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Purpose: To determine the efficacy of intravitreal injections of ranibizumab in the treatment of retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration., Methods: Retrospective, consecutive case series of 26 eyes (26 patients) treated with intravitreal injections of 0.5 mg ranibizumab for RAP. Patients received intravitreal injections at monthly intervals during upload phase for a 3-month period., Results:   Mean visual acuity before treatment was 0.75 ± 0.38logMAR (mean ± SD, n = 26). In the upload phase, mean visual acuity improved 4 weeks after the initial injection to 0.6 ± 0.37logMAR (n = 26) and to 0.53 ± 0.34logMAR (n = 26) 4 weeks after the third monthly intravitreal injection of ranibizumab. The mean optical coherence tomography (OCT) central foveal thickness reduced from 345 ± 55 μm at baseline to 215 ± 87 μm at 3 months. In the maintenance phase, mean visual acuity after 6 months was 0.66 ± 0.38logMAR (n = 12) and 0.7 ± 0.37logMAR after 9 months (n = 6). The mean OCT central foveal thickness was 259 ± 59 μm (n = 13) at 6 months and 280 ± 127 μm (n = 6) at nine-month follow-up., Conclusion: Intravitreal ranibizumab resulted in an improvement of visual acuity 4 weeks after the first injection but was more pronounced after 3 months. A reduction in leakage and OCT central foveal thickness was seen 3 months after the commencement of treatment., (© 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 Acta Ophthalmol.)

Lysosomal storage diseases represent a group of about 50 genetic disorders. The deficiencies of lysosomal and non-lysosomal proteins cause an accumulation of compounds which are normally degraded within the lysosome. There are currently no therapeutic options to cure patients suffering from a lysosomal storage disease. Due to their progressive nature there is considerable morbidity and mortality. Thus, an early treatment to maintain major systemic functions is of utmost importance. While so far only symptomatic therapies are in use, the newly available enzyme replacement therapies offer a real causal approach for selected storage diseases. Many of these disorders are characterised by pathognomonic eye findings. Therefore, the ophthalmological examination provides the opportunity for an early and non-invasive diagnosis and a chance to initiate early treatment. This review is intended to give a survey of the most common lysosomal storage diseases, particularly with regard to ophthalmological changes as well as illustrate new therapeutic options., (© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.)

Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate what are the most frequent ocular diseases that were suspected for choroidal melanoma ("pseudo melanoma")., Patients and Methods: The data of all patients who were seen in the University Hospital of Mainz under the suspicion of choroidal melanoma between 1.1.1994 and 1.1.2004 and underwent ultrasound examination, fluorescein angiography or fundus photography, were analysed retrospectively. Among 458 examined eyes a choroidal melanoma was diagnosed in 212 cases. In 246 cases the diagnosis was "pseudomelanoma"., Results: The most frequent ocular diseases suspected for choroidal melanoma were "suspicious nevi" in 31 % of the cases and "disciforme macula degeneration" in 34 %. Less frequently we found hyperplasty of pigment epithelium (5 %), melanocytoma (10 %), choroidal haemangioma (6 %), choroidal detachment (7 %) and retinal macroaneurysma with epi-/subretinal haemorrhages (3 %). Rare diagnoses were orbital tumour, scleritis posterior and a combined hamartoma of retina and pigment epithelium (4 % at all). In 58 eyes without a fundus view, ultrasound revealed an intraocular tumour. In these cases vitrectomy/cataract extraction was performed and we found a choroidal melanoma in 5 eyes, a disciforme macula degeneration in 48 eyes and in 5 eyes a retinal macroaneurysma., Conclusions: Age-related macula degeneration (AMD) is the cause for one third of all pseudomelanomas. Because of its increasing incidence in the future, more attention must be paid to AMD in the differential diagnosis of chorioretinal lesions suspicious of melanoma.

Background: To evaluate the effectiveness of transpupillary thermotherapy (TTT) as an adjunct to ruthenium brachytherapy for treatment of choroidal melanoma with reduced radioactive dose., Patients and Methods: In a prospective nonrandomised analysis 15 eyes with primary malignant melanoma of the choroid (posterior to the equator, thickness