Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to K M Klewin.
An automated perimeter (Octopus 2000) was used to examine visual-field function in 52 pseudophakic eyes. Threshold sensitivity was reduced throughout the visual field by from 0.4 to 20.0 decibels from that of threshold sensitivity in age-matched normal eyes. This reduction was comparable to that seen in contact-lens-corrected aphakic eyes.
Visual field function in the right and left eyes of 31 normal volunteers was evaluated with an automated projection perimeter (OCTOPUS). Serial visual field evaluations were repeated in these same eyes with neutral filters of increasing optical density. We compared the results of threshold determinations with the different neutral filters in place before the examined eye. Significant reduction in threshold sensitivity at several test spots throughout the central 30 degrees visual field was seen with neutral density filters of 0.5 log units or greater. The low level of background illumination of the OCTOPUS perimeter (4.0 apostilbs) may allow relatively minor reduction in light transmission by the ocular media to produce significant changes in the recorded level of threshold sensitivity during visual field evaluation.
The eyes of 8 monkeys (Aotus trivirgatus) were studied. The mean cross-section area and the least diameter of axon cylinders were calculated from measurements made by computer assisted planimetry of electron photomicrographs of sections through the optic nerve head at the level of the lamina cribrosa. The density of intrabundle connective tissue and glial cell elements in nerve fiber bundles was also calculated. The mean cross-section area and minimum diameter of axons in the temporal part were less than in the nasal part of the nerve. The values for axons in the superior and inferior parts of the nerve were intermediate. A similar pattern of increasing dimensions was seen in axons from the more axial nerve compared to neurons in the more circumferential nerve sectors. The density of the intrabundle, nonaxonal tissue elements did not differ significantly across the nerve. Although axon dimensions may play some role in defining the vulnerability of neuronal tissue to a pressure insult, the results of this anatomic investigation do not support the hypothesis that differences in axonal distribution by size across the nerve section define the regional vulnerability of the nerve head to elevated intraocular pressure.
A 57-year-old alcoholic man sustained permanent bilateral blindness and optic atrophy as a complication of hemorrhage from peptic ulcer disease. Post-hemorrhagic visual loss occurs in middle-aged, debilitated persons a short time after repeated episodes of hemorrhage from any site.