cataract surgery.

AIM: To evaluate the effects and safety of phacoemulsification (Phaco) or small-incision extracapsular cataract surgery (SICS) and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation for aged patients. METHODS: Totally 137 aged patients (149 eyes) underwent cataract operation in the case of stable systemic condition, the blood pressure less than 160/95mmHg, blood glucose less than 8mmol/L, and under the help of electrocardiogram surveillance by anesthesiologists during the operation. 106 aged patients (114 eyes) underwent Phaco while 31 aged patients (35 eyes) underwent SICS. The postoperative visual acuity, corneal endothelial cell loss, surgery time and major complications were observed and analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA) of ≥0.6 was achieved in 135 eyes (92.6%) at 1 month postoperatively (χ(2)=259.730, P<0.001). For aged patients, both Phaco and SICS could significantly improve visual acuity with no significant difference (χ(2)=4.535, P>0.05). Postoperative corneal endothelial cell loss was 18.6%, in PHACO group, the rate was 18.5%; in SICS group, the rate was 19.0%, the difference of which was no significant (χ(2)=0.102, P>0.05). The surgery time was different in two groups. No severe complications occurred. CONCLUSION: Both Phaco and SICS combined with IOL implantation for aged patients are effective and safe. Before surgery, detailed physical examination should be performed. When the systemic condition is stable, cataract surgery for aged patients is safe.

[Clinical observation of visual quality after implantation of toric intraocular lens].

OBJECTIVE: To observe the visual quality after implantation of Acrysof toric intraocular lens (IOL) in cataract patients. METHODS: Eighty eyes (60 patients) had implantation of Acrysof toric IOL in our hospital between Oct. 2009 and Sep. 2010. The patients were divided into four groups according to the toric models (T3, T4 and T5). The uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), residual cylinders, contrast sensitivity, high order aberration and IOL axis were evaluated preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. Sixty-five eyes (45 patients) had implantation of Acrysof Natural IOL. RESULTS: The UCVA improved in the toric groups three months postoperatively. The UCVA of group T5b was lower than that of the other three groups. The UCVA of toric group was (0.19 ± 0.14) which was better than that of the control group (t = 4.04, P < 0.05). The residual cylinder was (1.69 ± 0.68) D in group T5b, which was statistically different from the other three groups. The residual cylinder of the toric group was (0.51 ± 0.78) D, which was much lower than the control group (t = 2.54, P < 0.05). The difference of contrast sensitivity between the four toric groups was not statistically significant. The low-order aberration and coma of group T5b was higher than that of the other three groups. The difference of contrast sensitivity between the toric group and the control group was not statistically significant. The low-order aberration and coma of the toric group were lower than those of the control group. The IOLs in 67 eyes (83.75%) rotated less than 5 degrees and all IOLs rotated less than 10 degrees. CONCLUSION: Implantation of the AcrySof toric IOL proves to be an effective, safe, and stable method of managing corneal astigmatism in cataract patients and provides good visual quality.