EUROPEAN OPHTHALMIC REVIEW – VOLUME 7 ISSUE 2 – WINTER 2013

It is a pleasure to present the winter edition of European Ophthalmic Review, which contains interesting updates in cornea, cataract surgery, glaucoma and reviews in retinal hot topics, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and diabetic macular oedema treatments. The role of pro-angiogenic signalling and their complex crosstalk in many pathological conditions of the eye has […]

Avascularity of the cornea optimises its optical performance and also helps confer it immunological privilege.1 Loss of this immune privilege leads to poor survival of corneal grafts.2 Corneal new vessels (NVs) can also lead to oedema, lipid deposition, inflammation and scarring leading to reduced vision.3 Maintenance of corneal avascularity is an active process dependent on […]

Proceedings of a Symposium Presented at the European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) 2013 Congress in Copenhagen, 9 June 2013 Expert Reviewed by: Christophe Baudouin and Carlo E Traverso Symposium Speakers: Christophe Baudouin,1 Anton Hommer,2 Anastasios Konstas3 and Carlo E Traverso 4 1. Vision Institute, University of Paris, France; 2. Hera Hospital, Vienna, Austria; 3. 1st […]

Ocular surface disease (OSD) is an umbrella term that includes both dry eye and non-dry eye disease (e.g. lid disease, conjunctivitis and keratitis).1 OSD can severely and negatively affect visual function, the ability to perform daily tasks, such as reading, watching TV and driving. Symptoms may include dryness, irritation, tearing, photophobia, foreign body sensation, grittiness, […]

High myopia affects approximately 2 % of the general population, and represents an important cause of visual impairment in many developed countries. Choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) is one of the most vision-threatening complications of myopia.1–3 Nearly 10 % of eyes with pathological myopia (PM) develop CNV,4 and represents the most common cause of CNV in young […]

Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is a common retinal vascular disease second only to diabetic retinopathy, affecting the elderly population.1 Blockage of the retinal venous circulation has the potential to cause significant loss of vision. The introduction of newly approved anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) agents such as ranibizumab (Lucentis; Novartis, Switzerland) and aflibercept (Eylea; Bayer, […]

Diabetes is a metabolic disease consequent to a decrease of insulin activity, which may be due to a reduced availability of this hormone (type 1 diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes [IDD]), to an impediment to its normal action or to combination of these two factors (type 2 diabetes or non-insulin-dependent diabetes [NIDDM]). Hyperglycaemia is the main […]

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a disease characterised by idiopathic serous neurosensory retinal detachment secondary to leakage from retinal pigment epithelium (RPE).1 This disease was first recognised in 1866 by Albrecht von Graefe.2 Due to the rapid development of modern imaging methods, better understanding of changes occurring in the retina in CSC is possible. Also, […]

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in people over 60 years of age in developed countries.1 A metaanalysis of 53 clinical studies found that approximately 41 % of patients experienced severe loss of sight (more than six lines of visual acuity [VA] lost for untreated exudative AMD) within 3 years if […]

Pharmacokinetics and Safety Ranibizumab is an antibody fragment (Fab) that binds and inhibits all isoforms of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). VEGF induces neovascularisation and vascular leakage in the retina, and it is considered the main target in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). However, VEGF is also a multifunctional cytokine that regulates antiapoptotic pathways of […]

Alimera Sciences Limited Sponsored Symposium, European Society of Ophthalmology (SOE) 2013 Congress, Copenhagen, Sunday 9 June 2013 Expert review by: Albert J Augustin, Sue Lightman, Anat Loewenstein and José Cunha-Vaz

Diabetic macular oedema (DMO) is the primary cause of vision loss in diabetic retinopathy (DR), which is the leading cause of blindness in the working population among patients aged 20 to 70 years in developed countries.1,2 The global prevalence of DR among individuals with diabetes is around 35 %, with DMO present in 6.8 %.3 […]

Das diabetische Makulaödem (DMÖ) ist die Hauptursache für Sehverlust bei diabetischer Retinopathie (DR), welche die häufigste Erblindungsursache bei Patienten im erwerbsfähigen Alter, d. h. vom 20. bis 70. Lebensjahr, in den Industrieländern darstellt.1,2 Die weltweite Prävalenz von DR bei Personen mit Diabetes beträgt etwa 35 %, wobei DMÖ bei 6,8 % vorliegt.3 Die Prävalenzraten von […]

Current Therapy of Retinal Vascular Disease Retinal vascular disorders are commonly found in ophthalmological practice: in addition to hypertensive changes and retinal vein occlusions, diabetic eye disease play a major role. Driven by demographic change and the obesity trend, the prevalence of diabetes has increased steadily over the last years and is likely to rise […]