Ophthalmic manifestation of metastatic basal cell carcinoma.

A case of metastatic basal cell carcinoma is reported that presented as a tearing problem caused by a paralytic ectropion from a metastasis to the parotid gland affecting the seventh cranial nerve. Features of metastatic basal cell carcinoma are discussed.

Intraocular lens implant exchanges.

We reviewed 23 consecutive cases of intraocular lens implant exchange. Lens dislocation (26%) and chronic intraocular inflammation (26%) were the most frequent indications for lens exchange. Post-exchange vision was best in those eyes treated for inappropriate implant power (100% less than or equal to 20/40), intermediate in dislocation cases (83% less than or equal to 20/40), and poorest in eyes with chronic intraocular inflammation (50% less than or equal to 20/40), even though the inflammation usually improved. Eighty-three percent of the total cases remained within one line of the pre-exchange visual acuity.

AGGREGATION FORMATION AND ASSORTATIVE MATING IN TWO MELOID BEETLES.

Males and females of the meloid beetles Lytta magister and Tegrodera aloga form large aggregations in Sonoran Desert habitat. Males and females of L. magister fly to prominent ridgetop landmarks, where they feed on flowering shrubs, mate (probably just once in any one aggregation), and disperse, with the group forming and disbanding in a few days. Males and females of T. aloga form very large, mobile bands that march across the desert flatland feeding and mating; females probably leave after a single copulation, with the result that the group becomes increasingly male-biased in its sex ratio. The aggregations persist for a minimum of 2-3 weeks. Great variation in body size characterizes both species. Positive assortative mating occurs in L. magister but not in T. aloga, possibly because males and females of the two species incur different costs and benefits for selective mating. It is probable that body size in Lytta correlates both with female fecundity and with male spermatophore size or amount of cantharidin contributed during copulation. This should favor males that mate with large females while also favoring females that mate with large males. If large individuals pair off, this will leave smaller individuals to settle for one another, leading to positive assortative mating. The same argument may not apply to T. aloga, perhaps because its copulations are shorter and its aggregations longer-lived, and therefore any one mating does not eliminate chances to copulate again within the band.

Effects of the silicone tube on the canaliculus: an animal experiment.

A silicone tube is often passed through a fellow normal canaliculus in the treatment of a lacerated canaliculus in order to form a loop in the medial canthus and unite the ends of the tube in the nose. The histopathologic effects of the tube on the canaliculus and the constant frictional trauma caused by movement of the tube with blinking are not known. We intubated both normal and lacerated canaliculi of dogs to determine whether any damage occurred to the normal canaliculus and whether the inflammatory response following surgical repair of canalicular lacerations was prolonged or altered by the tube. We found no significant damage to the normal canaliculus and no increase in the surgical inflammation. Following the repair of a laceration, the canalicular epithelial layer healed along the silicone tube in spite of the constant frictional trauma. These findings support the safety of the use of the silicone tube in the treatment of canalicular disorders.

Listeria monocytogenes endophthalmitis.

A 62-year-old white man developed an acute anterior chamber inflammation in his left eye. Listeria monocytogenes was cultured from the vitreous aspirate. There was no evidence for ocular trauma or distant site of infection from which hematogenous spread of the organism occurred. No underlying state of immunocompromise was demonstrated. The endophthalmitis responded well to therapy.