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Biomedical subjects

F H Koch

Publications and source records attributed to F H Koch.

24 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

[Severe occlusive bilateral retinal vasculitis within the scope of seronegative systemic lupus erythematosus].

Retinal vascular manifestation is the most common form of ophthalmic involvement in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Most frequently these consist of cotton-wool spots with or without intraretinal hemorrhages. Although rare, a more severe retinal vaso-occlusive disease, termed retinal vasculitis, has been described. We report on a 37-year-old white female with a 13-year follow-up of chronic discoid lupus erythematosus, which suffered massive bilateral visual loss coincident with the systemic exacerbation of her disease (proteinuria, pneumonia, serositis, leucopenia). The diagnosis of SLE was established with reference to the revised ARA-criteria (American Rheumatism Association). Ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein angiography revealed the typical aspect of a SLE-associated vaso-occlusive retinopathy on both eyes with marked ischemia of the macula. Immediate maximal immuno-suppressive therapy, early performed panretinal photocoagulation and subsequent cryoretinopexy did not stop the progression of the disease. Six months after the initial event vascularisations of the disc and rubeosis iridis occurred, but no secondary glaucoma up to date. In this patient, the almost complete absence of characteristic autoantibodies and immunological markers was striking. The correlation with other lupus manifestations, different therapeutic concepts and prognostic factors in SLE-associated retinal vasculitis are discussed.

Adult↗

A multiport illumination system for panoramic bi-manual vitreous surgery.

A multiport illumination system (MIS) suitable for use during microsurgery of the vitreous body is presented. The MIS consists of several thin, illuminated pilot tubes, which are secured in the pars plana region and emit bright light at a wide angle. Through their lumen interchangeable 20 gauge instruments for active bi-manual vitreous surgery and an infusion pipe can be introduced. The system illuminates the entire field of wide-angle observation devices without the need for an additional hand-held light source.

Animals↗

Myocardial infarction in patients with coronary artery spasm demonstrated by angiography.

Twelve cases of myocardial infarction (MI) were documented in 11 of 39 patients who had coronary artery spasm (CAS) that was observed by angiography either before MI (3 patients), after MI (5 patients), or both before and after MI (3 patients). MI corresponded in location to sites of ECG changes of myocardial ischemia during spontaneous angina pectoris in 7 of 7 patients and to the region of myocardium supplied by the vessel in which CAS was observed by angiography in each patient. MI occurred in the distribution of the right coronary artery in 8 patients and of the left coronary artery in 4 patients. Of 12 vessels that supplied infarcted regions of myocardium, 7 vessels had greater than or equal to 50% diameter fixed coronary artery narrowing (CAN), but the remaining 5 vessels had minimal (10%) or no fixed CAN. In those patients who were studied after MI, coronary angiography demonstrated that only 3 of 9 vessels in the distribution of infarcted regions of myocardium were completely occluded. Clinical follow-up for an average of 1.3 years after MI showed that 7 patients continued to have chest pain, 2 patients were asymptomatic, and 2 patients died suddenly 9 weeks and 1 year, respectively, after MI. Therefore, among our patients with CAS demonstrated by angiography, MIs (1) were frequent (28%), (2) occurred in the distribution of observed coronary spasm, (3) were frequently (5 of 12 arteries) in the distribution of vessels having minimal or no fixed narrowing, and (4) were often (6 of 9 arteries) in the distribution of vessels that were demonstrated to be patient after MI.

Adult↗

Clinical course of patients following the demonstration of coronary artery spasm by angiography.

The clinical course of 25 patients was determined during an average of 2.7 years following the angiographic demonstration of coronary artery spasm (CAS). Seventeen patients received medical treatment after the demonstration of coronary spasm and six patients had cardiac surgery. Twenty-three patients were living and two patients had died at the time of follow-up. Twenty-one of the 23 surviving patients has either no chest pain or markedly reduced symptoms. However, the demonstration of CAS by angiography was associated with a high incidence of subsequent cardiac complications, which included myocardial infarct (four patients), cardiac arrest (four patients), and death (two patients). We concluded from this study that after the demonstration of CAS by angiography: (1) the clinical course was variable, with most patients (21 of 25 patients, 84%) having improvement of symptoms at the time of follow-up; (2) major cardiac complications were frequent (11 out of 25 patients, 44%) and; (3) although clinical and coronary angiographic features were of limited use in predicting major cardiac complications, most of the patients who had an uncomplicated course (11 of 14 patients, 79%) had either less than 50% fixed coronary artery luminal diameter narrowing (CAN) or coronary artery bypass graft operations, the majority of patients with less than 50% CAN (8 of 11 patients, 73%) had no major cardiac complications, and myocardial infarction or death usually occurred during periods of increased angina pectoris.

Adult↗

Cardiac biopsy evidence for a cardiomyopathy associated with symptomatic mitral valve prolapse.

Right ventricular endomyocardial biopsy was performed in 14 patients with mitral valve prolapse to determine the existence of an associated cardiomyopathic process. All 14 patients had echocardiographic, angiographic or auscultatory evidence of mitral valve prolapse, and all were symptomatic. The group had a high incidence rate of conduction system abnormalities (50 percent) and arrhythmias (64 percent), but only one patient had a significant hemodynamic abnormality. Light microscopy revealed an increase in endocardial and interstitial fibrosis in eight patients (57 percent). Electron microscopy, performed in 11 patients, showed mitochondrial degenerative changes in all 11. Nuclear chromatin clumping, intracell edema and myocyte degeneration were frequently present. It is concluded that endomyocardial and myocardial abnormalities exist in some symptomatic patients with idiopathic mitral valve prolapse.

Adult↗

Ultrastructure of the anterior lens capsule after vitrectomy with silicone oil injection. Correlation of clinical and morphological features.

To clarify the mechanical difficulties experienced when performing anterior capsulorhexis in vitrectomized eyes filled with silicone oil. Five anterior lens capsules removed from eyes with a silicone oil history were submitted to light and electron microscopic analysis and then compared to two capsules from eyes with trauma history and seven capsules from eyes without silicone oil or trauma history. Comparable abnormalities of the inner and outer surface of the anterior lens capsule were consistently observed after silicone oil fill of the vitreous cavity or after traumatic impact to the lens: patches of multilayer epithelial cells with interspersed capsule material and connective tissue were observed on the posterior surface of the anterior lens capsule. The development of this anterior subcapsular tissue plaque is obviously influenced not only by the PVR process or by side effects of the surgical procedure but also by the silicone oil tamponade or a trauma history. The plaque can be considered primarily responsible for the increased mechanical resistance of the lens capsule in all eyes with silicone oil / trauma history examined in this study.

Cataract Extraction↗