Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to E Pal.
Oculodermal melanocytosis (nevus of Ota) is an abnormally large accumulation of pigment in ocular tissues as well as the skin in the distribution of the trigeminal nerve. Elevated intraocular pressure is a serious complication of this disease, as well as transformation to malignant melanoma. We report a case of nevus of Ota, documented clinically and histopathologically, associated with severe chronic glaucoma.
We investigated the microglial reaction around cobalt-labeled degenerating neurons and nerve fibers in the frog central nervous system. The aim of these studies was to reveal the routes of migrating microglial cells during debris removal and the effect of seasonal changes on this process in a cold-blooded animal. Oculomotor and spinal motoneurons were filled with cobaltous-lysine complex through their axons. In the torus semicircularis and the isthmic nucleus, neurons were labeled with iontophoretically applied cobaltous-lysine complex through their injured dendrites and axons. The animals were left to survive for 1 to 50 days. During the summer, oculomotor neurons disintegrated by the seventh postoperative day. The debris from the neurons were phagocytosed by microglia-like cells identified by the presence of cobalt in their cytoplasm. Some of these cells were wedged between ependymoglial cells of the cerebral aqueduct, others appeared at the pial surface of the mesencephalon. The speed of this process was twice as fast during the summer as during the winter. Part of cobalt-labeled microglial cells in the torus semicircularis and the isthmic nucleus moved toward the ependyma of the optic ventricle and the cerebral aqueduct, respectively. Cobalt-loaded microglial cells did not move toward the surface in the spinal cord and the deep part of mesencephalic tegmentum, and left the brain probably via blood vessels. We conclude that microglial cells loaded with phagocytosed tissue debris may leave the brain tissue via three routes and their activity depends on the environmental temperature.
PURPOSE: Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a novel noninvasive and noncontact imaging technique providing cross-sectional representations of the eye structures. OCT is analogous to Ultrasound B-scan, except that it analyzes the reflection of a 850 nm light wave. The aim of this study was to assess the potential of ocular coherence tomography for diagnosing and monitoring macular diseases. METHODS: Cross-sectional images were performed with the Zeiss-Humphrey OCT. Over one year period, we examined approximately 300 patients with idiopathic full thickness macular hole, lamellar hole, cystoid macular edema, choroidal new vessels, epiretinal membrane, diabetic maculopathy, and central serous chorioretinopathy. RESULTS: OCT can provide new information concerning the posterior pole diseases mentioned above. OCT can also be useful in thickness measurements. CONCLUSION: OCT allows tomographic analysis of macular diseases. The information obtained is different from that obtained by histologic study which is sometimes hard to interprete. OCT is mostly useful in studying internal layers of the retina. Further applications may be developed.