PURPOSE: To evaluate the repeatability of non-invasive tear film break-up time and identify its relationships with dry eye parameters. METHODS: A total of 100 participants (50 with dry eye, and 50 in the control group) were enrolled prospectively. Non-invasive keratograph first (NIKf-BUT) and average (NIKav-BUT) break-up times were evaluated 2 times using Keratograph 4 (Oculus, Wetzler, Germany), and then tear film break-up time with fluorescein (FBUT) was measured. The correlation analyses were performed between non-invasive parameters (NIKf-BUT and NIKav-BUT) and FBUT. Intra-observer agreements of NIKf-BUT and NIKav-BUT were assessed using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve technique was used to evaluate the non-invasive method in the diagnosis of dry eye. RESULTS: The correlation analyses revealed positive correlation between NIKav-BUT and FBUT in both groups (dry eye; r = 0.66, p < 0.001 and control group; r = 0.77, p < 0.001). The ICCs of NIKf-BUT and NIKav-BUT were 0.72 and 0.94 in the dry eye, respectively, and 0.70 and 0.91 in the control group. NIKav-BUT was not different from FBUT in either group. The areas under the ROC curves of NIKf-BUT and NIKav-BUT were 0.917 and 0.980, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: The high ICCs verified the repeatability of NIKf-BUT and NIKav-BUT. NIKav-BUT showed no difference from FBUT and positive correlation with FBUT. NIK-BUT showed high diagnostic power and can be considered a new parameter to evaluate dry eye syndrome.
Diagnosis ; Dry Eye Syndromes ; Fluorescein ; Methods ; Prospective Studies ; ROC Curve ; Tears*

Purpose: To determine whether previous cataract surgery affected the surgical prognosis of primary trabeculectomy with mitomycin- C (MMC) to treat exfoliative glaucoma (XFG). Methods: This retrospective, consecutive study included 51 phakic eyes and 40 pseudophakic eyes of XFG patients that had previously undergone phacoemulsification via a temporal, clear corneal incision. All patients underwent primary trabeculectomy with MMC. Complete success was defined by an intraocular pressure (IOP) <18 mmHg and an IOP reduction ≥ 20% without any glaucoma medication. The cumulative probabilities of success were compared using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and risk factors for surgical failure were analyzed using the Cox’s proportional hazards model. Results: The mean follow-up period was 44.7 ± 28.0 months. The IOP had decreased by 4.5 mmHg in phakic eyes and 11.1 mmHg in pseudophakic eyes at the last visits after surgery (p = 0.005). The cumulative complete success rates were 78.4% at 1 year and 15.0% at 5 years for phakic eyes, and 85.0% and 31.5% for pseudophakic eyes. The complete success rates thus tended to be lower for phakic than pseudophakic eyes (p = 0.068). The risk factors associated with surgical failure were early postoperative hypotony (hazard ratio = 2.81, p = 0.016, complete success) and phakic status (hazard ratio = 1.97, p = 0.040, complete success). Conclusions The long-term outcomes of XFG patients whose pseudophakic eyes had undergone phacoemulsification prior to primary trabeculectomy with MMC were comparable to or better than those of patients with phakic eyes. Therefore, performing phacoemulsification first, followed by trabeculectomy, may be the better option if trabeculectomy is required by XFG patients with cataracts.

Purpose: To determine whether previous cataract surgery affected the surgical prognosis of primary trabeculectomy with mitomycin- C (MMC) to treat exfoliative glaucoma (XFG). Methods: This retrospective, consecutive study included 51 phakic eyes and 40 pseudophakic eyes of XFG patients that had previously undergone phacoemulsification via a temporal, clear corneal incision. All patients underwent primary trabeculectomy with MMC. Complete success was defined by an intraocular pressure (IOP) <18 mmHg and an IOP reduction ≥ 20% without any glaucoma medication. The cumulative probabilities of success were compared using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis, and risk factors for surgical failure were analyzed using the Cox’s proportional hazards model. Results: The mean follow-up period was 44.7 ± 28.0 months. The IOP had decreased by 4.5 mmHg in phakic eyes and 11.1 mmHg in pseudophakic eyes at the last visits after surgery (p = 0.005). The cumulative complete success rates were 78.4% at 1 year and 15.0% at 5 years for phakic eyes, and 85.0% and 31.5% for pseudophakic eyes. The complete success rates thus tended to be lower for phakic than pseudophakic eyes (p = 0.068). The risk factors associated with surgical failure were early postoperative hypotony (hazard ratio = 2.81, p = 0.016, complete success) and phakic status (hazard ratio = 1.97, p = 0.040, complete success). Conclusions The long-term outcomes of XFG patients whose pseudophakic eyes had undergone phacoemulsification prior to primary trabeculectomy with MMC were comparable to or better than those of patients with phakic eyes. Therefore, performing phacoemulsification first, followed by trabeculectomy, may be the better option if trabeculectomy is required by XFG patients with cataracts.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal aflibercept according to subfoveal choroidal thickness in patients with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 60 eyes from 60 patients with PCV treated with intravitreal aflibercept. The patients were followed for at least 6 months after the first injection. Using software, subfoveal choroidal thickness was manually measured as the distance from the hyper-reflective line of Bruch's membrane to the chorioscleral interface on optical coherence tomography. The patients were divided into three groups based on subfoveal choroidal thickness. Visual acuity, subfoveal choroidal thickness, central macular thickness and largest pigment epithelial detachment (PED) height, polyp regression rate, and dry macula rate were evaluated to analyze the anatomical and functional outcomes. RESULTS: Baseline mean subfoveal choroidal thickness were 178.50 ± 28.42 µm in the thin group (14 eyes, 23.3%), 287.03 ± 43.58 µm in the medium group (33 eyes, 55.0%), and 379.77 ± 17.09 µm in the thick group (13 eyes, 21.7%). Baseline age, sex, visual acuity, central macular thickness, and the largest PED height did not differ significantly among the three subgroups. Only the thin group showed significant improvement of visual acuity at 6 months (p = 0.005). Subfoveal choroidal thickness, central macular thickness, and largest PED height were significantly decreased after treatment in all subgroups and did not differ among the subgroups. Compared with the other groups, the thin subfoveal choroidal thickness group showed higher polyp regression rate at 3 months and higher dry macula rate at 6 months (p = 0.013 and p = 0.004, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Intravitreal aflibercept injection was effective for the treatment of PCV, and thin subfoveal choroidal thickness was associated with better anatomical and functional outcomes.
Bruch Membrane ; Choroid* ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Polyps ; Retrospective Studies ; Tomography, Optical Coherence ; Visual Acuity

BACKGROUND: Doxorubicin has proved to be a useful chemotherapeutic agent especially for osteogenic sarcoma. It induces cancer cell death via apoptosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: To explore and analyze the changes of gene expression during doxorubicin induced apoptosis on human osteogenic sarcoma, Saos-2 cell, cDNA microarray was performed. After treatment with doxorubicin, total RNA was purified and expressed genes were investigated with a 17k human cDNA microarray. RESULTS: For analysis of the cDNA microarray, the genes were filtered using the sum of the median value of Cy3 and Cy5 signal intensity of greater than 800. Expression of 264 genes was changed by more than 2 fold, and the expression of 35 genes was changed more than 3 fold after treatment with doxorubicin. The genes were primarily related to cell death, cell growth and maintenance, signal transduction, cellular component, transport, and metabolism. CONCLUSION: Treatment with doxorubicin induced expressional change of many genes. Some of the genes might be related with apoptosis directly or indirectly. Further study is now needed to characterize these genes.
Apoptosis* ; Cell Death ; Doxorubicin* ; Gene Expression* ; Humans ; Metabolism ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Osteosarcoma ; RNA ; Signal Transduction