No abstract available.
Colorectal Neoplasms* ; Neoplasm Metastasis*

The effect of topical steroid application on clinical results of 215 eyes(126 patients) performed with excimer laser photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) from July 1993 to July 1994 was evaluated, postopertively. The range of myopia was between -2.5 and -11.5 diopter and followed for 9 months after PRK with Summit Omnimed(TM). Topical corticosteroid or non-steroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID) was not applied for one month after operation in all cases. After one month, in cases of 115 eyes showing myopic regression of more than -1 diopter or stromal haziness of more than grade 1(delayed steroid group; DSG), 0.1% fluorometholone was applied 4 times daily for 4 weeks, then tapered according to the planned schedule. 46.5% (100 eyes, non-steroid group;NSG) did not show the myopic regression nor stromal haziness without treatment of fluorometholone throughout the follow-up period. Uncorrected visual acuity, spherical equivalent and corneal haziness were evaluated 1, 2, 4, 8, 12, 24, 36 week after operation. 73%(73 eyes) of NSG and 27%(30 eyes) of DSG showed a myopia less than 6.0 diopters preoperatively. The proportion of male was 36% in NSG and 50.4% in DSG. 88.1% of male high myopia(>6.0 diopters) needed 0.1% fluorometholone, while 17.6% of female moderate and mild myopia( Appointments and Schedules ; Female ; Fluorometholone ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lasers, Excimer* ; Male ; Myopia ; Photorefractive Keratectomy* ; Visual Acuity

We analyzed retrospectively 39 cases of 39 patients who had undergone surgery for penetrating ocular injury involving posterior segment to investigate the effect of pars plana vitrectomy on visual outcome and anatomical success. Patients who received surgery between January, 1990 to October, 1994 were included. The patients who underwent pars plana vitrectomy were classified to 'vitrectomy group', and those who had not undergone vitrectomy were classified to 'primary repair group'. There were no significant differences in severity of ocular injury between the two groups. The vitrectomy group had significantly better result in functional success(visual result) and the anatomical success. Success rates of the two groups were compared in the presence of poor prognostic factors, including initial visual acuity worse than hand motion, hyphema more than 50%, vitreous hemorrhage, retinal detachment, laceration longer than 7mm, located more than 6mm posterior to the limbus. Vitrectomy group showed better results in the presence of each factor.
Hand ; Humans ; Hyphema ; Lacerations ; Retinal Detachment ; Retrospective Studies ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy ; Vitreous Hemorrhage

The authors reviewed retrospectively retinal detachment(RD)s following posterior chamber intraocular lens(PC-IOL) implantation by transscleral suture fixation. One hundred twenty-two transscleral fixations of PC-IOL were performed from January, 1990 to December, 1992. The follow-up periods for this series ranged from 12 to 42 months. Six retinal detachments developed in this series. and the incidence of RD was 4.9%. There was no statistical difference between the primary operation group(unplanned posterior capsule rupture during extracapsular cataract extraction, lens dislocation/subluxation) and the secondary operation group(already aphakia after previous cataract surgery). The predisposing factors to RD were myopic eye(p=0.03), postoperative vitreous hemorrhage(p=0.001). In cases with RD, the locations of transscleral fixation sutures almost coincided with the meridians of the retinal breaks. The contributing factors to increased incidence of RD were thought to be vitreous loss during operations, vitreous traction by suturing needle or haptics of IOL, proliferative change by vitreous hemorrhage.
Aphakia ; Cataract ; Cataract Extraction ; Causality ; Follow-Up Studies ; Incidence ; Lenses, Intraocular* ; Meridians ; Needles ; Retinal Detachment* ; Retinal Perforations ; Retinaldehyde* ; Retrospective Studies ; Rupture ; Sutures ; Traction ; Vitreous Hemorrhage

PURPOSE: In the pathogenesis of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR), retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells do not undergo apoptosis after separation from the basement membrane. In order to investigate the mechanism by which RPE cells resist apoptosis in PVR, the expression of focal adhesion kinase after cryotherapy was studied. METHODS: After lensectomy and vitrectomy was performed on rabbit eyes, a retinal tear was created. Cryotherapy was applied to the tear site one week after the tear creation. Rabbits were sacrificed at 1, 4 and 7 days after the tear formation and 30 minutes, 1, 4, 7, 9, 21 days after cryotherapy. Eyes were stained with anti-focal adhesion kinase (FAK) antibody. RESULTS: Expression of FAK increased after the tear formation and remained increased until 21days after cryotherapy. CONCLUSIONS: These data show that creation of a retinal tear and cryotherapy increases FAK expression and may contribute to resistance to apoptosis.
Apoptosis ; Basement Membrane ; Cryotherapy* ; Epithelial Cells* ; Focal Adhesion Protein-Tyrosine Kinases* ; Focal Adhesions* ; Phosphotransferases ; Rabbits ; Retinal Perforations ; Retinaldehyde* ; Vitrectomy ; Vitreoretinopathy, Proliferative

The traditional light microscopy has limitations for precise growth assays of malaria parasites in culture or for assessment of new compounds for antimalarial activity; the speed and high reproducibility of flow cytometry can overcome these limitations. A flow cytometric method using PicoGreen, a DNA-binding fluorochrome, was developed with optimal precision suitable for performing growth assays of low-parasitemia field isolates. In addition, intra- and inter-person reproducibility of the flow cytometric and the microscopic method were compared in order to quantitatively demonstrate the improved precision. RNase treatment contributed to the precision of the flow cytometric measurements by enhancing the signal-to-noise ratios. Coefficients of variation of the method were smaller than 10% for 0.1% or higher parasitemia samples. The intra- and inter-person coefficients of variation of the flow cytometric method were three to six times smaller than those of the microscopic method. The flow cytometric method developed in this study yielded substantially more precise results than the microscopic method, allowing determination of parasitemia levels of 0.1% or higher, with coefficients of variation smaller than 10%. Thus, the PicoGreen method could be a reliable high sensitivity assay for analysis of low parasitemia samples and might be applied to a high throughput system testing antimalarial drug activity.
*Flow Cytometry ; Fluorescent Dyes/chemistry ; Humans ; *Microscopy ; Organic Chemicals/chemistry ; Parasitemia/*diagnosis ; Plasmodium falciparum/*isolation & purification ; Reproducibility of Results ; Ribonucleases/metabolism ; Signal-To-Noise Ratio

PURPOSE: To determine the benefit of optical coherence tomography (OCT) in the diagnosis of vitreomacular traction syndrome and evaluate the vitreoretinal interface before and after vitreous surgery. METHODS: Medical records of five patients with vitreomacular traction syndrome who had undergone vitrectomy were reviewed. Preoperative and postoperative visual acuity and preoperative and postoperative OCT were reviewed. In all patients OCT demonstrated posterior vitreous detachment and a focal adhesion of hyaloid membrane to macula with traction on the foveal retinal tissue. All of them underwent pars plana vitrectomy with peeling of poterior hyaloid face. RESULTS: Visual acuity improved in 4 eyes after the first vitrectomy. One eye developed postoperatively a macular hole, which was treated with the second vitrectomy and intravitreal gas tamponade with subsequent improvement in vision. In 4 eyes, OCT showed elimination of vitreous strand, relief of vitreous traction and restoration of normal foveal contour after vitrectomy. CONCLUSION: Optical coherence tomography is a useful tool in the diagnosis of vitreomacular traction syndrome and in the evaluation of status of vitreoretinal interface before and after vitrectomy. Following pars plana vitrectomy, vision improved and normal foveal contour was restored.
Diagnosis* ; Focal Adhesions ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Membranes ; Retinal Perforations ; Retinaldehyde ; Tomography, Optical Coherence* ; Traction* ; Visual Acuity ; Vitrectomy ; Vitreous Detachment

PURPOSE: To investigate the clinical manifestations and treatments of parafoveal telangiectasis. METHODS: Twenty-two eyes of fifteen patients diagnosed as parafoveal telangiectasis were selected who had visited Kong Eye Center from September 1999 to August 2003 complaining of decreasing visual acuity. Visual acuity was checked and fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography were done. Authors treated six eyes of six patients experienced decreasing visual acuity due to macular edema with argon laser photocoagulation and one eye of one patient accompanying with choroidal neovascularization with photodynamic therapy. RESULTS: Among fifteen patients, group 1 cases were eight (1B eight) and group 2 cases were seven by classification of Gass and Blodi. Visual acuity improved in two eyes of six eyes and maintained in four eyes of six eyes and optical coherence tomography showed decrease of macular edema in six eyes of six patients all after argon laser photocoagulation. Visual acuity improved and optical coherence tomography showed decrease of macular edema in one eye of one patient after photodynamic therapy. CONCLUSIONS: Group 1 cases were more than group 2 cases. Argon laser photocoagulation can be effectively used to treat decreasing visual acuity due to macular edema in parafoveal telangiectasis patients. Photodynamic therapy seems to be effective in parafoveal telangiectasis accompanied with choroidal neovascularization but we think that additional studies with more cases are needed.
Argon ; Choroidal Neovascularization ; Classification ; Fluorescein Angiography ; Humans ; Light Coagulation ; Macular Edema ; Photochemotherapy ; Telangiectasis* ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is an intractable epilepsy which is comprised of several types of etiology and generalized seizures. It also combines with mental retardation. The present study was made to ascertain the clinical study on Lennox-Gastaut syndrome in Korea. METHODS: From January, 1985 to December, 1995, 31 children, diagnosed with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome at Kyung Hee University Hospital, were analyzed retrospectively. RESULTS: The ratio of male to female was 2.4:1. With regard to etiology, idiopathic form was found in 7 cases (22.6%) and symptomatic form in 24 cases (77.4%). Transition from West syndrome to Lennox-Gastaut syndrome was observed in 14 cases (45.2%). The most common type of seizure was tonic seizure which was seen in 19 cases (61.3%) and atypical absence, myoclonic seizure and atonic seizure were also observed. The most common clinical signs and symptoms were mental retardation, but others such as progressive loss of psychomotor function and attention deficit were also frequently associated with this syndrome. The EEG usually had abnormal background activity, slow spike and wave complexes and often showed multifocal abnormalities. In spite of intractable epilepsy, 18 cases (58.1%) were controlled with complex anticonvulsant therapy. CONCLUSION: Lennox-Gastaut syndrome manifested itself in children aged 1-6 years and had polyetiology. Most tonic seizures and mental retardation were observed. After complex anticonvulsant therapy with vigabatrin, complete remission was induced in many cases.
Child ; Electroencephalography ; Epilepsy ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Intellectual Disability ; Korea ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Seizures ; Spasms, Infantile ; Vigabatrin

Loss-of function mutations in the transmembrane inner ear expressed (Tmie/TMIE) gene have been shown to cause deafness in mice and humans (DFNB6). Previous studies report that the circling mouse can be an animal model for DFNB6. However, the expression pattern of Tmie protein in postnatal developmental stages has not been clearly revealed. In this study we tried to investigate the expression of Tmie protein in the liver, spleen, kidney, and lung, as well as in the cochlea. We examined various tissue samples from five different age groups of C57BL/6J animals. Using western blotting analysis, the expression of Tmie protein in these organs has been identified. The results show that Tmie protein expression in the cochlea has been increased in postnatal developmental stages, indicating that Tmie plays an important role in not only the development and also in the function of the cochlea. The expression pattern of Tmie in adult mouse organs such as the liver, spleen, kidney, and spleen significantly vary in adult rats. The order of Tmie expression level in mice (63 days after birth) was spleen, liver, lung, cochlea, and kidney, whereas in the adult rat it was liver, cochlea, lung, spleen, and kidney.
Adult ; Animals ; Blotting, Western ; Cochlea ; Deafness ; Ear, Inner ; Humans ; Kidney ; Liver ; Lung ; Mice ; Models, Animal ; Rats ; Spleen