Search

Purpose: At present, drug treatments are composing the majority of dry eye therapies. However, considering the side effects of drugs, there has been increasing interest in novel non-drug treatment options, and these new treatments have been researching ways of tear production. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the role of chewing gum on tear-meniscus parameters and blinking rate with objective and quantitative methods. Methods: Sixty eyes of 30 healthy volunteers' tear-meniscus height (TMH), tear-meniscus depth (TMD), and tear-meniscus area (TMA) were acquired with anterior segment-optical coherence tomography. Tear-meniscus measurements were performed before and during chewing gum; at 15 and 30 min. Blinking rates were also recorded both before and during chewing gum for 5 min. Results: TMH, TMD, and TMA values at 15 and 30 min of chewing gum were significantly higher than those values before chewing gum (p<0.001). TMH, TMD, and TMA values at 15 min of chewing gum were similar to those values at 30 min of chewing gum (p>0.05). Blinking rate during chewing gum was significantly higher than that value before chewing gum (p<0.001). Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this was the first study demonstrating that chewing gum increased tear-meniscus parameters and blinking rate at acute phase of chewing with objective, quantitative, and non-invasive methods. Chewing gum is cheap, sustainable, and easy to reach. In addition, it is not a drug, and there is no risk of drug-related side effects. According to our outcomes, we thought that chewing gum might improve dry eye-related complaints by increasing tear production and blinking rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the effectiveness of a single-session of 180° selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) as primary treatment in newly diagnosed cases with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEG) and ocular hypertension (OHT). Methods: Thirty-six eyes of 36 PEG cases (PEG-group) and 32 eyes of 32 OHT cases (OHT-group) were included in the study. Intraocular pressure (IOP), central corneal thickness (CCT), and endothelial cell count (ECC) were noted at baseline and post-SLT 3rd month. IOP reduction and success rates were detected. Inter and intragroup comparisons were made. Results: At baseline, age and gender distributions of groups were similar (P>0.05). Baseline IOP was 26.7±1.6 in PEG-group and 27.2±1.2 mmHg in OHT-group (P=0.648). In both groups, there was a significant decrease in IOP at 3rd month compared to baseline (P<0.001). IOP at 3rd month was 18.9±1.1 in PEG-group and 19.6±0.6 mmHg in OHT-group (P=0.507). IOP reduction rate (29.2% vs. 27.9%, P=0.807) and success rate (69.4% vs. 75%, P=0.846) were similar in PEG-group and OHT-group. Baseline CCT was 541.4±25.3 in PEG-group and 543.3±22.1 µm in OHT-group (P=0.581), while baseline ECC was 2496.5±231.8 and 2512.3±242.7 cells/mm2, respectively (P=0.324). In groups, no significant change was detected in CCT and ECC values at 3rd month compared to baseline (P>0.05). IOP, CCT, and ECC values of groups were similar at 3rd month (P>0.05). Conclusion: We found that single-session of 180° SLT was similarly effective in reducing the IOP in newly diagnosed PEG and OHT cases. We also detected that it was safe for cornea and could be used as primary treatment in newly diagnosed cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The increased use of biologic drugs (BDs) may lead to an increase in immediate hypersensitivity reactions (I-HSRs) in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Our aim was to assess I-HSRs to BDs in pediatric IBD, examining frequency, clinical features, management, and associated risk factors. Methods: All children diagnosed with IBD at our institution between January 1, 2006, and August 1, 2023, and who developed I-HSRs related to any BD were included in the study. Results: In a study of 197 pediatric IBD patients, 61 used BD. Among these, 52.4% were male, with a median diagnosis age of 145 months (13–215). Out of a total of 1,679 administrations, 6 patients developed I-HSRs (5 with infliximab, 1 with adalimumab), resulting in a frequency of 9.8% per patient and 0.36% per administration. Of these, 66.7% were cases of Type 1 HSRs (skin test positivity n = 1), while the rest were infusion-related reactions (anti-drug antibody positivity n = 4), all of which were mild to moderate in severity. In the age and gender-adjusted logistic regression model, the presence of any comorbid allergic disease was significantly associated with the occurrence of I-HSR (aOR = 8.35; 95% CI = 1.24–56.38; p = 0.029). Conclusion: The frequency of I-HSRs to BDs in children with IBD is not rare but not severe in the long term. The presence of any comorbid allergic disease is a risk factor for the development of I-HSRs to BDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The objective was to retrospectively evaluate the contribution of fluorodeoxyglucose [ 18 F] positron emission tomography/computed tomography ( 18 FDG-PET/CT) to the re-staging of adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC)., Materials and Methods: A total of 16 patients (10 males and 6 females), who underwent adrenalectomy due to adrenocortical carcinoma and 18 FDG-PET/CT scan to re-stage the tumor between July 2007 and April 2013, were included in the present study. The mean age was 53.37 ± 13.91 years (min: 30, max: 74) The patients were required to fast for six hours prior to scanning, and whole-body PET scanning from the skull base to the upper thighs was performed approximately 1 h after the intravenous injection of 555 MBq of F-18 FDG. Whole body CT scanning was performed in the cranio-caudal direction. FDG-PET images were reconstructed using CT data for attenuation correction. Suspicious recurrent or metastatic lesions were confirmed by histopathology or clinical follow-up., Results: Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and accuracy of 18 FDG-PET/CT were 100%, 83.3%, 90.9%, 83.3%, and 93.7%, respectively., Conclusion: 18 FDG-PET/CT detects local recurrence and/or distant metastases with high accuracy in the re-staging of operated adrenocortical carcinoma. It is considered that the procedure could play an important role in treatment decision after the operation and post-operative follow-up and could influence the entire decision-making process., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest: There are no conflicts of interest as the letter has been written by only one author., (© 2023 Greater Poland Cancer Centre.)