First described in 1881 by Litten 1 and attributed to Albert Terson, a French ophthalmologist who later described it in 1900, 2 Terson's syndrome is a condition defined as vitreous haemorrhage occurring in association with a subdural or subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH). Here, Bastawrous and his team of colleagues describe a patient with Terson's syndrome and subsequent Candida endophthalmitis.
It has been demonstrated that a single compound is as effective as fixed combination therapy in lowering intraocular pressure (IOP), according to a study presented at the recent ARVO (Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology) meeting.
Many ophthalmic disorders give rise to neovascularization of the iris and neovascular glaucoma. Almost all of these disorders are characterized by retinal hypoxia and retinal capillary nonperfusion, the same factors involved in the development of retinal neovascularization. One of the most common causes is central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), which is a visually disabling disease that is second in prevalence only to diabetic retinopathy.
When you attend an ophthalmology congress, what is it that you expect to gain? Does the opportunity to mingle with the elite inspire you to pay your congress fee, or do you want to learn new skills and improve your everyday practice? Certainly, people's motivations have been somewhat ambiguous in the past. With the style of the traditional meetings placing more emphasis on lecture-type presentations with no real discussion and less emphasis on the sharing of knowledge amongst participants, meeting attendees rarely had any input whatsoever.
In 1999, the World Health Organization (WHO) initiated its worldwide campaign, "Vision 2020 - The Right to Sight". The main aim of the programme was to eliminate the main causes of avoidable blindness by the target date of 2020. Hungary is participating in this "Fight for Sight" initiative. Here, J?nos N?meth summarizes the progress that he and his colleagues have made over the last five years, showing the current state of, and trends in, ophthalmic healthcare in Hungary, as well as the incidence of blindness in the country.
Didier Ducournau talks about the development and growth of the EVRS and on his personal vision for vitreoretinal surgeons.
Postoperative endophthalmitis is a rare but potentially devastating intraocular infection, which could lead to severe and permanent visual impairment or even the loss of an eye.1-3 With the average life expectancy on the increase, the prevalence of cataract in the older population and therefore the cataract surgical rate has increased in recent decades.1,3 Many have voiced their concerns that this rise in the number of surgical procedures could bring with it a rise in incidence of endophthalmitis, hence, evaluation of postoperative infection incidence is extremely important in every clinical setting.
CE marked in April of 2006, the KS-3Ai has become the first preloaded aspheric silicone IOL to be approved in Europe for use in cataract surgery. Although the product has yet to gain approval in the US market, it is already available in Japan and will shortly be entering clinics in Europe.
Alcon has added another device to its product portfolio in the form of the LADAR6000 excimer laser with high-speed ablation, which received FDA approval last month.
Swedish ophthalmologic research has a long tradition dating back to the slit lamp of Gullstrand of the early 20th century through later concepts such as the use of sodium hyaluronate in cataract surgery and latanoprost in glaucoma treatment. University departments of ophthalmology are present at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm and at the universities of Uppsala, Lund (Lund and Malm?), Link?ping, Gothenburg and Ume?.
Dry eye ? the unknown menopausal symptom
No need for antimetabolites?
Combining benefits in glaucoma
Avastin does it again
Cataract surgery and AMD: there?s no link
DSEK: the pros and cons
OTE Readership Survey 2006
Intravitreal triamcinolone will, more often than not, lead to the development of cataracts in eyes with diabetic macular oedema (DME), according to the results of a study published in the March 17, 2006 issue of Eye.
Wound distortion by manipulation of two rigid cannulas during bimanual phaco through tight corneal incisions has been shown to be significant.
Until recently, treatment options for neovascular (wet) AMD have been limited. Thermal laser photocoagulation - a destructive mode of therapy - was indicated in a minority of neovascular cases, including extrafoveal and some cases of juxtafoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Photodynamic therapy with verteporfin (PDT) marked a new era in the treatment of exudative AMD, since subfoveal lesions were no longer excluded from treatment. However, it remains that not all lesions are eligible for treatment and the beneficial effect of PDT has only been clearly evident in predominantly classic lesions.
CHMP gives Ganfort thumbs up
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the worldwide leading cause of blindness. The severe form, choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), faces revolutionary times as new treatment modalities are introduced. Whereas one decade ago argon laser coagulation represented the standard treatment method, nowadays different treatments come into our clinical setting: classic CNV responds well to photodynamic therapy (PDT) with "off label" triamcinolone, and now occult CNV can be successfully treated with an array of treatment modalities: PDT, transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT), subretinal surgery, macular translocation, or anti-angiogenic therapy.
Spring has finally sprung, although I have a feeling that the pleasant weather associated with this season has decided to give England a miss this year! Indeed, we are already into the month of May and with several big ophthalmology meetings already behind us, we still have many others to look forward to, particularly this month, which sees, amongst others, the DOC, EURETINA, and the Turkish, French and Italian ophthalmology societies taking centre stage for their annual meetings. Hopefully we will get the chance to meet some of you there.
The DOG (Deutsche Ophthalmologische Gesellschaft) was founded in 1857 when a group of like-minded ophthalmologists, brought together by Albrecht von Greafe, met in Heidelberg to discuss the latest developments in their profession. This first meeting was organized to take place a few days before the international ophthalmology conference in Brussels with the idea that they would then travel on together to attend. In all, twelve people arrived in Heidleberg, where discussion topics ranged from the use of compression bandages to glaucoma treatment. It was considered such a success that they agreed to meet again the following year.
In answer to the question: "What specifically makes SLT different from ALT in its action?" we offer the following response:
What tasks are more important for the ophthalmologist than dealing with a disease that is the second most common cause of blindness overall and the number one blinding disease in the working population?
Research, development, innovation and the quest for excellence go hand in hand with the evolution of the ophthalmology industry. With the new wave of phakic IOLs entering the market, each with its own unique offering and capabilities, it's hard to know which lenses will suit you and your patient best. Furthermore, does the introduction of these new refractive correctors threaten the position of the lasers that we have all come to grow to love? It seems that the laser refractive surgery industry is still going from strength to strength.
With the world's population getting older and the rate of blindness increasing, cataract surgeons worldwide are facing some clinical challenges in the years ahead, according to Stephen A. Obstbaum, MD, of the United States.
Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) has pledged $1 million to support the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery's (ASCRS) foundation sponsored research in the field of refractive lenticular science.
