Topical treatment of dupilumab-associated refractory conjunctivitis and keratitis.

Purpose: To report 3 cases of severe dupilumab-related conjunctivitis and keratitis topical treatment.

Observation: Description, management, and outcomes of dupilumab-related refractory conjunctivitis associated with punctate keratitis.Three patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) experiencing severe ophthalmic complications following dupilumab treatment were referred to us when conventional management methods failed.

Treatment of Capecitabine Corneal Side Effects With Autologous Blood-derived Serum Eye Drops.

Background/aim: To describe the clinical progress and management of ocular side effects in a 35-year-old patient with metastatic breast cancer who underwent oral chemotherapy with capecitabine and lapatinib.

Materials And Methods: Slit lamp evaluation revealed bilateral perikeratic hyperemia, perilimbal conjunctival edema associated with corneal marginal infiltrates and epithelial and anterior stromal defects in both eyes. Slit lamp examination, in vivo confocal microscopy and anterior-segment optical coherence tomography were highly suggestive for limbal stem cell deficiency.

Anatomical and functional changes after dexamethasone implant and ranibizumab in diabetic macular edema: a retrospective cohort study.

Aim: To investigate the efficacy and safety of ranibizumab (RZB group) and dexamethasone implant (DEX group) intravitreal treatments in patients with treatment-naïve center involved diabetic macular edema (DME) by means of functional and morphological assessments.

Methods: This retrospective cohort study included 50 eyes of 50 patients with DME treated either with RBZ or DEX. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and microperimetry were evaluated at baseline and during a 6-month follow-up.

The retinoprotective role of phenytoin.

Phenytoin is a non-sedative barbiturate derivate and has been recently rediscovered as a neuroprotective and retinoprotective compound in patients affected by optic neuritis secondary to multiple sclerosis. However, currently there are still no neuroprotective compounds registered and available in the clinic. We reviewed the literature supporting the retinoprotective properties of phenytoin and analyzed the various approaches and definitions from the first research periods onwards.

Analysis of differences in intraocular pressure evaluation performed with contact and non-contact devices.

Background: To evaluate differences of intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements performed with Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT), dynamic contour tonometer (DCT), rebound tonometry (RT), Ocular Response Analyzer (ORA) and Corvis ST (CST) in eyes screened for refractive surgery.

Methods: One eye, only the right one, of 146 patients was included in this study. Each participant was submitted to a corneal analysis with Scheimpflug camera and IOP evaluation with GAT, DCT, RT, ORA and CST.

Diagnostic capability of optic nerve head rim width and retinal nerve fiber thickness in open-angle glaucoma.

Purpose: This study was performed to test the diagnostic capability of the minimum rim width compared to peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with glaucoma.

Methods: A case control, observer masked study, was conducted. Minimum rim width and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness were assessed using the patient-specific axis traced between fovea-to-Bruch's membrane opening center axis.

Scanning Laser Confocal Microscopy of Conjunctival Goblet Cells in Medically-controlled Glaucoma.

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the goblet cell density (GCD) of conjunctiva in medically-controlled glaucoma using laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM).

Materials And Methods: Fifty-five glaucomatous patients were enrolled and divided into two groups: Group 1 (27 eyes), controlled with one medication; and group 2 (28 eyes), controlled with two medications. Seventeen patients with dry eye disease (DED) and 17 healthy individuals served as controls.

Analysis of Prostaglandins-induced Ocular Surface and Periocular Adnexa Modifications in Patients with Glaucoma.

Background/aim: Prostaglandin analogues (PGAs) are a first-line medical treatment for glaucoma because of their powerful intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering effect, few systemic side-effects (SEs), and the once daily administration. Despite the high systemic safety profile, the chronic use of PGAs may induce periocular and ocular surface (OS)-related side effects, which affect a significant proportion of glaucomatous patients. In this review, we summarize the current knowledge about SEs of PGAs on periocular structures and OS, and their implications in clinical practice.

Is Able to Induce Apoptotic Cell Death of Pterygium-Derived Human Keratinocytes.

Pterygium is a relatively common eye disease that can display an aggressive clinical behaviour. To evaluate the effects of on human pterygium-derived keratinocytes, specimens of pterygium from 20 patients undergoing pterygium surgical excision were collected. Pterygium explants were put into culture and derived keratinocytes were treated with an alcoholic extract of 1.

Three-dimensional Laser Scanning Confocal Analysis of Conjunctival Microcysts in Glaucomatous Patients Before and After Trabeculectomy.

Background/aim: In glaucoma, conjunctival epithelial microcysts (CEM) have been extensively investigated by means of laser scanning confocal microscopy. In the present case series, we examined eight glaucomatous patients undergoing trabeculectomy to obtain a 3-dimensional (3-D) characterization of CEM.

Materials And Methods: Image acquisition was performed in z-scan automatic volume mode by Heidelberg Retina Tomograph III/Rostock Cornea Module and a series of 40 images of 300×300 μm (384×384 pixels) to a maximum depth of 40 μm were acquired throughout the upper bulbar conjunctiva before (at the site planned for surgery) and eight weeks after trabeculectomy.

In Vivo Confocal Imaging of the Conjunctiva as a Predictive Tool for the Glaucoma Filtration Surgery Outcome.

Purpose: To examine the preoperative conjunctival dendritic cell density (DCD), goblet cell density (GCD), and stromal meshwork reflectivity (SMR) in glaucomatous patients undergoing filtration surgery, using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM).

Methods: Sixty-six patients were enrolled. At baseline, IVCM was performed at the site planned for surgery, and was repeated after 12 months at bleb site.

Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of Vascular Changes in Diabetic Macular Edema after Dexamethasone Implant Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

The aim of this study was to investigate retinal and choriocapillaris vessel changes in diabetic macular edema (DME) after the intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Moreover, a comparison between morphological and functional parameters of DME and healthy patients was performed. Twenty-five eyes of 25 type 2 diabetic retinopathy patients complicated by macular edema (DME group) and 25 healthy subjects (control group) were enrolled.

The Conjunctiva-Associated Lymphoid Tissue in Chronic Ocular Surface Diseases.

Ocular surface diseases (OSDs) represent a widely investigated field of research given their growing incidence and the negative impact on quality of life. During OSDs, cytokines generated by damaged epithelia trigger and deregulate the lymphoid cells composing the eye-associated lymphoid tissues, inducing an immune-mediated chronic inflammation that amplifies and propagates the disease during time. The conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue (CALT), given its particular position that permits immune cells covering the cornea, might play a crucial role in the development of OSDs.

Uveo-scleral outflow pathways after ultrasonic cyclocoagulation in refractory glaucoma: an anterior segment optical coherence tomography and in vivo confocal study.

Aims: To evaluate, using anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM), the uveo-scleral aqueous humour (AH) outflow pathways after ultrasonic circular cyclocoagulation (UCCC).

Methods: Forty-four patients with refractory glaucoma underwent 4 or 6 s UCCC (group 1, 24 eyes; group 2, 20 eyes). UCCC was successful when the preoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) reduced by one-third.

Advance in the pathogenesis and treatment of normal-tension glaucoma.

Normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) is a multifactorial disease where mechanical stresses and vascular alterations to the optic nerve head probably represent the key pathogenic moments. Although intraocular pressure (IOP) plays a crucial role in the retinal ganglion cell loss, the IOP reduction does not necessarily reduces the disease progression. Therefore, several IOP-independent factors such as glutamate toxicity, oxidative stress, autoimmunity, and vascular dysregulation have been considered in the pathogenesis of NTG.

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Retinal Vascular Diseases and Choroidal Neovascularization.

Purpose. To assess the ability of optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCT-A) to show and analyze retinal vascular patterns and the choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in retinal vascular diseases. Methods.

In vivo confocal microscopy of conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue in healthy humans.

Purpose: To investigate modifications with aging of the presence, distribution and morphologic features of conjunctiva-associated lymphoid tissue (CALT) in healthy human subjects using laser scanning in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM).

Methods: A total of 108 (age range, 17-75 years) subjects were enrolled. In vivo confocal microscopy of the tarsal and bulbar conjunctiva, and impression cytology (IC) with CD3 (intra-epithelial T-lymphocytes) and CD20 (intra-epithelial B-lymphocytes) antibody immunofluorescence staining were performed.

Trans-conjunctival aqueous humor outflow in glaucomatous patients treated with prostaglandin analogues: an in vivo confocal microscopy study.

Purpose: To analyze, using in vivo laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM), the conjunctival features in glaucomatous patients receiving prostaglandin analogues (PGA).

Methods: Eighty eyes of 80 consecutive glaucomatous patients naive for therapy were enrolled; 30 eyes of 30 healthy subjects served as a control. Patients were randomized to: preservative-free (PF) and preserved latanoprost (groups 1 and 2, respectively), PF and preserved timolol (groups 3 and 4), and controls to vehicle of latanoprost or physiological buffered saline solution (groups 5 and 6).

Conjunctival findings in hyperbaric and low-tension glaucoma: an in vivo confocal microscopy study.

Purpose: To analyse the epithelial features of the bulbar conjunctiva in hyperbaric and low-tension glaucoma (LTG) using in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM).

Methods: Thirty-six eyes of 36 patients [18 affected by primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 18 with LTG] were studied; control group was constituted by 28 eyes of 28 healthy subjects. All eyes were examined using digital confocal laser-scanning microscopy (HRT II Rostock Cornea Module).

Ibopamine: D1-dopaminergic agonist in the diagnosis of glaucoma.

Purpose: The purpose of the study was to assess the effect of ibopamine (3,4 di-isobutyrrylester of N-methyldopamine), a D1-dopamine agonist, on intraocular pressure (IOP) in offspring of parents with primary openangle glaucoma as a consequence of outflow structures impairment.

Materials And Methods: We included participants aged between 8 and 40 years: group 1, 163 offspring of at least 1 parent with primary openangle glaucoma with normal IOP and without glaucomatous damages; group 2, 108 offspring of healthy parents (without history or existing glaucoma). Ibopamine test was performed by instilling 2 drops, 5 minutes apart, in both eyes followed by repeated IOP measurements over a 45-minute period.