A Comparative Assessment of Metabolic Syndrome and its Association with Vitamin D and Other Risk Factors in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients.

OBJECTIVES: To determine the overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome using the World Health Organization (WHO); National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP), and the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) guidelines and to study its association with vitamin D and other biochemical parameters in patients with type 2 Diabetes mellitus, as well as to identify the set of biochemical parameters that jointly influence the metabolic syndrome using different diagnostic criteria. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at a private health care center in -a total of 291 diabetic patients. Socio-demographic, clinical, and laboratory data were obtained from the medical records of patients. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS, version 23). RESULTS: A total number of 291 patients with T2DM were included in this study. The overall prevalence of metabolic syndrome among the study subjects was 48.1%, 87.3%, 64.9% using the WHO, IDF, and NCEP-ATPIII criteria, respectively. The highest prevalence was reported following IDF diagnostic criteria. Sex, triglyceride, and fasting blood sugar were associated factors of metabolic syndrome by all the three diagnostic criteria of metabolic syndrome. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a high prevalence rate of metabolic syndrome among type 2 diabetic patients, which was highest at 87.3% according to IDF and lowest was observed according to the WHO criteria i.e, 48.1%. A significant variance in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was reported between WHO, IDF, and NCEP criteria.

[Unilateral optic atrophy in a 9-year-old patient]. / Einseitige Optikusatrophie bei einem 9-jährigen Patienten.

A 9­year-old patient presented with a reduction of visual acuity in the left eye, which was incidentally noticed 2 weeks previously. Funduscopy revealed a mild vitritis, a pale optic disk, narrowed blood vessels and an increased reflex of the retinal surface. The values in the blood examination were normal apart from eosinophilia and an elevated immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibody titer.

Association of Serum Calcium Level with Waist Circumference and Other Biochemical Health-care Predictors among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes.

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to find the association of serum calcium level with abdominal obesity according to the waist circumference (WC) and the associated factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was carried out at private health-care center. A total of 291 patients, aged 18 years and above, with type 2 diabetes mellitus who attended the clinic from May 2017 through March 2018 were included. Sociodemographic, clinical, and laboratory data were obtained from the medical records of patients. Statistical analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS, version 23). Abdominal obesity was defined by WC ≥ 80cm in women and ≥94cm in men. RESULTS: A total number of 291 participants participated in the study. Among these participants, 42.6% (n = 124) were male and 57.4% (n = 167) were female. The average age of respondents was 55.99 ± 9.81 years. Among the male participants, 90 (72.6%) (95% confidence interval [CI]: 64.6%-80.5%) were abdominally obese as were 154 participants (92.2%) (95% CI: 88.1%-96.3%) among females. Overall, 244 participants (83.8%) (95% CI: 79.6%-88.1%) were abdominally obese. The results of statistical modeling showed that gender, smoking status, physical activity, and serum calcium are strong determinants of abdominal obesity. CONCLUSION: This study revealed a significant association of abdominal obesity and serum calcium level among patients with diabetes.

Distance-Thresholded Intercapillary Area Analysis Versus Vessel-Based Approaches to Quantify Retinal Ischemia in OCTA.

PURPOSE: To develop and compare different analytic approaches for quantifying ischemia in OCT-angiography (OCTA), including vessel-based approaches and intercapillary area analysis. METHODS: En face OCTA (6 × 6) images of the superficial plexus of 20 healthy eyes and 20 eyes with different ischemic retinal diseases were analyzed retrospectively. Included retinal diseases were diabetic retinopathy (n = 9), central (n = 5) and branch retinal vein occlusion (n = 4), hypertensive retinopathy (n = 1), and occlusive retinal vasculitis in sarcoidosis (n = 1). Vessel-based approaches consisted of the mean gray scale, perfusion density, and vessel density. Intercapillary areas (ICAs) were analyzed measuring the distance of each intercapillary pixel from the surrounding vessels. In particular, we applied a vector method to measure the shortest, the mean, and the longest distance in eight predefined directions. Size of ICAs was determined applying different global or local distance thresholds. RESULTS: All approaches revealed significant differences between ischemic and healthy retinae (P < 0.001, with Bonferroni-Holm correction P = 0.001-0.025; Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test). Discrimination between the healthy and ischemic retinae based on ROC curves was best in the ICA analysis using a locally set threshold of the shortest distance. CONCLUSIONS: In the present study, ICA analysis was superior to vessel-based approaches in the quantification of retinal ischemia when defining a local or global distance threshold. TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE: In order to establish OCTA imaging in everyday clinical and scientific practice, standardized, device-independent image analysis methods are necessary.

Lipid Emulsion-Based OCT Angiography for Ex Vivo Imaging of the Aqueous Outflow Tract.

Purpose: Contrast agents applicable for optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging are rare. The intrascleral aqueous drainage system would be a potential application for a contrast agent, because the aqueous veins are of small diameter and located deep inside the highly scattering sclera. We tested lipid emulsions (LEs) as candidate OCT contrast agents in vitro and ex vivo, including milk and the anesthetic substance Propofol. Methods: Commercial OCT and OCT angiography (OCTA) devices were used. Maximum reflectivity and signal transmission of LE were determined in tube phantoms. Absorption spectra and light scattering was analyzed. The anterior chamber of enucleated porcine eyes was perfused with LEs, and OCTA imaging of the LEs drained via the aqueous outflow tract was performed. Results: All LEs showed a significantly higher reflectivity than water (P < 0.001). Higher milk lipid content was positively correlated with maximum reflectivity and negatively with signal transmission. Propofol exhibited the best overall performance. Due to a high degree of signal fluctuation, OCTA could be applied for detection of LE. Compared with blood, the OCTA signal of Propofol was significantly stronger (P = 0.001). As a proof of concept, time-resolved aqueous angiography of porcine eyes was performed. The three-dimensional (3D) structure and dynamics of the aqueous outflow were significantly different from humans. Conclusions: LEs induced a strong signal in OCT and OCTA. LE-based OCTA allowed the ability to obtain time-resolved 3D datasets of aqueous outflow. Possible interactions of LE with inner eye's structures need to be further investigated before in vivo application.

Unilateral Vision Loss after a Dental Visit.

Intraoral local anesthetics are widely used for performing painless dental treatments; however, in some cases, they may cause ocular complications such as meiosis, diplopia, nystagmus, ophthalmoplegia, ptosis, and amaurosis. Mostly, the symptoms disappear after several hours; rarely, they have a prolonged character. We describe the case of a 38-year-old young man who had reduced vision in the left eye 5 days after having received intraoral local anesthesia. A diagnosis of cilioretinal artery occlusion with optic disc swelling was made. Ten weeks later, the patient's visual acuity had increased to 20/20, and the swelling of the optic disc had subsided. Although various possible mechanisms for ocular complications after intraoral local anesthetic administration were suggested in the literature, the exact etiology remains unclear. In this case, inadvertent intravascular injection is believed to be the cause.