Search

Background Spontaneous closure of an idiopathic full-thickness macular hole has been reported to occasionally occur. However, the cells involved in plugging the macular hole have not been determined conclusively. We aimed to report the early structural changes that occur during a spontaneous closure of an idiopathic full-thickness macular hole determined by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography. Case presentation A 71-year-old Japanese man with an idiopathic full-thickness macular hole and subclinical posterior vitreous detachment in the left eye was followed. Three weeks after the identification of the macular hole, optical coherence tomography showed tissue that protruded from the interior wall of the macular hole at the level of the external limiting membrane toward the center of the macular hole. Five months after the first examination, he returned with improvements of his visual symptoms, and the macular hole was closed by a thin retinal tissue which included the restored external limiting membrane that bridged across the macular hole. However, the inner segment/outer segment junction line was not intact and the fovea was detached. Two months later, optical coherence tomography showed an almost normal foveal configuration with an essentially restored inner segment/outer segment junction line and foveal reattachment. Conclusion Our results suggest that Müller cells proliferate and/or extend at the level of the end of the external limiting membrane to form a tissue bridge across the macular hole associated with the external limiting membrane restoration first of all. This leads to the adhesion of other retinal layers and resolution of the foveal detachment.

To report findings of optic disc melanocytoma (ODM) obtained using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT), with special reference to the central retinal artery and vein surrounded by hyperreflective dots. Retrospective review of five eyes of five patients with ODM. Demographic information, ophthalmic examination including best-corrected visual acuity, dilated funduscopic examination, and SD OCT images were evaluated. Dome-shaped, darkly pigmented tumors were seen ophthalmoscopically in the optic discs of all eyes. On OCT, the first branches of the central retinal artery and/or vein were well defined as oblique sections of tubular structures with a perivascular distribution of hyperreflective dots in the elevated retina (nerve fiber layer) over the tumor. The portions where these vessels turn toward the retina were displaced more anteriorly than those of eyes without ODM. Hyperreflective dots of various sizes were also observed in elevated retinas over the tumors, which shadowed and obscured the subjacent tissue in all eyes. SD OCT provides higher definition images of ODM relating to the branches of the central retinal artery/vein, revealing anterior displacement of vessels and perivascular distribution of hyperreflective dots that suggest melanophages and/or tumor cells or proteins and/or lipid deposits.

The activities of sialyl-, fucosyl- and galactosyltransferase were measured in membrane preparations from bovine eyes. Radioactive sugars from CMP-N-neuraminic acid, GDP-fucose and UDP-galactose were incorporated into the endogenous and exogenous acceptors. The enzymatic activities of all three glycosyltransferases were found to be high in the neural retina and retinal pigment epithelium, moderate in the cornea and uvea, and low in the lens and sclera, except for a high galactosyltransferase activity in the cornea.

peanut agglutinin, a lectin with specific affinity for galactose beta-(1----3)-N-acetyl-galactosamine disaccharides, showed binding to the slender cones in the rod-free fovea as well as to the conical cones in the periphery of the monkey (Macaca fuscata) retina, but not to the rods, as revealed by light-microscopic cytochemistry with horseradish-peroxidase-conjugated lectin.