Dosunmu, EO; Hatt, SR; Leske, DA; Hodge, DO; Holmes, JM. Incidence and Etiology of Presumed Fourth Cranial Nerve Palsy A Population-based Study. American Journal of Ophthalmology. 2019; 185:110-114.
Fourth Cranial Nerve palsy leads to strabismus, and often times results in diplopia (double vision). The resulting diplopia can have significant impact on the quality of life of the affected person, and persons often adopt a head tilt/altered head position to negate the diplopia.  Previous studies have evaluated the incidence and etiology of other cranial nerves that result in strabismus, and some have led to algorithms that help dictate the management of the resultant strabismus.  The present study was population based, and evaluated the incidence and etiology of Fourth Cranial Nerve Palsy over a 15-year period.  We found that a congenital fourth cranial nerve palsy, that decompensates over time (presenting throughout adulthood), was the most common etiology (49%), and this was followed by trauma (18%) and hypertension (18%). We also found that no isolated fourth cranial nerve palsy was the presenting sign of an intracranial tumor – an important finding with significant clinical implications.
Phelps, DL; Watterberg, KL; Nolen, TL; Cole, CA; Cotten, CM; Oh, W; Poindexter, BB; Zaterka-Baxter, KM; Das, A; Lacy, CB; Scorsone, AM; Walsh, MC; Bell, EF; Kennedy, KA; Schibler, K; Sokol, GM; Laughon, MM; Lakshminrusiinha, S; Truog, WE; Garg, M; Carlo, WA; Laptook, AR; Van Meurs, KP; Carlton, DP; Graf, A; DeMauro, SB; Brion, LP; Shankaran, S; Orge, FH; Olson, RJ; Mintz-Hittner, H; Yang, MB; Haider, KM; Wallace, DK; Chung, M; Hug, D; Tsui, I; Cogen, MS; Donahue, JP; Gaynon, M; Hutchinson, AK; Bremer, DL; Quinn, G; He, Y; Lucas Jr, WR; Winter, TW; Kicklighter, SD; Kumar, K; Chess, PR; Colaizy, TT; Hibbs, AM; Ambalavanan, N; Harmon, HM; McGowan, EC; Higgins, RD; Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Neonatal Research Network. Effects of Myo-inositol on Type 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity Among Preterm Infants 28 Weeks Gestational Age A Randomized Clinical Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. 2018; 320(16):1649-1658.
This large-scaled multicenter study evaluated the adverse events and efficacy resulting from treatment with myo-inositol to reduce severe ROP in infants < 28 weeks’ gestational age. Previous small studies had shown that myo-inositol reduced severe ROP and resulted in less frequent death and intraventricular hemorrhage. Although the planned enrollment was 1760 patients, only 638 premature infants from 18 centers in the United States were enrolled and evaluated because the study had to be terminated early due to a statistically significantly higher mortality rate in the myo-inositol group compared with placebo. This study highlights the importance of performing randomized clinical studies to carefully study even those interventions that seemed to show initial promise.
Goda, T; Umezaki, Y; Alwattari, F; Seo, HW; Hamada, FN. Neuropeptides PDF and DH31 hierarchically regulate free-running rhythmicity in Drosophila circadian locomotor activity. Scientific Reports. 2019; 9(1).
Neuropeptides play pivotal roles in modulating circadian rhythms in animals ranging from flies to mammals. This study shows a new role of a neuropeptide, Drosophila DH31 (a homologue of the mammalian Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP)), in the circadian rhythms. Our findings shed new light on the next steps in understanding of the core role of neuropeptides in regulating circadian rhythms.
Lueder, GT; Archer, SM; Hered, RW; Karr, DJ; Kodsi, S; Kraft, SR; Kraft, SP; Paysse, EA; Nischal, K; Vision Rehabilitation Committee. Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus. In: AmLevine, L. M. ericam Academy of Ophthalmology, Ed. Basic and Clinical Science Course, 2018-2019. San Francisco, CA:American Academy of Ophthalmology; 2018.
The Lang lab has identified a new light response pathway that regulates vascular development in the eye. This pathway employs the non-visual opsin OPN5 and uses the neuromodulator dopamine for communication between the retina and the developing vasculature. This work has implications for our understanding of pediatric vascular diseases including retinopathy of prematurity and suggests that violet light treatment of premature infants may be beneficial.