This review considers a minimally invasive ab interno approach to glaucoma filtration surgery. Glaucoma filtration surgery can be defined as an attempt to lower intraocular pressure (IOP) by the ...surgical formation of an artificial drainage pathway from the anterior chamber to the subconjunctival space. Subconjunctival drainage of aqueous fluid has been a cornerstone of glaucoma surgery for more than a century. Varying techniques have been deployed to provide access to this space. Yet, despite numerous innovations in filtering surgery to achieve safe IOP reduction, too many short-term and long-term complications are associated with this surgery. This article describes the development of a new, soft, and permanent ab interno collagen implant (XEN gel stent) to optimize aqueous drainage to the subconjunctival space. Specific characteristics are critical in designing such an implant. Determining the optimum size of the device lumen to avoid hypotony while maximizing long-term outflow is crucial. Other topics discussed include material, length, diameter, flexibility, stability, and biocompatibility of the implant. Preclinical and human eye testing shows that the implant does not seem to occlude inside the lumen and the implant material does not appear to cause tissue reaction in the eye. The ab interno placement of the stent offers an alternative for lowering IOP with a minimally invasive procedure, minimum conjunctival tissue disruption, restricted flow to avoid hypotony, and long-term safety.
Dr. Lewis received financial support from Aquesys, Inc. as a consultant.
Guillain‐Barré syndrome (GBS) is an inflammatory polyradiculoneuropathy associated with numerous viral infections. Recently, there have been many case reports describing the association between ...coronavirus disease‐2019 (COVID‐19) and GBS, but much remains unknown about the strength of the association and the features of GBS in this setting. We reviewed 37 published cases of GBS associated with COVID‐19 to summarize this information for clinicians and to determine whether a specific clinical or electrodiagnostic (EDx) pattern is emerging. The mean age (59 years), gender (65% male), and COVID‐19 features appeared to reflect those of hospitalized COVID‐19 patients early in the pandemic. The mean time from COVID‐19 symptoms to GBS symptoms was 11 days. The clinical presentation and severity of these GBS cases was similar to those with non–COVID‐19 GBS. The EDx pattern was considered demyelinating in approximately half of the cases. Cerebrospinal fluid, when assessed, demonstrated albuminocytologic dissociation in 76% of patients and was negative for severe acute respiratory distress syndrome–coronavirus‐2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) in all cases. Serum antiganglioside antibodies were absent in 15 of 17 patients tested. Most patients were treated with a single course of intravenous immunoglobulin, and improvement was noted within 8 weeks in most cases. GBS‐associated COVID‐19 appears to be an uncommon condition with similar clinical and EDx patterns to GBS before the pandemic. Future studies should compare patients with COVID‐19–associated GBS to those with contemporaneous non–COVID‐19 GBS and determine whether the incidence of GBS is elevated in those with COVID‐19.
Objective
To revise the 2010 consensus guideline on chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP).
Methods
Seventeen disease experts, a patient representative, and two Cochrane ...methodologists constructed 12 Population/Intervention/Comparison/Outcome (PICO) questions regarding diagnosis and treatment to guide the literature search. Data were extracted and summarized in GRADE summary of findings (for treatment PICOs) or evidence tables (for diagnostic PICOs).
Results
Statements were prepared according to the GRADE Evidence‐to‐Decision frameworks. Typical CIDP and CIDP variants were distinguished. The previous term “atypical CIDP” was replaced by “CIDP variants” because these are well characterized entities (multifocal, focal, distal, motor, or sensory CIDP). The levels of diagnostic certainty were reduced from three (definite, probable, possible CIDP) to only two (CIDP and possible CIDP), because the diagnostic accuracy of criteria for probable and definite CIDP did not significantly differ. Good Practice Points were formulated for supportive criteria and investigations to be considered to diagnose CIDP. The principal treatment recommendations were: (a) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) or corticosteroids are strongly recommended as initial treatment in typical CIDP and CIDP variants; (b) plasma exchange is strongly recommended if IVIg and corticosteroids are ineffective; (c) IVIg should be considered as first‐line treatment in motor CIDP (Good Practice Point); (d) for maintenance treatment, IVIg, subcutaneous immunoglobulin or corticosteroids are recommended; (e) if the maintenance dose of any of these is high, consider either combination treatments or adding an immunosuppressant or immunomodulatory drug (Good Practice Point); and (f) if pain is present, consider drugs against neuropathic pain and multidisciplinary management (Good Practice Point).
To evaluate the intraocular pressure (IOP)-lowering performance and safety of an ab interno gelatin stent (XEN 45 Gel Stent, Allergan plc, Irvine, California, USA), a minimally invasive glaucoma ...surgery device, in refractory glaucoma.
Single-arm, open-label, multicenter clinical study.
Following mitomycin C pretreatment, the stent was placed ab interno in patients who failed prior filtering/cilioablative procedure or had uncontrolled IOP on maximum-tolerated medical therapy, with medicated IOP ≥20 and ≤35 mm Hg and visual field mean deviation ≤−3 dB. Primary performance outcomes: patients (%) achieving ≥20% IOP reduction from baseline on the same or fewer medications and mean IOP change from baseline at month 12. Procedure-related complications and ocular adverse events (AEs) were assessed.
Sixty-five patients were implanted (intent-to-treat/safety population). At 12 months, 75.4% (46/61; observed data) reported ≥20% IOP lowering from baseline on the same or fewer medications. Mean IOP change from baseline was −9.1 mm Hg (95% confidence interval CI: −10.7, −7.5) (n = 52; observed data) at 12 months, excluding patients with missing data (n = 4) and those requiring a glaucoma-related secondary surgical intervention (n = 9). Mean medication count decreased from 3.5 (baseline) to 1.7 (12 months). No intraoperative complications or unexpected postoperative AEs were reported. Most AEs were mild/moderate; common AEs included needling (without sight-threatening complications), nonpersistent loss of best-corrected visual acuity, and transient hypotony (requiring no surgical intervention).
The gelatin stent reduced IOP and medication use without raising unexpected safety concerns, offering a minimally invasive surgical option for refractory glaucoma patients.
To revise the 2010 consensus guideline on chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP). Seventeen disease experts, a patient representative, and two Cochrane methodologists ...constructed 12 Population/Intervention/Comparison/Outcome (PICO) questions regarding diagnosis and treatment to guide the literature search. Data were extracted and summarized in GRADE summary of findings (for treatment PICOs) or evidence tables (for diagnostic PICOs). Statements were prepared according to the GRADE Evidence‐to‐Decision frameworks. Typical CIDP and CIDP variants were distinguished. The previous term “atypical CIDP” was replaced by “CIDP variants” because these are well characterized entities (multifocal, focal, distal, motor, or sensory CIDP). The levels of diagnostic certainty were reduced from three (definite, probable, possible CIDP) to only two (CIDP and possible CIDP), because the diagnostic accuracy of criteria for probable and definite CIDP did not significantly differ. Good Practice Points were formulated for supportive criteria and investigations to be considered to diagnose CIDP. The principal treatment recommendations were: (a) intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) or corticosteroids are strongly recommended as initial treatment in typical CIDP and CIDP variants; (b) plasma exchange is strongly recommended if IVIg and corticosteroids are ineffective; (c) IVIg should be considered as first‐line treatment in motor CIDP (Good Practice Point); (d) for maintenance treatment, IVIg, subcutaneous immunoglobulin or corticosteroids are recommended; (e) if the maintenance dose of any of these is high, consider either combination treatments or adding an immunosuppressant or immunomodulatory drug (Good Practice Point); and (f) if pain is present, consider drugs against neuropathic pain and multidisciplinary management (Good Practice Point).
The proteasome processes proteins to facilitate immune recognition and host defense. When inherently defective, it can lead to aberrant immunity resulting in a dysregulated response that can cause ...autoimmunity and/or autoinflammation. Biallelic or digenic loss-of-function variants in some of the proteasome subunits have been described as causing a primary immunodeficiency disease that manifests as a severe dysregulatory syndrome: chronic atypical neutrophilic dermatosis with lipodystrophy and elevated temperature (CANDLE). Proteasome maturation protein (POMP) is a chaperone for proteasome assembly and is critical for the incorporation of catalytic subunits into the proteasome. Here, we characterize and describe POMP-related autoinflammation and immune dysregulation disease (PRAID) discovered in two unrelated individuals with a unique constellation of early-onset combined immunodeficiency, inflammatory neutrophilic dermatosis, and autoimmunity. We also begin to delineate a complex genetic mechanism whereby de novo heterozygous frameshift variants in the penultimate exon of POMP escape nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) and result in a truncated protein that perturbs proteasome assembly by a dominant-negative mechanism. To our knowledge, this mechanism has not been reported in any primary immunodeficiencies, autoinflammatory syndromes, or autoimmune diseases. Here, we define a unique hypo- and hyper-immune phenotype and report an immune dysregulation syndrome caused by frameshift mutations that escape NMD.
To determine if patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) have antibodies to agrin, a proteoglycan released by motor neurons and is critical for neuromuscular junction (NMJ) formation, we collected serum ...samples from 93 patients with MG with known status of antibodies to acetylcholine receptor (AChR), muscle specific kinase (MuSK) and lipoprotein-related 4 (LRP4) and samples from control subjects (healthy individuals and individuals with other diseases). Sera were assayed for antibodies to agrin. We found antibodies to agrin in 7 serum samples of MG patients. None of the 25 healthy controls and none of the 55 control neurological patients had agrin antibodies. Two of the four triple negative MG patients (i.e., no detectable AChR, MuSK or LRP4 antibodies, AChR-/MuSK-/LRP4-) had antibodies against agrin. In addition, agrin antibodies were detected in 5 out of 83 AChR+/MuSK-/LRP4- patients but were not found in the 6 patients with MuSK antibodies (AChR-/MuSK+/LRP4-). Sera from MG patients with agrin antibodies were able to recognize recombinant agrin in conditioned media and in transfected HEK293 cells. These sera also inhibited the agrin-induced MuSK phosphorylation and AChR clustering in muscle cells. Together, these observations indicate that agrin is another autoantigen in patients with MG and agrin autoantibodies may be pathogenic through inhibition of agrin/LRP4/MuSK signaling at the NMJ.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The planar cell polarity (PCP) signaling pathway governs collective cell movements during vertebrate embryogenesis, and certain PCP proteins are also implicated in the assembly of cilia. The septins ...are cytoskeletal proteins controlling behaviors such as cell division and migration. Here, we identified control of septin localization by the PCP protein Fritz as a crucial control point for both collective cell movement and ciliogenesis in Xenopus embryos. We also linked mutations in human Fritz to Bardet-Biedl and Meckel-Gruber syndromes, a notable link given that other genes mutated in these syndromes also influence collective cell movement and ciliogenesis. These findings shed light on the mechanisms by which fundamental cellular machinery, such as the cytoskeleton, is regulated during embryonic development and human disease.
Despite rapid advances in the identification of genes involved in disease, the predictive power of the genotype remains limited, in part owing to poorly understood effects of second-site modifiers. ...Here we demonstrate that a polymorphic coding variant of RPGRIP1L (retinitis pigmentosa GTPase regulator-interacting protein-1 like), a ciliary gene mutated in Meckel-Gruber (MKS) and Joubert (JBTS) syndromes, is associated with the development of retinal degeneration in individuals with ciliopathies caused by mutations in other genes. As part of our resequencing efforts of the ciliary proteome, we identified several putative loss-of-function RPGRIP1L mutations, including one common variant, A229T. Multiple genetic lines of evidence showed this allele to be associated with photoreceptor loss in ciliopathies. Moreover, we show that RPGRIP1L interacts biochemically with RPGR, loss of which causes retinal degeneration, and that the Thr229-encoded protein significantly compromises this interaction. Our data represent an example of modification of a discrete phenotype of syndromic disease and highlight the importance of a multifaceted approach for the discovery of modifier alleles of intermediate frequency and effect.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
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