No abstract available.
Acupuncture* ; Tattooing*

To analyze the normal adult corneal thickness, we used the Orbscan(Orbtek, Inc.)to measure 50 volunteer subjects. The reproducibility of the pachymetry, the daytime variation of corneal thickness and the consistency of thickness across days were analyzed. All 50 subjects were measured, taken each at 8:00, 9:30, 11:00, 13:00, 14:30, and 16:00. The corneal thickness was taken at the center and 1.0 mm, 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm, 2.5 mm, 3.0 mm and 3.5 mm away from the center. Also measurements were made 3 consecutive days at the center, 2.0 mm and 3.5 mm away from the center. Repeatability of corneal thickness was highly reliable(Guttman split-half point:0.9972 and 0.9961, respectively). The average distance difference was 10 micrometer at the center and 23 micrometer at 3.5 mm away from the center. The corneal thickness did show a diurnal pattern during the day but was stable when measured across days. No significant difference when measuring on the same hour on another day was shown the corneal thickness to be consistent.
Adult ; Humans ; Keratomileusis, Laser In Situ ; Volunteers

When inserting an orbital implant, evisceration allows suitable movement of the eyeball making it a better method cosmetically than enucleation; performing hydroxyapatite implantation after evisceration preserving the cornea sometimes causes the complication of cornea melting. To reduce complications after evisceration and hydroxyapatite implantation,scleral patch graft with corneal excision was performed in 15 eyes of 15 patients. In all 15 eyes, 20 mm-sized hydroxyapatite implants were inserted. Fourteen eyesshowed no complications, but in one eye scleral suture was exposed and 2months later the implant was exposed around that area. Also, there developed conjunctival wound dehiscence and exposure of the central portion of the scleral graft in two eyes. But the exposed sclera was fibrovascularized by the surrounding conjunctival tissue and did not lead to exposure of the implant. This study suggests that when performing evisceration and hydroxyapatite implantation, scleral pach graft with cornea excision is helpful in reducing the incidence of exposure of hydroxyapatite implant.
Cornea ; Durapatite ; Freezing ; Humans ; Incidence ; Orbital Implants ; Sclera ; Sutures ; Transplants* ; Wounds and Injuries

Lower lid retraction can be caused by many etiologies but few require surgical intervention except for cosmetic reasons and exposure deratitis due to lagophthalmos. We report three lower lid retraction patients who underwent lower lid reconstruction was due to congenital etiology or was secondary to excessive inferior rectus muscle recession or lower lid blepharoplasty due to orbital neurofibroma. All three patients found their results satisfactory and showed no severe side effects during the follow-up period. It is suggested that the use of scleral spacer combined with lateral canthoplasty be an effective surgical procedure for correction of lower lid retraction.
Blepharoplasty ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Neurofibroma ; Orbit

No abstract available.
Hemiplegia ; Scabies*

The estrogen receptor (ER) is present in a wide variety of mammalian tissues and is required for the physiological responses of estrogen, including estrogen-induced tissue-specific changes in gene expression. But most of our knowledge on the regulation of ER mRNA levels comes from in vivo steroid replacement experiments or cancer cell lines that express the ER. Thus the present study was attempted to determine 1) the anterior pituitary ER mRNA levels during rat estrous cycle 2) if estradiol itself directly modulates the ER mRNA levels in cultured rat anterior pituitary using RT-PCR method. In rats with 4 day estrous cycle, the ER mRNA levels in anterior pituitary gland reached to maximum at proestrus 11:00h just before serum estradiol concentration showed the highest. From then, the ER mRNA levels gradually declined during the rest of the proestrus. On the other hands, in cultured rat anterior pituitary cells, the ER mRNA levels were significantly decreased by the treatment of estradiol. These results indicate that the surge of estradiol was proceeded by the increase in pituitary ER mRNA levels during the proestrus and in cultured anterior pituitary cells, estrogen might be involved in the down-regulation of the ER mRNA levels.
Animals ; Cell Line ; Down-Regulation ; Estradiol ; Estrogens* ; Estrous Cycle ; Gene Expression ; Hand ; Pituitary Gland, Anterior* ; Proestrus ; Rats* ; RNA, Messenger*

No abstract available.
Forearm*

PURPOSE: To report three cases of rituximab treatment in refractory orbital inflammatory disease. CASE SUMMARY: Rituximab treatment was performed in three patients (thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy, orbital myositis, and idiopathic sclerosing inflammation) unresponsive to corticosteroid and radiotherapy. One cycle consisted of intravenous infusion of 1000 mg of rituximab, twice at a two-week interval. The patient with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy exhibited clinical improvement in visual acuity, color vision, visual evoked potential, and visual field after one cycle of rituximab treatment. The patient with orbital myositis improved showed diplopia with a decrease in the size of the extraocular muscle after two cycles of treatment. The patient with idiopathic sclerosing inflammation showed improvements in visual acuity and visual field defect after one cycle of therapy. There were no severe infections or hematologic adverse effects including neutropenia, or decreased immunoglobulin during the follow-up period. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment with rituximab appears to offer another therapeutic option in patients unresponsive to corticosteroid or radiotherapy.
Antibodies, Monoclonal, Murine-Derived ; Color Vision ; Diplopia ; Evoked Potentials, Visual ; Follow-Up Studies ; Graves Ophthalmopathy ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins ; Inflammation ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Muscles ; Neutropenia ; Orbit ; Orbital Myositis ; Visual Acuity ; Visual Fields ; Rituximab

BACKGROUND: Stellate ganglion block (SGB) is known to increase blood flow to the innervations area of the stellate ganglion. Near infrared spectroscopy reflects an increased blood volume and allows continuous, non-invasive, and bedside monitoring of regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2). We investigated the influence of SGB on bilateral cerebral oxygenation using a near infrared spectroscopy. METHODS: SGB was performed on 30 patients with 1% lidocaine 10 ml using a paratracheal technique at the C6 level and confirmed by the presence of Horner's syndrome. The blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR) and rSO2 were measured before SGB and 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes after SGB. Tympanic temperature of each ear was measured prior to SGB and 20 minutes after SGB. RESULTS: The increments of the rSO2 on the block side from the baseline were statistically significant at 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes. The rSO2 on the non-block side compared with the baseline, however, decreased at 15 and 20 minutes. The difference between the block and the non-block sides was significant at 15 and 20 minutes. The BP at 10, 15 and 20 minutes was increased and the HR was increased at 10 and 15 minutes. CONCLUSIONS: We observed an increment of the rSO2 on the block side from the baseline; however, the rSO2 on the non-block side decreased.
Blood Pressure ; Blood Volume ; Ear ; Heart Rate ; Horner Syndrome ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Oxygen ; Spectrum Analysis ; Stellate Ganglion

No abstract available.
Animals ; Killer Cells, Natural* ; Mice*