PURPOSE The aim of our investigation was to conduct a quantitative meta-analysis of the present world literature comparing the major surgical outcomes of penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) to lamellar procedures. Our goal is that clinicians, eye bank administrators, and health policy makers will be able to utilize this study in implementing decisions in regards to corneal transplantation. METHODS...

Residual refractive error often complicates penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) and can be treated surgically in patients who are contact lens intolerant. Both photorefractive keratectomy and laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) have been used to reduce postoperative myopia and astigmatism following PKP. Reported complications of LASIK following PKP include irregular astigmatism, photoablation decen...

S U M M A R Y The effects of complex structure in the deep mantle and D′′ on PKP differential traveltimes should be estimated accurately in order to reach reliable conclusions concerning the physical and chemical properties of the Earth’s inner and outer core. In particular, it is important to assess how much of the data can be explained by mantle structure alone. For this purpose, we have asse...

A causal role of herpes simplex infection in persistent epithelial defect following penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) has been documented in the past. Instead, not much information is available on the role of adenovirus infection in delayed epithelization following PKP. Here, we describe a case of persistent epithelial defect due to adenoviral infection keratitis confirmed by PCR analysis. Adenovi...

Comparative analysis of functional results of contact lens correction and penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) in keratoconus are presented. To assess resolution ability we considered visual acuity and contrast sensitivity. 117 patients (219 eyes) with stage I-IV keratoconus, wearing rigid gas-permeable contact lenses (RPCL), and 60 patients (64 eyes) after PKP were examined. In 69% patients after PK...

Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC) is a desmosomal disease. Desmosomes and gap junctions are important structural components of cardiac intercalated discs. The proteins plakophilin-2 (PKP-2) and connexin43 (Cx43) are components of desmosomes and gap junctions, respectively. This study was conducted to determine whether Cx43 expression is affected by the mutation of the PKP-2...

To evaluate the clinical safety and efficacies of percutaneous vertebroplasty (PVP), percutaneous kyphoplasty (PKP), and percutaneous mesh-container-plasty (PMCP) for the treatment of vertebral compression fractures (VCFs), a retrospective study of 90 patients with VCFs who had been treated by PVP (n = 30), PKP (n = 30), and PMCP (n = 30) was conducted. The clinical efficacies of these three tr...

AIMS To investigate whether cryopreserved donor cornea could be used for therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) to eradicate the infection, obviate complications, and preserve anatomical integrity in severe fungal keratitis. METHODS In this retrospective, consecutive case series, 45 eyes of 45 patients with severe fungal keratitis, which exhibited anterior chamber collapse, corneal perfor...

Plakophilin-1 (PKP-1) is an armadillo family protein critical for desmosomal adhesion and epidermal integrity. In the autoimmune skin-blistering disease pemphigus vulgaris (PV), autoantibodies (IgG) target the desmosomal cadherin desmoglein 3 (Dsg3) and compromise keratinocyte cell-cell adhesion. Here, we report that enhanced expression of PKP-1 protects keratinocytes from PV IgG-induced loss o...

We present an algorithm for the penalized multiple choice knapsack problem (PMCKP), a combination of the more common penalized knapsack problem (PKP) and multiple choice knapsack problem (MCKP). Our approach is to converts a PMCKP into a PKP using a previously known transformation between MCKP and KP, and then solve the PKP greedily. For PMCKPs with well-behaved penalty functions, our algorithm...