Search Results (9)

Background: Rhinoplasty is a leading cosmetic surgery, with the crooked nose being one of the most complex challenges due to its combination of functional and aesthetic issues. Involving multiple nasal components, a crooked nose remains difficult to correct, with a high recurrence rate. The aim of this study was to analyze the long-term outcomes and stability of the nasal pyramid after surgery through a nasal grid analysis. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted on 360 patients (20 men and 16 women) treated for moderate to severe nasal deviation between January 2014 and January 2020. All patients underwent surgery by the same expert surgeon, with follow-ups extending to at least 24 months. Medical records, physical exams, and standardized photographic evaluations were used to assess outcomes. A nasal grid was adapted to analyze the long-term stability of nasal corrections, focusing on individual post-operative changes. Results: The study involved 360 patients, mostly men aged 22 to 65, with the majority having nasal deviations caused by extrinsic trauma (e.g., sports injuries). Nasal deviations affected various parts of the nose, and all patients underwent follow-up evaluations using a nasal grid to compare pre- and post-operative measurements. The results showed long-term stability in nasal corrections, with minimal changes observed between 1 month and 24 months post-surgery. Only one case had partial recurrence, requiring revision surgery, which was successful. Conclusions: The surgical correction of a crooked nose is complex and requires a personalized approach, particularly for severe septal deviations. Complete anatomical reconstruction, using advanced techniques like extracorporeal septal reconstruction and laser osteotomies, provides stable long-term results. The adapted nasal grid proved to be not only an effective post-operative assessment tool but also shows potential for the pre-operative classification of nasal deformity complexity. Although this study focused on a standardized surgical technique, future comparative analyses with alternative approaches are recommended to further validate the outcomes. Full article

The increase in diabetic retinopathy (DR) prevalence demonstrates the need for the determination of biomarkers for assessing disease development to obtain an early diagnosis and stop its progression. We aimed to analyse total retinal (RT) and inner retinal layer (IRL) thicknesses in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients and correlate these results with retinal sensitivity using swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) and microperimetry. For this purpose, a total of 54 DM2 subjects with moderate diabetic retinopathy (DR) with no signs of diabetic macular oedema (DME) and 73 age-matched healthy individuals were assessed using SS-OCT to quantify retinal thickness in the nine macular areas of the ETDRS grid. Retinal sensitivity was measured via microperimetry with a Macular Integrity Assessment Device (MAIA). The mean ages were 64.06 ± 11.98 years for the DM2 group and 60.79 ± 8.62 years for the control group. DM2 patients presented lower visual acuity (p < 0.001) and a thicker RT (260.70 ± 19.22 μm in the control group vs. 271.90 ± 37.61 μm in the DM2 group, p = 0.01). The retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) was significantly lower in the outer nasal area (50.38 ± 8.20 μm vs. 45.17 ± 11.25 μm, p = 0.005) in ganglion cells and inner plexiform layers (GCL+) in DM2. A positive correlation between the LDL-C and RNFL and a negative correlation between HDL-C levels and the inner temporal and central RNFL thickness were detected. The central (p = 0.021) and inner nasal (p = 0.01) areas were negatively correlated between the RNFL and MAIA, while GCL++ was positively correlated with the outer inferior (p = 0.015) and outer nasal areas (p = 0.024). Retinal sensitivity and macular RNFL thickness decrease in DM2 patients with moderate DR with no DME, and this study enables an accurate approach to this disease with personalised assessment based on the DR course or stage. Thus, GCL+ and GCL++ thinning may support ganglion cell loss before the RNFL is affected. Full article

This retrospective case-control study aimed to investigate associations between disease severity of Alzheimer’s dementia (AD) and macular thickness. Data of patients with AD who were under medication (n = 192) between 2013 and 2020, as well as an age- and sex-matched control group (n = 200) with normal cognitive function, were included. AD patients were divided into subgroups according to scores of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR). Macular thickness was analyzed via the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid map. AD patients had significant reductions in full macula layers, including inner circle, outer inferior area, and outer nasal area of the macula. Similar retinal thinning was noted in ganglion cells and inner plexiform layers. Advanced AD patients (MMSE score < 18 or CDR ≥ 1) showed more advanced reduction of macular thickness than the AD group (CDR = 0.5 or MMSE ≥ 18), indicating that severe cognitive impairment was associated with thinner macular thickness. Advanced AD is associated with significant macula thinning in full retina and inner plexiform layers, especially at the inner circle of the macula. Macular thickness may be a useful biomarker of AD disease severity. Retinal imaging may be a non-invasive, low-cost surrogate for AD. Full article

Background: To study choroidal thickness (CT) in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) patients with moderate diabetic retinopathy (DR) and to correlate with changes in retinal thickness (RT) with swept-source OCT (SS-OCT) compared to healthy subjects. Methods: Fifty-four DM2 patients with moderate DR without diabetic macular edema (DME) and 73 age-matched healthy subjects were evaluated using SS-OCT to measure changes in total RT and CT in the nine areas of the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) macular grid. Results: The mean age was 64.06 ± 11.98 years and 60.79 ± 8.62 years in the diabetic and control groups, respectively. Total RT showed statistically significant differences in the temporal inner area, with higher values in the DM2 group (p = 0.010). CT did not show differences between the groups. There was a significant negative correlation between RT and age in all of the outer ETDRS areas and a positive significant correlation in the central area for the DM2 group. There was also a negative significant correlation between CT and age in all of the ETDRS areas except for the inferior inner area. In the DM2 group, a negative correlation was observed between RT and CT in the central area (p = 0.039) and in both horizontal parafoveal areas (temporal inner, p = 0.028; nasal inner, p= 0.003). Conclusion: DM2 patients with moderate DR have no changes with regard to CT. Both CT and RT decreased with age in DM2, showing a negative correlation between these factors in the central and horizontal parafoveal areas of the ETDRS grid. Full article

Our aim in this study was to assess the vessel density (VD) and vessel skeleton density (VSD) in the nasal area of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) of diabetic subjects without diabetic retinopathy (DR), or in those with a non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and to evaluate the relationship between the VD and VSD and the severity of DR. In this prospective study, the VD and VSD in the SCP were measured and analyzed on 6 × 6-mm macular and nasal optical coherence tomography angiography scans. The three concentric circles of the Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid were used and divided into zones numbered from 1 to 9 in the macular area and from 1 to 8 in the nasal area. The VD was significantly lower in the nasal peripapillary area (p = 0.0028), and both the VD and VSD were significantly lower in the macular area (p = 0.0131 and p = 0.0132, respectively) in patients with more severe DR. The SD was significantly lower in zones 5 (p = 0.0315) and 6 (p = 0.0324) in the nasal grid in patients with more severe DR. We showed a lower superficial capillary flow in the nasal periphery and peripapillary area in patients with more severe DR. Full article

Background: We study the retinal function measured by macular integrity assessment microperimetry (MAIA) and structural changes assessed by scanning swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) between healthy individuals and patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). Methods: Cross-sectional study. Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grids were measured by SS-OCT and compared with the MAIA parameters. Results: Thirty-eight eyes with RRD (19 macula-on and 19 macula-off) were compared with 113 healthy eyes. The retinal sensitivity and average total threshold were reduced in all sectors in the RRD group; macular integrity index was increased. Macular thicknesses in total retina and ganglion cell layer (GCL)++ protocols were higher in the RRD group in nasal outer (NO) and central (C) sectors and only in C sector for GCL+ protocol. Thicknesses were lower in total retina, GCL++ protocols in the temporal outer (TO) sector and in the GCL+ protocol in NO sector. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) correlated moderately with retinal sensitivity in all sectors and in just several sectors with time between the date of surgery and the test. The central nasal (CN) sector thickness and the average total threshold were higher in the macula-on subgroup. Conclusions: RRD and subsequent surgery results in functional and structural changes, especially in individuals with macular detachment. Full article

Background: To map the choroidal vascularity index and compare two eyes in patients with unilateral central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR). Methods: This was a retrospective, observational study performed in patients with unilateral CSCR. Choroidal thickness (CT) and Choroidal vascularity index (CVI) were measured and mapped in various zones according to the early treatment diabetic retinopathy (ETDRS) grid. Results: A total of 20 CSCR patients (20 study and 20 fellow eyes) were included in the study. Outer nasal region CT was seen to be significantly lower than central CT (p = 0.042) and inner nasal CT (p = 0.007); outer ring CT was significantly less than central (p = 0.04) and inner ring (p = 0.01) CT in CSCR eyes. On potting all the CVI values against the corresponding CT values, a positive correlation was seen in CSCR eyes (r = 0.54, p < 0.01), which was slightly weaker in fellow eyes (r = 0.3, p < 0.01) and a negative correlation was seen in healthy eyes (r = −0.262, p < 0.01). Conclusions: Correlation between CVI and CT was altered in CSCR eyes as compared to fellow and normal eyes with increasing CVI towards the center of the macula and superiorly in CSCR eyes. Full article

High throughput sequencing is currently revolutionizing the genomics field and providing new approaches to the detection and characterization of microorganisms. The objective of this study was to assess the detection of influenza D virus (IDV) in bovine respiratory tract samples using two sequencing platforms (MiSeq and Nanopore (GridION)), and species-specific qPCR. An IDV-specific qPCR was performed on 232 samples (116 nasal swabs and 116 tracheal washes) that had been previously subject to virome sequencing using MiSeq. Nanopore sequencing was performed on 19 samples positive for IDV by either MiSeq or qPCR. Nanopore sequence data was analyzed by two bioinformatics methods: What’s In My Pot (WIMP, on the EPI2ME platform), and an in-house developed analysis pipeline. The agreement of IDV detection between qPCR and MiSeq was 82.3%, between qPCR and Nanopore was 57.9% (in-house) and 84.2% (WIMP), and between MiSeq and Nanopore was 89.5% (in-house) and 73.7% (WIMP). IDV was detected by MiSeq in 14 of 17 IDV qPCR-positive samples with Cq (cycle quantification) values below 31, despite multiplexing 50 samples for sequencing. When qPCR was regarded as the gold standard, the sensitivity and specificity of MiSeq sequence detection were 28.3% and 98.9%, respectively. We conclude that both MiSeq and Nanopore sequencing are capable of detecting IDV in clinical specimens with a range of Cq values. Sensitivity may be further improved by optimizing sequence data analysis, improving virus enrichment, or reducing the degree of multiplexing. Full article

Background and Objectives: Despite the growing number of new research publications, normative references for children’s optical coherence tomography (OCT) parameters are still not completed. We chose to explore this topic because of the lack of normative parameters that is due to an improvement in different technologies and instruments. Our aim was to determine referential rates of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and flow deficits (FD%) in the macular choriocapillaris (CC) in normal eyes of ophthalmologically healthy children. Materials and Methods: Ophthalmologically healthy 8- to 14-year-old individuals participated (n = 75) in this study. OCT images were taken using an swept-source-OCT (SS-OCT) instrument (DRI-OCT Triton, Topcon, Tokyo, Japan). The early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (EDTRS) grid (6 × 6 mm) divided the RNFL into the thickness maps. The FD% values of the CC were calculated on the 3 × 3-mm scans in a 1-mm circle (C₁), 1.5-mm rim (R_1.5), and the entire 2.5-mm circle (C_2.5), and on the 6 x 6-mm scans in a 1-mm circle (C₁), 1.5-mm rim (R_1.5), the entire 2.5-mm circle (C_2.5), 2.5-mm rim (R_2.5), and 5-mm circle (C₅). Results: Both scan quantifications of FD% in the C₁, C_2.5, and R_1.5 sectors were similar, but the 6 × 6-mm scan measurements were statistically significantly smaller than the 3 × 3-mm ones. Significant moderate correlations were found between axial length (AxL) and FD% in the 6 × 6-mm scans, namely C₁ (r = −0.347, p = 0.002), C_2.5 (r = −0.337, p = 0.003), R_1.5 (r = −0.328, p = 0.004), R_2.5 (r = −0.306, p = 0.008), and C₅ (r = −0.314, p = 0.006). Conclusions: The thinnest RNFL layers were on the temporal and nasal sides. FD% values in the C₁, C_2.5, and R_1.5 sectors were similar between the 3 × 3-mm and 6 × 6-mm scans. The negative moderate correlations between AxL and FD% were found in all C₁, C_2.5, C_5, R_1.5, and R_2.5 sectors of the 6 × 6-mm scans. Further prospective studies are needed to determine more accurate normative references for children’s OCT parameters. Full article