Surgical Results in Ocriplasmin Candidates With Symptomatic Vitreomacular Traction Syndrome

PURPOSE

To report surgical outcomes in a series of cases with symptomatic vitreomacular traction that met MIVI-TRUST (Microplasmin for intravitreous injection-traction release without surgical treatment) criteria for ocriplasmin use who underwent primary 25-gauge vitrectomy.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

A single-center retrospective chart review study was performed in patients who underwent primary 25-gauge vitrectomy for symptomatic vitreomacular traction (VTM) from January 2013 through January 2016. Pre- and postoperative visual acuity (measured by the early treatment diabetic retinopathy acuity test), and posterior hyaloid focal attachment to the macula (demonstrated by high-definition optical coherence tomography) were analyzed. In addition, intra- and postoperative complications were obtained from medical records.

RESULTS

Fifteen consecutive cases of symptomatic VMT traction that underwent primary 25-gauge vitrectomy were included. All met the MIVI-TRUST criteria for ocriplasmin use. In all cases, VMT resolution, macular hole closure, and improvement in best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were observed. Mean visual acuity improved from 56.53 ± 16.04 letters at baseline to 73.13 ± 7.46 letters at 24 weeks of follow-up. The mean BCVA improvement from baseline was 16.60 letters (range 6-44), which was statistically significant (P < 0.0001). Ten of fifteen patients (66.6%) showed significant improvement of their BCVA to 20/40 or better (70 or more in ETDRS visual acuity test). No significant intra- or postoperative complications were documented.

CONCLUSIONS

Primary 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy in eyes with symptomatic vitreomacular traction is able to efficiently resolve VMT and macular holes, improving vision in candidates for intravitreal injection of ocriplasmin. This well-tolerated surgical procedure may be a reliable and predictable alternative for resolving VMT pathology.

Implications of biological factors on accumulation of persistent organic pollutants in Antarctic notothenioid fish

In the present study, the possible associations between selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and biological factors were assessed in different tissues of two Antarctic notothenioid fish: Notothenia rossii (NOR) and Trematomus newnesi (TRN) collected at Potter Cove, King George Island/Isla 25 de Mayo, South Shetland Islands. Specifically, association patterns between biological factors (body size, lipid content, body condition) and POP concentrations (polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and metabolites, polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), hexachlorobenzene (HCB), chlordanes (CHLs) and methoxylated polybrominated diphenyl ethers (MeO-PBDEs)), were explored by using two approaches: multivariate analyses (principal component analysis: PCA) and intraspecific correlations. Integrating results suggest that biological factors such as size, KI and tissue type seemed to be associated to selective accumulation of POPs for immature specimens of N. rossii, and KI and tissue type for mature specimens of T. newnesi. Each particular factor should be considered when choosing N. rossii or T. newnesi as sentinels for POPs pollution in Antarctic marine environments. Further, both nototheniids showed a selective accumulation pattern in their gonads of penta-chlorinated biphenyls (penta-CBs; 55.5 and 29ngg^-1 lw for N. rossii and T. newnesi, respectively) and organochlorine pesticides such as DDTs (199 and 13.3ngg^-1 lw, for N. rossii and T. newnesi respectively), and of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in gills (97.2 and 22.1 for ngg^-1 lw, for N. rossii and T. newnesi, respectively), highlighting the importance of these tissues in monitoring studies of pollution in fish. The current study expands the knowledge concerning the biological factors to be investigated when specific pollutants are monitored and supports the importance of tissue type for the selective accumulation of POPs in Antarctic fish. Additionally, a contribution to the scarce data on concentration of MeO-PBDEs in Antarctic marine organisms, particularly in the highly diverse perciform suborder Notothenioidei is provided.