Faculty Bibliography

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To report 4 cases of acute postoperative endophthalmitis (POE) after uneventful temporal clear corneal topical dropless cataract surgery involving intravitreal triamcinolone-moxifloxacin (TriMoxi). SETTING/METHODS:Private practice in Peoria, IL, USA. DESIGN/METHODS:Retrospective noncomparative case series. METHODS:Charts of patients presenting with POE after an uneventful temporal clear corneal phacoemulsification with in-the-bag implantation of a posterior chamber intraocular lens over a 15-month period were reviewed. RESULTS:Patients presented with typical signs and symptoms of acute POE 3 to 14 days after cataract surgery. The POE resolved after 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy and injection of intravitreal vancomycin, ceftazidime, and dexamethasone. Two of 4 eyes were culture-positive for coagulase-negative Staphylococcus. The corrected distance visual acuity at the last follow-up visit was 20/40 or better in 3 eyes, and 20/400 in 1 eye because of underlying atrophic age-related macular degeneration. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Postoperative endophthalmitis can occur after dropless cataract surgery with intravitreal triamcinolone-moxifloxacin.

BACKGROUND:The ability to perform visually-guided motor tasks requires the transformation of visual information into programmed motor outputs. When the guiding visual information does not align spatially with the motor output, the brain processes rules to integrate the information for an appropriate motor response. Here, we look at how performance on such tasks is affected in young adult athletes with concussion history. METHODS:Participants displaced a cursor from a central to peripheral targets on a vertical display by sliding their finger along a touch sensitive screen in one of two spatial planes. The addition of a memory component, along with variations in cursor feedback increased task complexity across conditions. RESULTS:Significant main effects between participants with concussion history and healthy controls without concussion history were observed in timing and accuracy measures. Importantly, the deficits were distinctly more pronounced for participants with concussion history compared to healthy controls, especially when the brain had to control movements having two levels of decoupling between vision and action. A discriminant analysis correctly classified athletes with a history of concussion based on task performance with an accuracy of 94 %, despite the majority of these athletes being rated asymptomatic by current standards. CONCLUSIONS:These findings correspond to our previous work with adults at risk of developing dementia, and support the use of cognitive motor integration as an enhanced assessment tool for those who may have mild brain dysfunction. Such a task may provide a more sensitive metric of performance relevant to daily function than what is currently in use, to assist in return to play/work/learn decisions.

This article reviews the definition, etiology and evaluation, and medical and neurosurgical treatment of neuropathic facial pain. A neuropathic origin for facial pain should be considered when evaluating a patient for rhinologic surgery because of complaints of facial pain. Neuropathic facial pain is caused by vascular compression of the trigeminal nerve in the prepontine cistern and is characterized by an intermittent prickling or stabbing component or a constant burning, searing pain. Medical treatment consists of anticonvulsant medication. Neurosurgical treatment may require microvascular decompression of the trigeminal nerve.

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVE:To assess the short term efficacy of Cyberknife stereotactic radiosurgical treatment of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). METHODS:17 consecutive patients with medically or surgically refractory unilateral TN were treated with Cyberknife radiosurgery. Using superimposed CT cisternogram and MR images, the target segment of the trigeminal nerve was consistently defined as a 6 mm length of nerve approximately 2-3 mm distal to the dorsal root entry zone of the brainstem. A radiosurgical rhizotomy was performed with the Cyberknife utilizing a single collimator to deliver an average maximum dose of 73.06 Gy (range 72.91-73.73) to the target. RESULTS:Follow-up data were available for 16 of the 17 patients post-treatment (range 1-27 months, average 11.8 months). Overall, 14 of 16 (88%) patients responded favorably with either partial or complete relief of symptomatology. 11 of these patients were successfully free of all pain at some point in their post-treatment course, with seven patients pain free to the last follow-up visit (average 5.0 months, range 1-13 months). Symptoms recurred in four patients, taking place at 3, 7.75, 9 and 18 months after Cyberknife therapy. Only two patients reported side effects. One patient developed a bothersome feathery dysesthesia while the second patient reported a non-bothersome mild jaw hypoesthesia. There were no substantial complications related to stereotactic radiosurgery. CONCLUSION/CONCLUSIONS:Cyberknife radiosurgery is a viable treatment alternative in patients with TN with competitive efficacy demonstrated in our group of patients while minimizing adverse effects.