Ophthalmology News & Articles

1 Expansion of CD27high plasmablasts in transverse myelitis patients that utilize VH4 and JH6 genes and undergo extensive somatic hypermutation Genes and Immunity, May 2, 2013
Ligocki AG et al. - Patients with the autoimmune disease multiple sclerosis (MS) typically present with the clinically isolated syndromes (CIS) transverse myelitis (TM) or optic neuritis (ON). The goal of this study was to characterize the B-cell populations and immunoglobulin genetics in TM patients. The authors found a unique expansion of CD27high plasmablasts in both the cerebrospinal fluid and periphery of TM patients that is not present in ON patients. Additionally, plasmablasts ...

2 Predicting multiple sclerosis following isolated optic neuritis in children European Journal of Neurology, May 14, 2013
Heussinger N et al. - The aim of this study was to investigate the risk of conversion to multiple sclerosis (MS) in children following isolated ON and to evaluate the performance of current diagnostic methods such as cranial magnetic resonance imaging (cMRI), visual evoked potentials (VEPs) and oligoclonal bands in spinal fluid (OCB) as predictive factors for MS development. Multiple sclerosis-like cMRI lesions and OCB are suitable for assessing the risk of progression to MS ...

3 Invasive Meningococcal Infection: Analysis of 110 cases from a Tertiary Care Centre in North East India The Indian Journal of Pediatrics, May 6, 2013
Hazarika RD et al. - To report an outbreak of invasive meningococcal disease from Meghalaya, in the north east India, from January 2008 through June 2009. This is the first epidemic report of invasive meningococcal disease from the north east India. Chloramphenicol acts well in areas with penicillin or cephalosporin resistance. Mortality reduces significantly with early diagnosis and prompt intervention. Methods Retrospective review of case sheets was done. One hundred ten ...

4 Aquaporin-4 antibody-positive cases beyond current diagnostic criteria for NMO spectrum disorders Neurology, May 22, 2013
Sato DK et al. - The study aims to analyze aquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody–positive patients who do not fulfill the current diagnostic criteria of neuromyelitis optica (NMO) and NMO spectrum disorders (NMOSD). AQP4 antibody–positive patients with single or recurrent attacks of optic neuritis, myelitis, or brain/brainstem disease not fulfilling the current criteria of NMO or NMOSD may not be uncommon, and they should also be included in the NMO spectrum.