Pars plana vitrectomy for vitreoretinal interface disorders coincident with intermediate stage age-related macular degeneration.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Currently around 67 million people in Europe are affected by some form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). As most known types of vitreoretinal (VR) interface disorders can coexist with AMD and as we can favourably affect the former with vitreoretinal surgery, our goal was to evaluate the results of vitreoretinal interface disorder surgery with macular peeling in relation to coincident intermediate stage AMD. METHODOLOGY: This was a retrospective evaluation of eyes operated with 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV). The monitored parameters were anatomical and functional findings and, safety of the procedure. The surface of the macula was stained with trypan blue and treated (peeling) with a disposable microforceps. 10% perfluoropropane, or the air tamponade was used. Distance visual acuity was examined on the ETDRS chart, the macular finding was monitored by OCT and photodocumented. The post-operative face-down position was 3-5 days. The follow-up period was 6 months. RESULTS: 17 eyes (14 patients, woman 86%) mean age 74 years. The primary indications for the procedure were: idiopathic macular hole (IMD) 59%, epiretinal membrane 29% and vitreomacular traction syndrome 12%. Ophthalmoscopic and OCT findings of intermediate dry form of AMD (100%), in 24% was drusoid ablation of the pigment leaf. In all cases of IMD, primary closure occurred. Input visual acuity 0.1-0.6 improved to 0.2-0.9 at the end of the follow-up period (P<0.05). No complications during surgery or progression of AMD in the follow-up period were observed. CONCLUSION: PPV for vitreoretinal interface disorders have similar anatomical results, whether the outer part of the retina is disrupted by intermediate AMD or not. Functional results are affected by possible disruption of the RPE or the outer layers of the neuroretina by AMD. The PPV procedure has a standard security profile. It is safe and does not affect the progression of AMD in the short term.

Optimal Tuning of Range-Separated Hybrids for Solvated Molecules with Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory.

The applicability range of density functional theory (DFT) can be improved with no additional parametrization by imposing some exact conditions. Enforcing equality between the orbital energy of the highest occupied Kohn-Sham orbital and ionization energy, determined from the total energy difference between neutral and ionized states (ΔKS), leads to the concept of optimally tuned range-separated hybrid functionals. Here, we present an alternative tuning scheme for range-separated hybrid functionals based on enforcing the equality between the ΔKS ionization energy and the ionization energy calculated by means of the time-dependent DFT using the concept of ionization as an excitation to the distant center (OT-IEDC scheme). The scheme can be naturally applied to solvated systems described either within the explicit solvation or dielectric continuum models. We test the performance of the scheme on a benchmark set of molecules. We further show that the scheme allows for reliably modeling liquid phase photoemission spectra.

Efficient modeling of liquid phase photoemission spectra and reorganization energies: Difficult case of multiply charged anions.

An efficient approach for quantitative modeling of liquid phase photoelectron spectra, reorganization energies, and redox potentials with DFT-based molecular dynamics simulations is presented. The method is based on a large scale cluster-continuum approach combined with the so-called reflection principle (RP). Finite size clusters of solute molecules with solvating water molecules are at first generated using either classical molecular dynamics or molecular dynamics with a quantum thermostat which accounts for nuclear quantum effects. In the next step, the electron binding energies are calculated. Finite-size corrections for (i) positions of electron binding energies and (ii) width of the spectrum are evaluated via a dielectric continuum approach. The performance of such a reflection principle with additional broadening approach (RP-AB) for oxidation of multiply charged iron anions, [Fe(CN)6 ]4- and [Fe(CN)6 ]3- is demonstrated. The role of nuclear quantum effects is discussed as well as the relation between spectroscopic data and electrochemical quantities. Results are compared with recent liquid photoemission experiments, explaining the obstacles for applying liquid phase photoemission spectroscopy as a direct method for obtaining absolute redox potentials and suggesting a way to overcome them. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.