Kappa angles in different positions in patients with myopia during LASIK

AIM： To investigate the difference in kappa angle between sitting and supine positions during laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis（LASIK）.·METHODS： A retrospective study was performed on395 eyes from 215 patients with myopia that received LASIK. Low, moderate, and high myopia groups were assigned according to diopters. The horizontal and vertical components of kappa angle in sitting position were measured before the operation, and in supine position during the operation. The data from the two positions were compared and the relationship between kappa angle and diopters were analyzed.· RESULTS： Two hundred and twenty-three eyes（56.5%） in sitting position and 343 eyes（86.8%） in supine position had positive kappa angles. There were no significant differences in horizontal and vertical components of kappa angle in the sitting position or horizontal components of kappa angle in the supine position between the three groups（P 〉0.05）. A significant difference in the vertical components of kappa angle in the supine position was seen in the three groups（P 〈0.01）. Differences in both horizontal and vertical components of kappa angles were significant between the sitting and supine positions. Positive correlations in both horizontal and vertical components of kappa angles（P 〈0.05） were found and vertical components of kappa angle in sitting and supine positions were negatively correlated with the degree of myopia（sitting position： r =-0.109; supine position： r =-0.172; P 〈0.05）.·CONCLUSION： There is a correlation in horizontal and vertical components of kappa angle in sitting and supine positions. Positive correlations in both horizontal and vertical components of kappa angle in sitting and supine positions till the end of the results. This result still needs further observation. Clinicians should take into account different postures when excimer laser surgery needs to be performed.

Effect of body position on the pathogenesis of asymmetric primary open angle glaucoma

AIM： To explore the pathogenesis of asymmetric primary open angle glaucoma（POAG） in both eyes by comparing the intraocular pressure（IOP） of patients who sleep in different positions and to investigate the relationship between IOP variations and sleep positions.METHODS： One hundred and thirty-one patients with asymmetric POAG and forty-six healthy volunteers were enrolled. All participants completed a questionnaire that provided information about their sleep laterality. The cup disc ratio（C/D） and visual field defect established binocular asymmetry. The IOP of both eyes was measured using i Care parameters after the patients were asked to change body position. The ＂worse＂ and ＂better＂ eyes were identified according to the diagnosis, whereas the ＂dependent＂ and ＂independent＂ eyes were defined according to the lateral position. RESULTS： No significant difference in sleep laterality was observed between healthy people and patients with POAG（F=3.195, P=0.362）. Among the enrolled patients, the IOP of the dependent eye was always greater than that of the independent eye in the lateral position（P〈0.05）. In the patients with binocular asymmetric POAG, the questionnaire clearly showed that 85.7% of left side preferences were found their left eyes to be the worse eyes and the right eyes of 71.4% patients with a right side preference were the more serious. When the asymmetric C/D ratio was greater than or equal to 0.2, the worse eye of patients with POAG and a preferred sleeping position was the dependent eye（χ~2=16.762, P=0.001）.CONCLUSION： A higher IOP was measured in the dependent eye in the lateral position. The long-term tendency to choose a lateral sleeping position might lead the dependent eye to manifest more severe symptoms than the independent eye. Thus, the lateral sleeping position might be one cause of asymmetric POAG.

An improved method of angle measurement with a position sensitive detector

An improved method of angle measurement is proposed based on a parallel plate interferometer. A position detection system is incorporated into a parallel plate interferometer in order to realize large deflection angle measurement. A reflecting mirror is introduced for increasing the measurement resolution. In experiments, a deflection angle of a measured target was measured within ～3° with high accuracy. And as a phase modulating interferometer, it was used to measure a small angular displacement with a repeatability of 5.5 × 10^-8 rad.