OBJECTIVE: To compare the characteristics of functional visual loss (FVL) in adults and children. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. PARTICIPANTS: One hundred forty patients diagnosed with FVL over a 5-year period. METHODS: Medical records of these patients were reviewed and data analyzed using statistical software. OUTCOME: Demographics, underlying organic and psychiatric ...

BACKGROUND: The curative potential of radiotherapy (RT) alone as initial treatment for patients with Stage I-II lymphocyte-predominant Hodgkin lymphoma (LPHL) has not been defined well. METHODS: Two hundred two patients who were treated between 1969 and 1995 were evaluated in a retrospective, multicenter study. RESULTS: Patient characteristics were as follows: ...

BACKGROUND: Unilateral acute idiopathic maculopathy (UAIM) is a rare entity, in which an inflammatory process involves the macular retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retina. It represents a wide spectrum of ocular findings not consistently present in all patients, which may lead to difficulties in the recognition of the condition. ...

OBJECTIVE: To observe the development of the preferred retinal locus (PRL) in a group of patients with central scotomas caused by recent onset macular disease (MD). DESIGN: Prospective observational case series. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-five individuals with bilateral central scotomas caused by MD. All patients had experienced visual loss in their better ...

As paclitaxel may induce positive spontaneous visual symptoms or persistent visual loss, we carried out this electrophysiological study in an attempt to clarify the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of visual pathway involvement. The study involved 30 breast cancer patients: 14 were treated with paclitaxel alone (group A) and 16 with paclitaxel ...

Pupil campimetry is an objective test of the visual field. In pupil campimetry, the pupil light response elicited by focal light stimuli at different locations within the visual field is measured. Pupil campimetry was performed in patients with visual field loss because of different pathologies. The match between reduced pupil ...

PURPOSE: The onset of pantothenate kinase-associated neurodegeneration (PKAN) occurs in the first and second decade of life and a pigmentary retinal degeneration is a feature of the disorder. Since the neuro-ophthalmologic and electroretinographic (ERG) features have never been well delineated, we describe them in 16 patients with PKAN. DESIGN: Observational ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to describe a technique for balanced orbital decompression and to analyze the results. METHODS AND MATERIALS: We conducted a retrospective study of 140 patients (276 orbits). Orbital decompression was carried out by removal of the medial orbital wall by ethmoidectomy and complete removal ...

AIM: To determine the anatomical site and extent of electrophysiological dysfunction in patients with ethambutol associated visual loss. METHODS: A comparative case series. Four patients with ethambutol associated visual loss underwent multifocal electroretinography (mERG). Two patients had advanced visual loss while two had early signs of toxicity. The N1-P1, N1, ...

PURPOSE: To evaluate differences in reading performance and contrast sensitivity on patients with drusen maculopathy and subretinal fibrosis after CNV (choroidal neovascularisation). METHODS: 136 patients (60 with drusen (D), 76 with fibrosis (F)) were studied. Patients were classified according to type of maculopathy and best-corrected visual acuity into groups D1 ...

PURPOSE: To document the high occurrence of complete spontaneous regression of retinoblastoma in a Taiwan series. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Cases of retinoblastoma (133 eyes of 110 patients) at a single Taiwanese hospital from 1978 to 2002 were reviewed. RESULTS: Complete spontaneous tumor regression and phthisis bulbi were noted in 7 ...

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects on vision in patients receiving lamotrigine (LTG) monotherapy. METHODS: Twenty-four consecutive patients taking LTG for partial seizures were referred for a routine ophthalmologic examination including visual acuity testing, tonometry, slit lamp, and fundus examination. Automated kinetic perimetry, electrooculogram (EOG), and electroretinogram were performed after informed ...

Intermediate uveitis is an intraocular inflammation involving the anterior vitreous, peripheral retina and pars plana. It usually affects patients from 5 to 30 years old, without gender or racial preferences. The etiology is unknown but there are several associated diseases: multiple sclerosis, idiopathic optic neuritis, autoimmune corneal endotheliopathy, sarcoidosis, thyroid ...

OBJECTIVES: To quantify chromatic dysfunction in Best disease to reassess the classic categorization of macular chromatic damage and to investigate psychophysical and clinical correlations. METHODS: Color-contrast discrimination was measured using 2 different psychophysical strategies in age-matched control (n = 41) and patient (n = 34) eyes. The first strategy measured ...

AIMS: To assess the coverage of the diabetes retinopathy screening service (DRSS) in North Staffordshire, to identify patient characteristies associated with non-attendance and to assess the proportion of patients with diabetic retinopathy who achieved glycaemic and blood pressure (BP) control targets. METHODS: Data for all patients who underwent annual retinal ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: To describe the clinical features and associations of complex nocturnal visual hallucinations. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified 12 patients seen between 1997 and 2004 with complex nocturnal visual hallucinations. Charts were reviewed and data analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 12 patients, 11 were women. Vivid, silent, often distorted ...

PURPOSE: Previous studies indicated abnormal development of fixation toward the optic nerve head in patients with the inherited retinal disease North Carolina macular dystrophy (NCMD). The implication of this development on functional vision and structural characteristics has not been described. METHODS: The anatomical characteristics of five NCMD-affected individuals were assessed ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the manifestations and clinical course of Coats' disease diagnosed in adulthood and to describe the characteristics of patients who develop it. DESIGN: Retrospective observational case series. PARTICIPANTS: Thirteen eyes of 13 patients with Coats' disease diagnosed after age 35 years. METHODS: All patients examined in the authors' ...

BACKGROUND: Histological studies on the human optic nerve have documented decreasing axonal nerve fiber counts with age. In patients with optic atrophy, a nonpathological dropout of ganglion cell axons as part of the normal aging process may become clinically significant. OBJECTIVE: To describe the occurrence of delayed visual loss in ...

PURPOSE: The aims of this study were to compare the performance of a mechanical radial endosonoscope and an endorectal electronic probe and to evaluate the value of hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) injection in the diagnosis of perianal fistulas. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Sixty-one patients underwent clinical and endosonographic studies for suspected perianal ...

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to review the characteristics of patients with corneal melt and to assess if treatment with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) improved the visual outcome. METHOD: We did a retrospective analysis of patients diagnosed with corneal melt between 1976 and 2002. Twenty-one patients with rheumatoid ...

AIMS: To characterise patients with birdshot chorioretinopathy (BCR) clinically and electrophysiologically in order to monitor changes in retinal function before and after treatment with corticosteroids and/or immunosuppression. METHODS: 18 patients with BCR were characterised clinically and electrophysiologically. Serial studies were performed on 14 patients in order to monitor changes in ...

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to compare baseline clinical and socioeconomic features of patients undergoing self-funded photodynamic therapy (PDT) or government-funded subthreshold transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) with a diode laser for subfoveal choroidal neovascularization secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: Between July 2000 and August 2001, 115 patients ...

PURPOSE: To report the diagnostic yield for the evaluation of isolated and unexplained optic atrophy. SETTING: Two tertiary care academic neuroophthalmology clinics. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with optic atrophy. METHODS: Retrospective review of all charts with the diagnosis of optic atrophy. Included patients were adults with isolated, but ...

PURPOSE: Many patients experience a variety of visual sensations during cataract surgery under local anaesthesia. Up to 16.2% of patients are frightened by their intraoperative visual experience. This study aimed to determine the knowledge and beliefs of optometry students on this subject. METHODS: A nationwide survey using a standardised, self-administered ...

BACKGROUND: Interferon (IFN)-associated retinopathy is typically characterized by retinal hemorrhages and cotton wool spots at the posterior fundus, but visual function is usually maintained. With the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT), two patients with IFN-associated retinopathy who had developed macular edema and reduced visual acuity during the clinical course ...

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the frequency of visual manifestations at presentation in an Italian population-based cohort of patients with biopsy-proven giant cell arteritis (GCA), and to investigate predictors for the development of permanent visual loss. METHODS: We identified 136 Reggio Emilia (Italy) residents with biopsy-proven GCA diagnosed between 1986 and 2002. ...

PURPOSE: To assess the correlation between persistent diabetic macular edema and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1C). DESIGN: Retrospective study. METHODS: Records of type 2 diabetic patients who received eye care for persistent clinically significant macular edema (CSME) from January 2002 to January 2004 were reviewed. Subjects who met one of two criteria ...

PURPOSE: To describe a case of Valsalva retinopathy in a patient with pars-planitis and to discuss its management. METHODS: We present a case of a 19-year-old male with a six-month history of bilateral intermediate uveitis, referred for evaluation of recent-onset spontaneous bilateral vitreous hemorrhages. Clinical evaluation and fluorescein angiography were ...

PURPOSE: To present the first case of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in a Wegener's granulomatosis patient on systemic cyclosporine A (CsA) therapy. METHODS: A 41-year-old patient was treated with systemic CsA for c-ANCA positive Wegener's granulomatosis. Four weeks later he presented with blurred vision and a retinitis was diagnosed in the ...

OBJECTIVE: To validate the conclusion of our previous prospective study of 250 patients with isolated posterior vitreous detachment: follow-up visits are only necessary if patients mention symptoms of flashes in combination with multiple floaters or a curtain or cloud at the initial examination, or an increase in number of floaters ...

PURPOSE: To perform a detailed morphologic and functional evaluation of Best macular dystrophy (BMD) associated with mutations in the VMD2 gene. DESIGN: Retrospective study. PARTICIPANTS: The records of 16 patients with BMD and heterozygous VMD2 mutations (group 1) and 5 patients with Best-like lesions with no detectable disease-associated alterations in ...

PURPOSE: To investigate the findings in optical coherence tomography (OCT) in eyes with metamorphopsia after scleral buckling surgery for macula-off retinal detachment. METHODS: A total of 46 patients (46 eyes) with macula-off retinal detachment were prospectively studied 2 months after successful scleral buckling surgery. Patients were examined with the Amsler ...

PURPOSE: To determine the psychophysical differences between two types of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients with different rod sensitivities. METHODS: Thirty-five RP patients with a visual acuity of > or =0.7 or better were classified by cone-rod perimetry into type 1, those with undetectable rod sensitivity, and type 2, those with ...

PURPOSE: (1) To compare the outcomes of orientation and mobility and driving training with Fresnel prisms and the Gottlieb Visual Field Awareness System for patients with homonymous hemianopsia, and (2) To determine whether the patients continue to use the optical enhancement devices at a 2-year follow-up point. METHODS: Patients with ...

Contrast sensitivity is a person's ability to identify an object from its background. Patients with normal visual acuity can have reduced contrast sensitivity and may experience trouble in identifying objects at night or moving around in dimly lit places. Contrast sensitivity has never been studied in leprosy patients having normal ...

PURPOSE: To present electroretinographic (ERG) findings in a patient with retinal dysfunction with supernormal scotopic ERG, and to analyze rod and cone PIII components and rod inner nuclear layer (derived PII) responses. PATIENT: A Japanese 11-year-old girl complained of poor visual acuity. There was no parental consanguinity in her family. ...

AIMS: To determine the degree to which optical coherence tomography (OCT) can distinguish differences in retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness between eyes with mild papilloedema, pseudopapilloedema, and normal findings. METHODS: 13 patients with mild papilloedema, 11 patients with congenitally crowded optic nerves, and 17 normal subjects underwent neuro-ophthalmic examination, ...

PURPOSE: To compare frequency-doubling technology (FDT) perimetry with standard automated perimetry (SAP) for detecting glaucomatous visual field progression in a longitudinal prospective study. METHODS: One eye of patients with open-angle glaucoma was tested every 6 months with both FDT and SAP. A minimum of 6 examinations with each perimetric technique ...

BACKGROUND: Several case series and a recent meta-analysis indicate that intra-arterial thrombolysis (IAT) is effective for the treatment of acute central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO). METHODS: A total of 37 patients with acute monocular blindness because of unilateral thromboembolic CRAO were treated with IAT using urokinase within six hours of ...

BACKGROUND: There is a considerable body of literature which indicates that contrast thresholds for the detection of sinusoidal grating patterns are abnormally high in glaucoma, though just how these elevations are related to the location of visual field loss remains unknown. Our aim, therefore, has been to determine the relationship ...

Three patients who had undergone laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) correction for myopia were first seen because of suboptimal visual acuity (VA) and night blindness and/or photophobia. After a comprehensive examination including psychophysical and electrophysiological tests, two of the three patients were shown to suffer from a progressive conerod dystrophy. ...

AIM: To determine an aetiological diagnosis in patients presenting with necrotising retinopathies that simulate acute retinal necrosis (ARN). METHODS: Retrospective non-comparative case series. The charts of 16 patients presenting with a clinical impression of ARN at Pitie-Salpetriere Hospital, Paris, France, between 1994 and 1999, who required initial antiviral therapy were ...

AIMS: 1. To assess the prevalence of visual impairment in those patients who sustain proximal hip fracture after a simple fall. 2. To test the validity of a simple screening test to identify patients with visual impairment. METHODS: Patients on the orthopaedic rehabilitation ward recuperating from proximal hip fracture were ...

PURPOSE: to evaluate the results of pars plana vitrectomy with peeling of the inner limiting membrane (ILM stained with infracyanine green (IfCG) in 26 patients with diabetic macular edema, and to identify which factors are associated with a better postoperative visual outcome. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 26 patients with diabetic macular ...

BACKGROUND: Individuals with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) present with initially progressive scotomata and photopsia. Characteristically, the extent of the visual field defect is unexplained by fundal examination, but there is marked retinal dysfunction evident electrophysiologically. It is the authors' experience that a group of patients exhibit characteristic clinical ...

PURPOSE: To assess photoreceptor morphology in patients with Stargardt's disease and fundus flavimaculatus using ultrahigh-resolution optical coherence tomography (UHR-OCT) and correlate it with visual acuity (VA). METHODS: This was a prospective observational case series. Fourteen patients with Stargardt's disease (nine women, five men; average age, 39 years; range, 27-53) were ...

PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is to characterize the clinical and electrophysiological effects of extraocular muscle surgery in 15 patients with oculo-cutaneous albinism (OCA) and infantile nystagmus syndrome (INS). Our hypothesis is that surgery on the extraocular muscles of patients with OCA and INS changes their nystagmus and their ...

AIM: To describe the clinical characteristics and disease course of a large family with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) from an Arg135Leu change in rhodopsin. METHODS: 29 patients in this family were evaluated. Goldmann visual fields were performed on 14 affected individuals, Ganzfeld electroretinography (ERG) on eight individuals (11-56 years), and blood ...

BACKGROUND/AIM: In the treatment of hepatitis C, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence advocates use of a combination of interferon alfa and ribavirin for selected patients. Retinopathy is a well recognised side effect of interferon therapy and is characterised by retinal haemorrhages, cotton wool spots, and macular oedema. The aim ...