RESUMO
This article describes the case of a 68-year-old patient suffering from giant cell arteritis (also known as Horton's arteritis or temporal arteritis). The patient came to our attention due to a large and sudden visual loss caused by the occlusion of major retinal arteries. The patient had neuralgic pain in the face. The next day, for a thorough examination, the patient went to the day hospital with a further worsening of the visual loss which required immediate admission to the ophthalmological ward for hospitalization lasting 10 days. During the observation period it was difficult to make an instant diagnosis due to the absence of clinical signs or diagnostic tests for Horton's arteritis. Only after the third day of hospitalization, when corticosteroid therapy was undertaken following the appearance of significant systemic symptoms, did the patient begin to show a gradual improvement in overall clinical status. The case highlights the difficulty in making a rapid diagnosis of giant cell arteritis and the efficacy of early steroid therapy in this vascular autoimmune disease that otherwise may result in irreversible functional and debilitating systemic damage.
RESUMO
One hundred and ten patients (179 eyes) with reduced visual acuity caused by different ocular disorders underwent visual rehabilitation with an instrument for biofeedback: improved biofeedback integrated system (Ibis). One hundred and fourteen eyes had age-related macular degeneration, 39 eyes had myopic macular degeneration, and 26 eyes were affected by different ocular disorders. A placebo training was developed on 34 patients (47 eyes). Thirty-three eyes had age-related macular degeneration and 15 eyes had myopic macular degeneration. Visual acuity was found to be improved in 130/179 eyes (72.62%). Mean visual acuity was 0.24 before training and 0.36 at the last follow-up. A review of the literature and possible mechanisms are discussed.