AIM: Robotic spine surgery techniques provide reduced pedicle screw malposition and radiation exposure during surgery. The aim of this study is to review clinical and radiological results of robotic spine surgery. MATERIAL and METHODS:The preoperative, intraoperative and postoperative data for 27 patients were reviewed. To reveal the effect of a learning curve, the cases were divided into two groups: Group A and Group B The clinical data and radiological data were compared with the values obtained from preoperative planning. RESULTS:The patients consisted of 23 females and 4 males. A total of 136 screws were placed in the 27 cases. The accuracy rate of the screw positions was 98.5%. The overall mean procedure duration was 73.2 minutes for Group A and 46.1 minutes for Group B. The overall mean x-ray exposure time per screw was 1.3 seconds, 1.8 seconds for Group A and 0.9 seconds for Group B. Postoperative imaging revealed that 126 screws were perfect, screw malposition of <2mm was observed for 8 screws, and malposition of >2mm was observed for 2 screws. CONCLUSION:Robotic spine surgery provides a high degree of accuracy for pedicle screw placement and allows for reduced radiation exposure.

No abstract

No abstract

The optical coherence tomography angiography findings showed that the parafoveal deep temporal and deep hemi-inferior vascular plexus density was reduced in patients taking hydroxychloroquine for more than 5 years despite having normal perimetry. This observation, which can be obtained only through optical coherence tomography angiography, may be relevant to the early findings of hydroxychloroquine toxicity.

This is a retrospective, multicenter study of consecutive patients with nAMD scheduled for a visit and/or a treatment with an intravitreal injection (IVI) during the 3 months before lockdown in the Ophthalmology Departments of six centers of Europe.The study was conducted on 546 patients, of which 55.13% were females, almost 100% of the patients were White/Caucasian race, and 71.53% of the patients presented a type 1 macular neovascularization (NVM). A total of 62.82% of patients (343 patients) that were on scheduled clinic visits and/or intravitreal injection treatment during the 3 months before the quarantine did not attend either to visit or for treatment during the lockdown. The mean number of injections during the lockdown was significantly reduced. This was followed by a significant reduction in the mean best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) between the 3 months before the lockdown (mean BCVA of 60.68 ± 19.77 letters) and 6 months after lockdown (mean BCVA of 56.98 ± 22.59 letters). Patients with better BCVA before the lockdown and the ones showing neovascular activity were more likely to attend their scheduled visits and/or IVI treatments. The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown have led to a decrease in the number of IVI treatments in patients with nAMD, evidencing a significant vision loss at 6 months.