PURPOSE: To observe and characterize subconjunctival lymphatics in patients with subconjunctival hemorrhages. METHODS: Patients who visited our clinic with subconjunctival hemorrhage resulting from ocular trauma, or subconjunctival injection of gentamicin and betamethasone during a cataract operation, were included in this study. Subconjunctival hemorrhages and subconjunctival lymphatics were observed using slit lamp biomicroscopy. RESULTS: Apparent dilated lymphatics were found in one patient with subconjunctival hemorrhage after rubbing of the eye; thin lymphatics were found in 10 patients with traumatic subconjunctival hemorrhages; and apparent dilated lymphatics were found in 10 patients after subconjunctival injection. Slit lamp biomicroscopy using a green filter allowed easy visualization of subconjunctival lymphatics. CONCLUSIONS: Subconjunctival lymphatics, which are not visible in normal ocular conditions, are evident on subconjunctival hemorrhages, especially after subconjunctival drug injection.
Betamethasone ; Cataract ; Conjunctiva ; Gentamicins ; Hemorrhage ; Humans

PURPOSE: We report an atypical case of Terrien's marginal degeneration with epithelial defect and peripheral 360 degrees lipidopathy. METHODS: A 59-year-old female patient visited our clinic complaining of severe foreign body sensation in her right eye. She had visited our clinic with foreign body sensation 11 years before. She has been followed-up for 11 years with a diagnosis of Terrien's marginal degeneration. Upon ocular exmaniation, visual acuity of both eyes was 20/20. Both eyes had 360 degrees circumferential peripheral thinning with deposition of lipids. The lesion progressed very little over past 11 years. For the patient's most recent examination, the foreign body sensation is believed to be caused by calcified lipid deposition protruding from the corneal stroma with an epithelial defect. RESULTS: What makes this case unique is the 360 degrees circumferential peripheral thinning with deposition of lipid and calcification of lipid deposition which protruded from corneal stroma with an epithelial defect.
Corneal Stroma ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Foreign Bodies ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Sensation ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: To Carry out a low vision quality of life questionnaire and to evaluate subjective quality of life of low-vision patients. METHODS: The subject were 250 patients whose visual acuity was between hand motion and 0.3 among the patients at our clinic. The normal control group included 60 patients. After a review of the literature, we selected a useful questionnaire to assess quality of life in low vision patients and translated the questionnaire into Korean. The questionnaire used had 25 items concerning low vision and each question was multiple-choice, and the sum of the total points was used to assess of the quality of life. RESULTS: The range of scores was from 0 to 125 points (the higher the score, the higher the quality of life). Fifty-one patients among 250 patients in the low vision group replied to our questionnaire. Fifty patients among 60 patients in the control group replied. The average low vision quality of life (LVQOL) score for patients with low vision (67.3+/-26.7) was significantly lower than the average score of those with normal vision (114+/-9.72). There was no statistically significant difference between the average score of patients questioned by mail versus telephone CONCLUSIONS: The score of low vision patients was significantly lower than that of the control group, so this questionnaire can be applied to low vision patients specifically to evaluate quality of life. Optimally, the the questionnaire shoud be administered before and after the low vision consultation. The comparision of prerehabilitation score with postrehabilitation score might be helpful to evaluate the quality of life in a post rehabilitation state.
Hand ; Humans ; Postal Service ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation ; Telephone ; Vision, Low* ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: To Carry out a low vision quality of life questionnaire and to evaluate subjective quality of life of low-vision patients. METHODS: The subject were 250 patients whose visual acuity was between hand motion and 0.3 among the patients at our clinic. The normal control group included 60 patients. After a review of the literature, we selected a useful questionnaire to assess quality of life in low vision patients and translated the questionnaire into Korean. The questionnaire used had 25 items concerning low vision and each question was multiple-choice, and the sum of the total points was used to assess of the quality of life. RESULTS: The range of scores was from 0 to 125 points (the higher the score, the higher the quality of life). Fifty-one patients among 250 patients in the low vision group replied to our questionnaire. Fifty patients among 60 patients in the control group replied. The average low vision quality of life (LVQOL) score for patients with low vision (67.3+/-26.7) was significantly lower than the average score of those with normal vision (114+/-9.72). There was no statistically significant difference between the average score of patients questioned by mail versus telephone CONCLUSIONS: The score of low vision patients was significantly lower than that of the control group, so this questionnaire can be applied to low vision patients specifically to evaluate quality of life. Optimally, the the questionnaire shoud be administered before and after the low vision consultation. The comparision of prerehabilitation score with postrehabilitation score might be helpful to evaluate the quality of life in a post rehabilitation state.
Hand ; Humans ; Postal Service ; Quality of Life* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Rehabilitation ; Telephone ; Vision, Low* ; Visual Acuity

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical results of the auto-focusing low vision device (EYE FINE) in low vision patients. METHODS: We assessed the clinical effect after prescription of the device in 21 patients who visited the low vision clinic from July 2004 to January 2005. We examined visual acuity and contrast sensitivity before and after prescription. RESULTS: Mean distant visual acuity increased from 1.00+/-0.30 LogMAR to 0.69+/-0.34 LogMAR and the differences were statistically significant (P<0.01). Mean near visual acuity increased from 0.89+/-0.25 LogMAR to 0.71+/-0.30 LogMAR (P<0.01). And mean contrast sensitivities at spatial frequencies of 1.5, 3, 6, 12 and 18 cycles per degree (cpd) increased from 7.9+/-4.5, 10.8+/-7.4, 10.5+/-9.6, 3.9+/-3.8 and 2.0+/-2.7 to 10.5+/-8.0, 15.1+/-10.6, 16.3+/-13.6, 6.5+/-7.3 and 2.5+/-3.0, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: EYE FINE offers the advantage of auto-focusing according to working distance.
Contrast Sensitivity ; Humans ; Prescriptions ; Vision, Low* ; Visual Acuity

Purpose: We report a case of Purtscher-like retinopathy after aortic valve replacement surgery.Case summary: A 52-year-old male with bacteremia suspicious of infectious endocarditis was referred to our department for ophthalmic examination. Inflammatory reaction was evident in both anterior chambers. Fundus examination revealed infiltrative lesions with a Roth spot, and the patient was diagnosed with chorioretinitis. After 3 days, aortic valve replacement surgery was performed in the cardiac surgery department using cardioplegic solutions. Ophthalmologic exams were repeated after the valve surgery. The Roth spot had disappeared and infiltrated, leaving a clear margin. An anterior chamber cell was not noted. However, there were newly developed peripapillary superficial cotton-wool spots and delayed hemorrhagic lesions. Based on the medical history and specific pathognomonic fundus findings, the patient was diagnosed with Purtscher-like retinopathy. Four months later, all characteristic funduscopic features of Purtscher-like retinopathy had disappeared, leaving a remaining retinal nerve fiber defect and central visual field defect without any ophthalmologic treatment. Conclusions Although rare, doctors should be aware of the possibility of Purtscher-like retinopathy after valve replacement surgery. Further studies are needed to understand the unknown pathophysiology of Purtscher-like retinopathy.

OBJECTIVE: Biomarkers of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are crucial for early diagnosis and intervention, in which the identification of biomarkers in other areas of the body that represent the immature brain of children with ADHD is necessary. The present study aimed to find biomarkers of ADHD in the retina and assessed the relationship between macular thickness of the retina and cortical thickness of the brain in children with ADHD. METHODS: Twelve children with ADHD and 13 control children were recruited for the study. To find ocular markers of ADHD, we investigated the correlation between clinical symptoms of ADHD assessed with the Korean ADHD Rating Scale (K-ARS), cortical thickness of the brain, and macular thickness measured with the mean thickness from the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS). RESULTS: Children with ADHD showed increased macular thicknesses quantified as an ETDRS ring in both eyes, compared to control subjects. Moreover, the right inner ETDRS ring had a positive correlation with K-ARS scores. The ADHD group had an increased ratio of thickness of the right frontal lobe to that of the parietal cortex, compared with the control group. There were positive correlations between the means of the inner ETDRS ring (right) and the left paracentral/right isthmus cingulate thicknesses in the control group. However, there were negative correlations between the means of the inner ETDRS ring (right) and the left frontal pole/right pars triangularis thicknesses in the ADHD group. The results of both groups were at the uncorrected level. CONCLUSION: The different patterns of macular thickness might represent the immature cortical thickness of the brain in children with ADHD.
Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Biomarkers ; Brain ; Broca Area ; Child ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Diagnosis ; Early Diagnosis ; Frontal Lobe ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Parietal Lobe ; Pilot Projects ; Retina

Purpose: We report a case of Purtscher-like retinopathy after aortic valve replacement surgery.Case summary: A 52-year-old male with bacteremia suspicious of infectious endocarditis was referred to our department for ophthalmic examination. Inflammatory reaction was evident in both anterior chambers. Fundus examination revealed infiltrative lesions with a Roth spot, and the patient was diagnosed with chorioretinitis. After 3 days, aortic valve replacement surgery was performed in the cardiac surgery department using cardioplegic solutions. Ophthalmologic exams were repeated after the valve surgery. The Roth spot had disappeared and infiltrated, leaving a clear margin. An anterior chamber cell was not noted. However, there were newly developed peripapillary superficial cotton-wool spots and delayed hemorrhagic lesions. Based on the medical history and specific pathognomonic fundus findings, the patient was diagnosed with Purtscher-like retinopathy. Four months later, all characteristic funduscopic features of Purtscher-like retinopathy had disappeared, leaving a remaining retinal nerve fiber defect and central visual field defect without any ophthalmologic treatment. Conclusions Although rare, doctors should be aware of the possibility of Purtscher-like retinopathy after valve replacement surgery. Further studies are needed to understand the unknown pathophysiology of Purtscher-like retinopathy.

BACKGROUND: We developed an ethanol extract of peanut sprouts (EPS), a peanut sprout-derived natural product, which contains a high level of trans-resveratrol (176.75 microg/ml) and was shown to have potent antioxidant activity. OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the potential anti-inflammatory activity of EPS by measuring its antioxidant potential in skin. METHODS: The anti-inflammatory activity of EPS was tested using two models of skin inflammation: oxazolone (OX)-induced contact dermatitis in mice and compound 48/80-treated HaCaT cells. As biomarkers of skin inflammation, cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and nerve growth factor (NGF) levels were measured. RESULTS: OX-induced contact dermatitis was suppressed markedly in mice that were treated with an ointment containing 5% EPS as evidenced by a decrease in the extent of scaling and thickening (p<0.05) and supported by a histological study. COX-2 (messenger RNA [mRNA] and protein) and NGF (mRNA) levels, which were upregulated in the skin of OX-treated mice, were suppressed markedly in the skin of OX+EPS-treated mice. Consistent with this, compound 48/80-induced expression of COX-2 (mRNA and protein) and NGF (mRNA) in HaCaT cells were suppressed by EPS treatment in a dose-dependent manner. As an inhibitor of NF-kappaB, IkappaB protein levels were dose-dependently upregulated by EPS. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) analysis revealed that EPS scavenged compound 48/80-induced reactive oxygen species (ROS) in HaCaT cells. CONCLUSION: EPS exerts a potent anti-inflammatory activity via its anti-oxidant activity in both mouse skin and compound 48/80-treated HaCaT cells in vitro. Compound 48/80-treated HaCaT cells are a useful new in vitro model of skin inflammation.
Animals ; Biomarkers ; Cyclooxygenase 2 ; Dermatitis, Contact* ; Ethanol* ; Flow Cytometry ; Inflammation ; Mice* ; Nerve Growth Factor ; NF-kappa B ; Oxazolone ; p-Methoxy-N-methylphenethylamine ; Reactive Oxygen Species ; RNA ; Skin

BACKGROUND: Nosocomial urinary tract infection (UTI) accounts for 35% of the nosocomial infection and 80-90% of them are associated with urethral catheters. Recently, we experienced an outbreak of nosocomial UTI caused by multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in neurosurgical intensive care unit (NSICU). METHODS: We investigated clinical records of the patients and observed the methods of care of urethral catheters in NSICU. Identification of P. aeruginose was done by API NE (API system; bioMerieux, France) and antibiotic susceptibility tests were done by disk diffusion method. Random Amplification of Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) assay was used as a genotyping method. RESULTS: Between November 1997 and January 1998, 11 P. aeruginosa strains were isolated from the urine of 11 patients hospitalized in NSICU of Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital. Routine regular bladder irrigation, and emptying urine with common urinal had been done falsely. Antibiogram of the isolates showed resistance to multiple antibiotics including imipenem, gentamicin. amikacin, piperacillin, ciprofloxacin, ceftazidime, and cefoperazone/sulbactam. RAPD of the outbreak strains showed clonal relatedness, which was different from those of other clinical strains, We instructed all the health care workers to stop bladder Irrigation, and to use the separate urinals for each patient. Thereafter, no further case of P. aeruginosa UTI has occurred. CONCLUSION: An outbreak of UTI, caused by a single clone of P. aeruginosa, was confirmed by RAPD and was eradicated after correction of false practice on care-of urinary catheter.
Amikacin ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Ceftazidime ; Ciprofloxacin ; Clone Cells ; Cross Infection ; Delivery of Health Care ; Diffusion ; DNA ; Drug Resistance, Multiple ; Gentamicins ; Humans ; Imipenem ; Intensive Care Units ; Microbial Sensitivity Tests ; Piperacillin ; Pseudomonas aeruginosa* ; Pseudomonas* ; Urinary Bladder ; Urinary Catheters ; Urinary Tract Infections* ; Urinary Tract*