Assessment of efficacy and safety of micropulse diode laser treatment in glaucoma: One year follow-up. / Evaluación de la eficacia y seguridad del diodo láser micropulsado en el tratamiento de glaucoma: un año de seguimiento.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the effectiveness and safety of the micropulse transscleral technique in lowering intraocular pressure in patients with glaucoma. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective cohort study was conducted on 143 eyes with various glaucoma subtypes between October 2016 and December 2018. Patients were grouped for analysis based on glaucoma subtypes, preoperative demographics, previous surgical procedures, and postoperative results. The data collected was based on intra- and post-operative complications, intraocular pressure, visual acuity, the need of micropulse re-treatment, incisional glaucoma surgery, and increasing the dose/quantity of medications. A logistic and Cox regression model was performed to determine predictors of therapeutic failure, in addition to building Kaplan-Meier curves. RESULTS: The mean follow-up was 268 days, and 63% of the patients completed one year. The micropulse procedure achieved a mean intraocular pressure decline of 7.3mmHg (excluding neovascular glaucoma), independent of the glaucoma subtype. The percentage of patients who achieved intraocular pressure less than 20mmHg at 24h was 78%, with 80% at 3 months, 77% at 6 months, and 78% at 12 months. During the follow-up, 29.6% of the patients required additional treatment or a dose increase. Only 2patients presented with minimal postoperative complications. CONCLUSION: The treatment with transscleral micropulse is a safe and efficient technique for use in glaucoma, attaining a reduction in intraocular pressure and decrease in need of antihypertensive medications within the first year following the procedure.

[Phytothermotherapy with fermenting alpine grass in knee osteoarthritis: mid-long term results]. / Fitobalneoterapia con bagni nell'erba di montagna in fermentazione nella gonartrosi: risultati a medio-lungo termine.

This is an observational study of the mid-long-term results of a single course of phytothermotherapy with grass baths (group A, 54 patients), of a course of usual medical care (group B, 58 patients) and of a course of physiokinesistherapy (FKT, group C, 30 patients) in knee osteoarthritis. For each group of consecutively treated patients we evaluated the Lequesne algo-functional Index, the drug consumption, the frequency of the patient-physician contacts and laboratory or radiological examinations after 10-15 days of treatment and at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months with blind telephonic follow-up. The mean Lequesne-score at basal time was 7.5+/-3.3, 11.9+/-5.3 and 11.0+/-2.7 in group A, B and C respectively. In each group this score diminished at the end of the treatment (p<0.001). At 3, 6, 9 and 12 months the score remained lower than at basal time in group A (p<0.001) and group B (p<0.01), but not in group C. Drug consumption, patient-physician contacts and lab examinations were 5 times lower in group A than in group B and group C at basal time and throughout the follow-up. The study underlines the mid-long term efficacy of grass baths on both pain and functionality in knee osteoarthritis; this effect, compared to basal values, was even more evident at 3 and 6 months than that of usual medical care. FKT shows improvement only at the end of the treatment, but not long-lastingly.

[Occurrence of HLA B27 antigen in ankylosing spondylitis in Italy]. / Contribution à l'étude de la fréquence de l"antigène HLA B27 dans la spondylite ankylosante en Italie.

39 individuals from Middle and South Italy were selected for being affected by ankylosing spondylitis (AS) (N = 22) or by sacroiliitis (SI) (N = 17) and typed for the HLA system antigens. 320 healthy individuals were typed as control population. The following phenotypic frequencies of HLA-B27 were found; 68% in AS patients, 71% in SI patients and 5% in controls. The frequency of B27 observed among our AS patients is lower than those observed in other caucasian patients. Our data may be explained either by a genetic hypothesis or by an environmental hypothesis; data reported by other authors let we believe that the last one is more reliable.