Macular pigment in retinal health and disease.

Lutein and zeaxanthin, two carotenoid pigments of the xanthophyll subclass, are present in high concentrations in the retina, especially in the macula. They work as a filter protecting the macula from blue light and also as a resident antioxidant and free radical scavenger to reduce oxidative stress-induced damage. Many observational and interventional studies have suggested that lutein and zeaxanthin may reduce the risk of various eye diseases, especially late forms of AMD. In vitro and in vivo studies indicate that they could protect various ocular cells against oxidative damage. Recent research has shown that in addition to traditional mechanisms, lutein and zeaxanthin can influence the viability and function of cells through various signal pathways or transcription factors: for instance, they can affect immune responses and inflammation, and have anti-angiogenic and anti-tumor properties. This review covers the basic aspects and results of recent studies regarding the effects of lutein, zeaxanthin and other carotenoids, such as meso-zeaxanthin, on the eye in different clinical and experimental models and the management of various ocular diseases using these molecules.

Combined Baerveldt glaucoma implant and scleral buckling surgery for patients with retinal detachment and coexisting glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To report on the usefulness of combined Baerveldt glaucoma implantation (BGI) and scleral buckling surgery for patients with glaucoma requiring a scleral buckle for retinal detachment repair. METHODS: Retrospective, consecutive, noncomparative, and interventional case series of 30 eyes (30 patients) that underwent simultaneous scleral buckle and BGI surgery, using a staged (group 1, n=21 patients) or nonstaged (group 2, n=9 patients) approach to BGI implantation. Successful intraocular pressure (IOP) control was defined as 6 mm Hg≤IOP≤18 mm Hg. RESULTS: Although not statistically significant, mean best corrected visual acuity (LogMAR) improved from 2.0 before surgery to 1.7 after surgery (P=0.13) with a mean follow-up of 27.7 months. Of the 21 patients in group 1, only 13 (62%) required second-stage tube insertion at a mean of 7.0±8.0 months (range, 1 to 24 mo) postoperatively. For these eyes combined with group 2 eyes, mean IOP was reduced from 31.1±10.8 to 12.7±6.0 mm Hg (P<0.0001), and the mean number of glaucoma medications was reduced from 2.9±1.4 to 1.2±1.3 (P<0.001). Life table rates of successful IOP control were 90% and 80% at 12 and 24 months, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Combined scleral buckle and BGI is an effective technique for managing coexisting glaucoma and retinal detachment and provides the clinician with a useful surgical option while minimizing surgical risk.

Retinite idiopática, vasculite, aneurismas e neurorretinite (IRVAN): relato de caso / Idiopathic retinal, vasculitis, aneurysms and neuroretinitis (IRVAN): case report

Relatamos caso de um paciente de 14 anos, sexo masculino, que foi admitido com queixa de embaçamento visual bilateral há dois anos. Ao exame oftalmológico observou-se leve hiperemia e edema de disco óptico bilateral, exsudação retiniana, poucas hemorragias retinianas, múltiplos aneurismas, assim como sinais de vasculite. A angiofluoresceinografia demonstrou isquemia periférica extensa, dilatações e hiperfluorescência das paredes dos vasos, e vazamento tardio do disco óptico nas fases finais do exame em ambos os olhos. Este caso representa uma rara entidade caracterizada por oclusão retiniana vascular periférica, vasculite retiniana, múltiplos aneurismas retinianos e neurorretinite (IRVAN). Avaliação sistêmica e laboratorial não revelaram nenhuma anormalidade. O paciente foi submetido à panfotocoagulação de retina com laser de argônio em ambos os olhos, e iniciado tratamento com prednisona via oral, com manutenção da acuidade visual de 20/25 depois de um ano de acompanhamento. O tratamento com laser deve ser considerado quando houver qualquer evidência angiográfica de má perfusão retiniana, e antes do desenvolvimento de qualquer sinal de neovascularização de retina.

A case of a 14 year-old boy that was admitted complaining of bilateral ocular visual blurring for 2 years is reported. The ophthalmological examination disclosed bilateral mild optic disc hyperemia and swelling, retinal exudation, few retinal hemorrhages, multiple aneurysms, as well as vasculitis. Fluorescein angiography showed extensive peripheral retinal ischemia, dilatations and hyperfluorescence of the vessels walls, and leakage of the optic disc in the late phases in both eyes. This rare case represents an entity characterized by peripheral retinal vascular occlusion, retinal vasculitis, multiple posterior retinal aneurysms, and neuroretinitis (IRVAN). Systemic evaluation and laboratory work-up did not suggest any systemic abnormality. Panretinal laser photocoagulation was performed in both eyes, and the patient was treated with oral prednisone with maintenance of the visual acuity after 1 year of follow-up. Laser treatment should be considered when angiographic evidence of widespread retinal no perfusion is present, and before the development of signs of retinal neovascularization.

Avaliação estrutural do polo posterior em pacientes com doença de Behçet / Structural evaluation of posterior pole in patients with Behçet's disease

OBJETIVO: Avaliar achados demográficos, de exame ocular, alterações vasculares e estruturais por meio de angiografias com fluoresceína e indocianina verde e de tomografia de coerência óptica em retina e coroide em pacientes com doença de Behçet com controle clínico. MÉTODO: Revisão de prontuários de 16 pacientes com doença de Behçet em fase inativa da doença. Foram submetidos a exame oftalmológico, angiografias com fluoresceína e indocianina e tomografia de coerência óptica e divididos em dois grupos de acordo com o tempo de doença. RESULTADOS: Avaliou-se 13 pacientes do sexo feminino e 3 do sexo masculino. Os principais achados de exame ocular foram estreitamento vascular, catarata, atrofia do disco óptico e membrana epirretiniana macular. Sessenta e dois e meio por cento dos pacientes estavam com acuidade visual igual ou melhor que 0,1. Os principais achados na angiografia com fluoresceína foram vazamento capilar e impregnação da parede vascular, na angiografia com indocianina verde foram lesões hipofluorescentes bem definidas e na tomografia de coerência óptica foram membrana epirretiniana e atrofia retiniana. Analisando a acuidade visual, não se encontrou diferença estatística entre os parâmetros de sexo, tempo de doença, presença de edema retiniano na tomografia de coerência óptica ou na angiografia com fluoresceína. O aumento da espessura macular não se correlacionou positivamente com a idade, tempo de doença ou com a acuidade visual. O encontro de afinamento vascular na angiografia com fluoresceína correlacionou-se com maior duração da doença (p=0,033). Os demais achados dos exames não se correlacionaram com o tempo de doença. CONCLUSÃO: Os exames de angiografias com fluoresceína e indocianina verde e tomografia de coerência óptica fornecem dados importantes do acometimento do polo posterior na doença de Behçet. Apesar do aparente controle clínico, esses exames podem evidenciar atividade inflamatória persistente, a qual ocasiona progressão da perda visual e significante número de pacientes com cegueira legal.

PURPOSE: To evaluate demographic findings, ocular manifestations, vascular and morphological changes by fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography and optical coherence tomography of retina and choroid in cases of ocular Behçet's disease. METHODS: Medical records were reviewed to obtain data from 16 patients with Behçet's disease who were in inactive phase. All patients underwent ophthalmic examination, simultaneous fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography and optical coherence tomography. They were also divided into two groups according to disease duration. RESULTS: Thirteen females and three males were evaluated. The main findings of ocular exams were narrowing of vessels, cataract, atrophy of the optic disc and macular epiretinal membrane. 62.5 percent had visual acuity equal to or better than 0.1. The main findings of fluorescein angiography were capillary leak and impregnation of the vascular wall. The most important findings of indocyanine green angiography were hypofluorescent well defined lesions. The main findings of optical coherence tomography were macular epiretinal membrane and retinal atrophy. Analyzing the visual acuity, no statistical correlation was found between gender, disease duration or presence of retinal edema in fluorescein angiography or optical coherence tomography. The increase in macular thickness was not correlated positively with patient age, disease duration or with the visual acuity. Vascular narrowing seen on fluorescein angiography was correlated with longer duration of illness (p=0.033). The remaining test findings were not correlated with disease duration. CONCLUSION: Fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography and optical coherence tomography are valuable tools to assess the posterior pole in Behçet's disease. Despite the apparent clinical control, these tests may show persistent inflammatory activity, which causes progression of visual loss and a significant number of patients with legal blindness.

Qualitative spectral OCT/SLO analysis of drusen change in dry age-related macular degeneration patients treated with Copaxone.

PURPOSE: High-resolution spectral domain OCT/SLO (SD-OCT) has become an increasingly useful tool for differentiating drusen morphologic parameters such as shape, internal reflectivity, homogeneity, and presence of overlying hyperreflective foci. Our purpose was to evaluate which types of drusen may respond to Copaxone (glatiramer acetate) treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients by shrinking or disappearing. METHODS: A prospective and interventional clinical trial of patients with dry AMD who received subcutaneous treatment with Copaxone or sham injections was conducted. SD-OCT images were used for analysis of drusen ultrastructure. Morphologic characteristics for specific drusen within the macular region were assessed with serial studies. Pre- and posttreatment statuses of drusen were compared. Main outcome measure was a change of drusen morphologic parameters in Copaxone-treated and sham-treated dry AMD patients between baseline and 12 weeks of treatment. RESULTS: Three hundred eleven drusen from 26 eyes of 14 dry AMD patients were evaluated. One hundred seventy-two drusen from 14 eyes (7 patients) of Copaxone-treated and 139 drusen from 12 eyes sham-treated (7 patients) were included. Overall, between baseline and 12-week visit, the percentage of drusen that disappeared/shrank in the Copaxone-treated group was 19.2% versus 6.5% in the sham-treated group (P = 0.13). The percentage of convex drusen that shrank or disappeared after 12 weeks of treatment was significantly higher in the Copaxone-treated group (27.8%) in comparison with the sham-treated group (6.8%) (P = 0.008). The difference between the groups was found to be statistically significant for drusen with low and medium internal reflectivity (P = 0.019 and P = 0.036, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Convex shape and low/medium internal reflectivity were found to be favorable parameters in prediction of drusen reduction in the Copaxone-treated patients. This study represents a preliminary attempt to identify SD-OCT features of drusen that may predict susceptibility to Copaxone treatment and therefore help clinicians decide which patients to treat.

Factors affecting the variability of the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III measurements in newly diagnosed glaucoma patients / Fatores associados com a variabilidade das medidas do Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III em pacientes com glaucoma recém-diagnosticados

PURPOSE: To determine factors associated with the test-retest variability of optic nerve head (ONH) topography measurements with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (CSLO) in newly diagnosed glaucomatous patients. METHODS: Consecutive patients with newly diagnosed primary open-angle glaucoma were prospectively enrolled. Patients presenting with any ocular disease other than glaucoma were excluded. All patients underwent CSLO using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III (HRT-III) in one randomly selected eye (three consecutive scans; performed by the same examiner). For each Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III parameter, repeatability was assessed using within subject standard deviation (Sw) and coefficient of variation (CVw), repeatability coefficient (RC) and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Scatter plots and regression lines were constructed to identify which factors influenced test-retest measurement variability. RESULTS: A total of 32 patients were included (mean age, 65.4 ± 13.8 years). Most patients were female (65 percent) and white (50 percent). Among all Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III parameters evaluated, rim area and mean cup depth had the best measurement repeatability. Vertical cup-to-disc ratio (CDR, as determined by optic disc stereophotograph examination) was significantly associated (R²=0.21, p<0.01) with test-retest measurement variability. Eyes with larger CDR showed less variable measurements. Other factors, including age, disc area, central corneal thickness and intraocular pressure were not significant (p>0.14). CONCLUSION: Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III showed good test-retest repeatability for all ONH topographic measurements, mainly for rim area and mean cup depth. Test-retest repeatability seemed to improve with increasing CDR. These findings suggest that HRT-III topographic measurements should be cautiously interpreted when evaluating longitudinally glaucoma patients with early structural damage (small CDR).

OBJETIVO: Determinar os fatores associados à variabilidade (teste-reteste) das medidas topográficas da cabeça do nervo óptico (CNO) utilizando a oftalmoscopia confocal de varredura a laser (CSLO) em pacientes com glaucoma recém-diagnosticados. MÉTODOS: Neste estudo, pacientes com glaucoma primário de ângulo aberto recém-diagnosticados foram prospectivamente incluídos. Aqueles que apresentassem outras doenças oculares (exceto glaucoma) foram excluídos. Todos os pacientes incluídos no estudo foram submetidos à CSLO usando o aparelho Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III (HRT-III) em um olho aleatoriamente selecionado (três exames consecutivos realizados pelo mesmo examinador). Para cada parâmetro do Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III, a repetibilidade foi avaliada através dos seguintes indicadores: desvio padrão (DP) e coeficiente de variação (CV) individual, coeficiente de repetibilidade (CR) e coeficiente de correlação intraclasse (CCI). Diagramas de dispersão e linhas de regressão foram construídos para identificar quais fatores poderiam influenciar a variabilidade das medidas. RESULTADOS: Trinta e dois pacientes foram incluídos no estudo (idade média, 65,4 ± 13,8 anos). A maior parte era composta por mulheres (65 por cento) e pacientes brancos (50 por cento). Dentre os parâmetros de Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III avaliados, a área da rima e a profundidade média da escavação apresentaram os melhores valores de repetibilidade. A relação escavação/disco (E/D) vertical (baseada na análise de estereofotografia do disco óptico), foi significativamente associada (R²=0.21, p<0.01) com a variabilidade teste-reteste. Pacientes com relação E/D maiores apresentaram medidas menos variáveis. Outros fatores como idade, área do disco, espessura corneana central e pressão intraocular não foram significativas (p>0,14). CONCLUSÃO: O Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III mostrou boa repetibilidade (teste-reteste) para todos os parâmetros topográficos da CNO avaliados, principalmente em relação à área da rima e à profundidade média da escavação. A repetibilidade teste-reteste apresentou melhores resultados com o aumento da relação E/D. Esses achados sugerem que as medidas topográficas do Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III devem ser interpretadas com cautela quando avaliarmos longitudinalmente pacientes glaucomatosos com dano estrutural inicial (relação E/D menor).

Multiple wedge-shaped retinal nerve fiber layer defects in a patient with optic nerve glioma in the contralateral eye: case report.

This case report describes a young non-glaucomatous patient with neurofibromatosis and previous history of optic nerve glioma, which developed multiple wedge-shaped retinal nerve fiber layer defects close to a chorioretinal scar in the fellow eye. After discussing the different possible etiologies to the wedge-shaped defects, the disruption of the nerve fiber layer due to the chorioretinal lesion was considered the most plausible cause. However, further follow-up with visual field assessment, optic nerve head documentation and neuroimaging is mandatory in this case and may provide additional information to better understand it.

Multiple wedge-shaped retinal nerve fiber layer defects in a patient with optic nerve glioma in the contralateral eye: case report / Múltiplos defeitos localizados da camada de fibras nervosas em um paciente com glioma de nervo óptico no olho contralateral: relato de caso

This case report describes a young non-glaucomatous patient with neurofibromatosis and previous history of optic nerve glioma, which developed multiple wedge-shaped retinal nerve fiber layer defects close to a chorioretinal scar in the fellow eye. After discussing the different possible etiologies to the wedge-shaped defects, the disruption of the nerve fiber layer due to the chorioretinal lesion was considered the most plausible cause. However, further follow-up with visual field assessment, optic nerve head documentation and neuroimaging is mandatory in this case and may provide additional information to better understand it.

Este relato de caso descreve um paciente jovem, sem diagnóstico de glaucoma, portador de neurofibromatose e com história prévia de glioma de nervo óptico em um olho, que desenvolveu múltiplos defeitos localizados na camada de fibras nervosas próximos a uma cicatriz coriorretiniana no olho contralateral. Depois de discutir as diferentes etiologias possíveis para os defeitos localizados, a desorganização da camada de fibras nervosas secundária à lesão coriorretiniana foi considerada a causa mais plausível. Contudo, futuro acompanhamento com campo visual, documentação da cabeça do nervo óptico e neuroimagem é mandatório neste caso e pode fornecer informações adicionais para melhor entendê-lo.

Correlation between spectral domain optical coherence tomography findings and fluorescein angiography patterns in diabetic macular edema.

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings and fluorescein angiography (FA) patterns in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME). DESIGN: Retrospective, observational, cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: We included 59 eyes from 59 patients with DME that had SD-OCT/scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO) and FA performed on the same day. Eyes with macular edema owing to other ocular diseases were excluded. METHODS: The relationship between SD-OCT and FA findings was evaluated by superimposing and aligning the SLO images onto the FA photos. The SLO image of the OPKO/OTI Spectral OCT/SLO (OPKO-OTI, Miami, FL) corresponds with the exact origin and orientation of the SD-OCT scan, which was then correlated with the FA image. Foveal and extrafoveal regions were studied separately. Leakage on FA and pathologic changes on OCT were graded by using standard photographs. Pathologic changes studied in the OCT images included edema and cystic spaces in the inner and outer retina, loss of retinal layers, and foveal cysts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlation between SD-OCT changes and corresponding FA patterns. RESULTS: The outer retina was the predominant location of fluid in DME. The severity of the outer retinal edema on OCT was positively correlated with the severity of leakage on FA (r = 0.735; P<0.001). Cystic changes in the inner and outer retina were also correlated with the severity of fluorescein leakage (r = 0.507 and P<0.001; r = 0.561 and P<0.001, respectively). Loss of inner retinal layers on OCT was highly correlated with capillary nonperfusion on FA (r = 0.953; P<0.001). Large foveal cysts on SD-OCT corresponded to cystoid leakage patterns on FA. CONCLUSIONS: Pathologic changes on SD-OCT correlated well with FA findings. Loss of inner retinal layers was specifically correlated with capillary nonperfusion and severe ischemia. Judgment of whether management of DME based on fine retinal structural changes influences clinical outcomes must be reserved pending further investigation with prospective trials. FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE(S): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.