[The role of cryo-application in certain types of exudative retinal detachment]. / Le rôle de la cryoapplication dans certains types de décollement rétinien exsudatif.

The authors describe a patient with exudative retinal detachment who presented characteristics of uveal effusion syndrome and of idiopathic central serous choroidopathy. The causes and current approaches to treatment are discussed.

Association of varicella zoster dermatitis with acute retinal necrosis syndrome.

The authors report seven patients in whom the acute retinal necrosis (ARN) syndrome developed shortly after cutaneous varicella zoster infection. The length of time between the skin infection and ARN varied from 5 days to 3 months. Both eyes were affected in one of seven cases. The ophthalmic branch of cranial nerve V ipsilateral to an affected eye was involved by the zoster dermatitis in only two of the seven cases. The association lends further support to the proposal that herpes zoster virus is a major cause of ARN. A history of recent zoster dermatitis should be sought in patients with ARN.

[Retinopathy due to canthazanthine: 2. Predisposing factors]. / La rétinopathie à la canthaxanthine: 2. Facteurs prédisposants.

A retrospective study of 14 cases of retinopathy due to canthaxanthine, a carotenoid recently used as a skin-tanning agent, revealed that several clinical factors were associated with an increased susceptibility to retinal deposits: focal epitheliopathy, ocular hypertension and, possibly, the concurrent use of beta-carotene. Age has already been established as such a factor.

[Canthaxanthine retinopathy: 1. Clinical study in 51 consumers]. / La rétinopathie à la canthaxanthine: 1. Etude clinique de 51 consommateurs.

Canthaxanthine, a non-provitamin A carotenoid, has been marketed in Canada since March 1979 as a skin-tanning agent. Fifty-one individuals who ingested from 3.6 to 66 g of the drug within a 24-month period were ophthalmologically evaluated. Six of them had deposits in the ocular fundus that appeared to be related to ingestion of the substance, but no functional impairment could be detected.

[Maculopathy with golden particles]. / Maculopathie en paillettes d'or.

This article describes two patients with a bilateral maculopathy due to the presence of numerous glistening yellow particles located mainly around the edge of the macular pit. This picture has apparently not been reported before. Further studies are needed to confirm a possibly toxic origin.

[Role of photocoagulation in central serous choroidopathy].

We reviewed thirty-two cases of central serous choroidopathy and retained twenty-five for a twelve-month study of the natural history of this disease. The main conclusions are that the disease is benign and self-limited; it sometimes leaves sequelae such as subnormal visual acuity because of faveolar leak through Bruch's membrane; photocoagulation is useful only in a minority of cases.

Closed vitreous surgery: XV. Fibrovascular ingrowth from the pars plana sclerotomy.

Ten eyes developed fibrovascular ingrowth from the sclerotomy following closed vitreous surgery. The complication was detected by examining all patients postoperatively by indirect ophthalmoscopy and biomicroscopy with a three-mirror lens. The average follow-up was 13.2 months. Nine patients had proliferative retinal disease prior to surgery and related systemic disease. In six eyes, useful vision was lost due to the ingrowth. In three eyes, a stabilization occurred. In one eye, that of a 12-year-old girl with an undefined syndrome of cochlear and retinal neovascularization, the ingrowth involuted. Rubeosis iridis was observed in 6 eyes that developed vascular ingrowth as opposed to 11 eyes in a control group of 78 eyes. Eyes with rubeosis iridis should not have vitreous surgery, and careful dissection of the Tenon capsule should be done over the sclerotomy.

Vitreous surgery. XIV. Complications from sclerotomy in 89 consecutive cases.

All patients were examined preoperatively and postoperatively by indirect ophthalmoscopy and biomicroscopy with a three-mirror lens. The average follow-up was eight months. Our technique of sclerotomy consisted of an incision parallel to the limbus, measuring 1.5 times the diameter of the surgical instrument. The pars plana location was always verified with transillumination. A mattress suture over the lips of the sclerotomy was used to prevent any leakage during the procedure. The intraoperative complications included ciliary body laceration (1%), retinal tears (8%), and vitreous base incarceration in the wound. The postoperative complications consisted of retina dragged into the wound (4%), vitreous tract left by the instrument (6%), neovascular ingrowth (6%), and external symptoms from the Dacron (32%) or polyglycolic acid (5%) suture. The rate of complications is considered low for such high-risk surgery.