Four clinical centers, using the Brånemark System and with personnel trained in the use of Gore-Tex Augmentation Material (GTAM), participated in a prospective study of 45 patients 18 to 83 years of age. A total of 55 implants were placed with membranes because of local bony defects (fenestration or dehiscence). Dehiscence and fenestration defects were evaluated as one group. The mean initial defect height was 4.7 mm (SD = 3.0). After healing, the remaining defect height was reduced to 1.1 mm (SD = 2.3). The decrease in surface exposure was significant. Complications were primarily attributed to exposure of six membranes during the early healing period. The cumulative survival rate was 84.7% in maxillae and 95.0% in mandibles after 2 years of follow-up. The surgical application of GTAM to produce bone in localized bony defects around oral implants seems to be a predictable method that may reduce the need for extensive augmentation surgery in patients with insufficient jaw bone volume.

Adolescent↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Visual field progression in open-angle glaucoma patients presenting with monocular field loss.

Twenty-one patients with primary open-angle glaucoma were followed an average of 4.4 years after developing monocular field loss. Nine of the undamaged fellow eyes developed field loss, while 16 of the 21 eyes presenting with field loss showed progression of field changes. In 13 patients, the presenting eye had a greater progression of field loss than the fellow eye, and asymmetry of pressure control explained this in only five patients. Eleven patients with symmetric pressure control had progressive field changes in one or both eyes, and in seven, the presenting eye showed greater progression than its fellow. This suggests that an eye with field loss may be more susceptible to progression of field changes at similar pressure levels than an eye without previous damage. Furthermore, patients with unilateral field loss have a greater incidence of field loss in the undamaged fellow eye than do patients with bilateral ocular hypertension.

Adult↗