ABSTRACT.Purpose: To present a rare case of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma invading the ophthalmic orbit. Methods: The CT scan examination and the ultrasound tomography revealed the existence of a homogenous solid mass causing distention and erosion of the nasal wall as well as dislocation of the ocular bulbus. Result: The patient was operated, the mass was carefully liberated from its synechiae and it was totally excised with its capsule. Conclusion: A rare case of juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibroma invading the orbit is presented. The tumor was totally excized and the patient is five years after the operation in good general health without recurrence of the tumor.

The retinal toxic effect after intravitreal use of ganciclovir has been the subject of our experimental investigation on 20 New Zealand rabbits. Different doses of ganciclovir ranging from 200 to 600 µg/0.1 ml were injected intravitreously, and ERG changes were recorded at different time points after drug administration. Finally the animals were killed and the retinal lesions were studied by electron microscopy. According to our experiments, ganciclovir doses of 300-600 µg/0.1 ml have a clearly toxic effect on the retina as shown by ERG changes. One month after the injection, the electroretinogram is either extinguished or clearly affected. Noteworthy is the fact that in a dose of 200 µg/0.1 ml, the ERG b-wave shows a 20% reduction of its normal amplitude 4 months after ganciclovir delivery. Electron microscopy of the retina revealed in the inner segment of the receptor cells the existence of dilatation and vesiculation of the endoplasmic reticulum in the surrounding nuclear cytoplasm and swelling of the mitochondria with fragmentation of the cristae in several of them. In the outer segment of the photoreceptor cells, degeneration and destruction of the lamellae accompagnied by disintegration of the adjacent protoplasm in parts of certain rods and cones appeared. Finally large vacuoles of irregular shape in the synapses and degenerative mitochondria and empty vacuoles in the optic nerve fibers were shown.

Apoptosis or programmed cell death, is a phenomenon with ultrastructural and biochemical characteristics, which is thought to be distinctive from ordinary necrosis. Shrinkage of cells associated with crescent clumps of heterochromatin and formation of membrane-bound apoptotic bodies are thought to represent distinguishing morphologic features. Internucleosomal cleavage of DNA strands reveals a characteristic ladder pattern in gel electrophoresis. Apoptosis is mediated by an active regulatory mechanism, constitutively expressed in normal and neoplastic cells. bcL2, bcl-x, bax, and APO-1/Fas (CD 95) genes are specifically involved in the apoptotic process. Rat thymocytes exposed to glucocorticoids represent a useful model to study cell death. Steroids and peptide hormones play a role in the regulation of apoptosis. Although there is a great interest in monitoring apoptotic process in endocrine cells and their tumors, only a few studies address apoptosis in endocrine glands so far. One goal of future investigation should be directed to explore therapeutic applications.