Routine use of filtered air as endotamponade in the management of primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of filtered air as endotamponade in the management of primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) treated with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) and complete drainage of subretinal fluid. METHODS: For this retrospective study, we reviewed the medical charts of 273 patients (275 eyes) who consecutively underwent PPV, subretinal fluid drainage and filtered air tamponade to treat primary RRD between 2018 and 2022. As primary outcome we evaluated the anatomical success considered as retinal reattachment after single surgery. As secondary outcomes: final mean best corrected distance visual acuity (BCDVA), complications, and mean intraocular pressure (IOP) trends. RESULTS: The anatomical success was reached by 262 (95.6%) of cases. Mean BCDVA improved from 0.73 LogMAR at baseline, to 0.21 LogMAR at the end of follow-up. As complications we recorded: 5 cases of clinically relevant macular pucker, 1 full thickness macular hole, and 1 PFO bubble under the retina. The mean IOP remained on normal values during the overall follow-up period.

Novel Non-Evaporable Getter Materials and Their Possible Use in Fusion Application for Tritium Recovery.

Non-evaporable getters (NEGs) are metallic compounds of the IV group, particularly titanium and/or zirconium-based alloys and are usually used as pumps in vacuum technologies since they are able to sorb, by chemical reactions, most of the active gas molecules, with particular efficacy towards hydrogen isotopes. This work suggests an alternative application of these materials to fusion nuclear reactors, where there is the need to recover small amount of tritium from the large helium flow rate composing the primary coolant loop. Starting from the tritium mass balance inside the primary coolant loop, the amount of coolant to be routed inside the coolant purification system (CPS) is identified. Then a feasibility study, based on the bulk getter theory, is presented by considering three different commercial alloys, named ST707, ST101 and ZAO. The results provide the mass, the area and the regeneration parameters of the three different alloys necessary to fulfill the requirements of the CPS unit. By comparing the features of the three alloys, the ZAO material appears the most promising for the proposed application because it requires the lower amount of material and a lower number of regeneration cycles.

Pseudoamblyopia in Congenital Cyclotropia.

PURPOSE: To study the effect of surgery on amblyopia and suppression associated with congenital cyclovertical strabismus. METHODS: The fixation pattern was investigated with microperimetry before and soon after surgery in ten consecutive children operated for congenital superior oblique palsy at the S. Martino Hospital, Belluno, Italy, between September 2014 and December 2015. Changes in visual performance in terms of best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and stereopsis between the day before and one week after surgery were also evaluated. No other amblyopia treatment has been administered during the time study. RESULTS: Surgical correction of the excyclodeviation in congenital SO palsy determined monocular and binocular sensory consequences: monocularly, in the cyclodeviated amblyopic eye, BCVA (0.46-0.03 LogMAR; p < 0.0001) and the fixation pattern improved, as demonstrated by microperimetry examination. Binocularly, stereopsis improved or emerged while suppression at the Worth four-dot test disappeared. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of further amblyopic factors such as coexisting constant vertical and/or horizontal deviation and anisometropia, the amblyopia encountered in congenital SO palsy may resolve soon after the surgical alignment. Therefore, it may be considered and defined "pseudoamblyopia."

Idiopathic macular hole surgery with low-concentration infracyanine green-assisted peeling of the internal limiting membrane.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of pars plana vitrectomy with infracyanine green (IFCG)-assisted internal limiting membrane peeling for the treatment of idiopathic macular hole. DESIGN: Prospective, noncomparative interventional case series. METHODS: Thirty-eight consecutive eyes of 35 patients with idiopathic macular hole were included in the study. Patients underwent early treatment diabetic retinopathy (ETDRS) visual acuity examination, dilated ophthalmoscopy, and optical coherence tomography before treatment and during follow-up. Fluorescein angiography was done in selected cases. Patients underwent a three-port pars plana vitrectomy with complete posterior hyaloid and epiretinal membrane removal. The internal limiting membrane (ILM) was stained with 0.5 cc of IFCG (0.5 mg/ml, 308 mOsm) and peeled up to the vascular arcades. Perfluoropropane gas (C(3)F(8)) 10% was used as tamponade. RESULTS: Mean follow-up duration was 10 +/- 5 months (range, 3 to 24 months). Six eyes had stage 2 macular hole, 15 eyes stage 3, and 16 eyes stage 4. Overall, 37 of 38 macular holes closed after a single surgery. Median visual acuity was 20/100 (range, 20/400 to 20/50) before surgery and 20/50 (range, 20/640 to 20/25) after surgery. Visual acuity after surgery was 20/50 or better in 24 of 38 (63.1%) eyes. Twenty-five (65.8%) eyes improved by 2 or more lines, nine (23.7%) eyes were stable, and four (10.5%) eyes worsened by 2 or more lines. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that IFCG (0.05%) effectively stains the ILM with apparent safety, and that IFCG-assisted peeling of the ILM may be useful in the treatment of idiopathic macular hole.