AIM To determine whether compression of the optic nerve by the intracranial carotid artery (ICA) can be a causative factor of normal tension glaucoma (NTG). METHODS The medical records of 103 eyes of 54 Japanese patients with NTG and 104 eyes of 52 age matched control patients were reviewed. The neuroradiological findings of magnetic resonance images (MRI) were evaluated to determine the rela...

BACKGROUND For diagnosis and follow-up of glaucoma an exact evaluation of the optic nerve disc and the nerve fiber layer is necessary. METHODS The slit-lamp evaluation of the optic nerve disc and nerve fiber layer is presented as well as the evaluation with the Nerve Fiber Analyzer and the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph. RESULTS Signs of a glaucomatous optic disc include a difference of more t...

PURPOSE To identify the structure and composition of the tree shrew optic nerve to determine its potential as a model for glaucoma. METHODS Tree shrew optic nerves, aged 4 weeks to 5 years, were wax or cryoembedded for analysis of overall morphology and cellular (glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAP]) and extracellular matrix (collagen types I, III, IV, V, VI; fibronectin; and elastin) immun...

PURPOSE To determine if astrocyte processes label for actin and to quantify the orientation of astrocytic processes within the optic nerve head (ONH) in a rat glaucoma model. METHODS Chronic intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation was produced by episcleral hypertonic saline injection and tissues were collected after 5 weeks. For comparison, eyes with optic nerve transection were collected at 2 ...

The ability of NGF (2.5S subunit) to support the survival of adult rat retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and optic nerve fibers after intracranial section of the optic nerve was investigated. NGF was injected intraocularly at a dose of 3 micrograms/injection every 2.3 d from the day of axotomy to analysis. Control animals received cytochrome c injections. The survival of RGCs was analyzed in whole-...

CLINICAL CASE A 35-year-old man with a family history of von Hippel-Lindau disease was diagnosed to have two retinal hemangiomas in the right eye and another in the left eye. The hemangiomas were treated with cryotherapy and laser photocoagulation respectively. Despite apparent good resolution of the retinal lesions, progressive visual loss was observed. An MRI was then performed and showed bil...

AIM To determine if the isoforms of transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) are present in fetal, normal adult, and glaucomatous optic nerve heads. METHODS To localise cells synthesising TGF-beta, optic nerve heads were stained using antibodies to TGF-beta 1, TGF-beta 2, and TGF-beta 3. To demonstrate synthesis, human optic nerve heads from fetal, glaucomatous, and normal age matched subje...

BACKGROUND Pseudo-doubling of the optic nerve head is a spectacular clinical entity, in which a lesion resembling an optic disk appears adjacent to the true optic disk. CASE REPORT A case of unilateral pseudo-doubling of the optic disk with bilateral optic nerve pits is presented. CONCLUSIONS The lesion is congenital, and represents a chorioretinal coloboma with optic disk involvement. Pseu...

PURPOSE To establish whether optic nerve head astrocytes express candidate molecules to sense tissue stretch. METHODS We used conventional PCR, quantitative PCR, and single-cell reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) to assess the expression of various members of the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel family and of the recently characterized mechanosensitive channels Piezo1 and 2 in optic...

To the Editors: Children with Down syndrome (DS) are commonly seen by pediatric ophthalmologists because signifi cant ocular conditions are associated with the disorder.1 The presence of optic nerve anomalies has been noted in various small case series on children with DS.2,3 We sought to determine the prevalence and character of optic nerve abnormalities among patients with DS in a large pedia...