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Melatonin (ML) and dexmedetomidine (DM) are used separately as anesthetic premedication or as an anesthetic in humans and laboratory animals. In this study, we aimed to investigate the anesthetic properties of both drugs combined. The anesthetic effects of several combinations of ML (50 and 100 mg/kg) and DM (50 and 100 μg/kg) were evaluated in rats by observing behavioral manifestations and recording the duration and depth of anesthesia. Five anesthetic intervals were established according to the loss and recovery of reflexes. While each individual drug did not induce an appropriate anesthetic effect at the tested doses, ML50 + DM100, ML100 + DM50 and ML100 + DM100 combinations resulted in surgical anesthesia intervals of 60 to 360 min. Together, our results point that the use of ML allows to decrease the dose of DM, reducing the unwanted anesthetic effects of this α 2 -agonist., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Purpose: To study morphological and functional characteristics of myopic lamellar macular hole (LMH) with posterior staphyloma., Methods: Retrospective observational longitudinal study. Forty myopic eyes affected by LMH and posterior staphyloma have been examined. Pathological myopia was defined as axial length equal or superior to 26.5 mm. LMH was defined on the basis of the following characteristics: irregular foveal contour, inner retinal defect with or without intraretinal splitting and absence of full thickness retinal defect. Demographic and functional parameters were: age, sex, status of lens and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Tomographic parameters were: type of LMH, macular retinoschisis (MRS), posterior vitreous detachment (PVD), type of epiretinal membrane (ERM), integrity of ellipsoid zone (EZ) and external limiting membrane (ELM), residual foveal thickness (RFT) and maximal diameter of intraretinal splitting (MDIRS)., Results: The statistical analysis showed a significant prevalence of posterior vitreous adherence in the atypical ERM subgroup (P = 0.001). EZ (P = 0.006) and ELM (P = 0.007) damages were significantly associated with the atypical ERM subgroup. RFT was statistically lower in the atypical ERM subgroup compared to the conventional ERM subgroup (P = 0.015). During the follow-up, the statistical analysis showed a significant reduction of RFT in the atypical ERM subgroup (P = 0.041)., Conclusions: Myopic lamellar macular hole (LMH) associated with atypical ERM is a more severe clinical entity than myopic LMH associated with conventional ERM.