Patterns of Gene Expression, Splicing, and Allele-Specific Expression Vary among Macular Tissues and Clinical Stages of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of blindness, and elucidating its underlying disease mechanisms is vital to the development of appropriate therapeutics. We identified differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and differentially spliced genes (DSGs) across the clinical stages of AMD in disease-affected tissue, the macular retina pigment epithelium (RPE)/choroid and the macular neural retina within the same eye. We utilized 27 deeply phenotyped donor eyes (recovered within a 6 h postmortem interval time) from Caucasian donors (60-94 years) using a standardized published protocol.

Intravitreal Therapy for Uveitic Macular Edema-Ranibizumab versus Methotrexate versus the Dexamethasone Implant: The MERIT Trial Results.

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of 3 different intravitreal treatments for persistent or recurrent uveitic macular edema (ME): dexamethasone implant, methotrexate, and ranibizumab.

Design: Single-masked, randomized controlled clinical trial.

Participants: Patients with minimally active or inactive uveitis and persistent or recurrent uveitic ME in one or both eyes.

The spectrum of COVID-19-associated chorioretinal vasculopathy.

Purpose: Although conjunctivitis represents the most common ocular manifestation of COVID-19 infection, sight-threatening retinal involvement has been reported. Herein, we report and characterize with multimodal retinal imaging 5 cases of acute vision loss secondary to presumed chorioretinal vasculopathy temporally associated with COVID-19 infection with varying severity, visual morbidity, and treatment response, and review the available literature on the association between COVID-19 infection and retinal microvascular changes.

Design: Observational case series and literature review.

Posterior scleritis and acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy: A case of painful chorioretinitis and review of the current literature.

Purpose: To describe a patient who developed concurrent acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) and posterior scleritis.

Observations: We describe a middle-aged woman that developed eye pain and photopsia. She was found to have a "T-sign" on ultrasound of the right eye and multiple, nearly confluent, ill-defined subretinal whitish lesions in both eyes.

Pyramidal Inflammatory Deposits of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium and Outer Retina in Ocular Syphilis.

Purpose: To evaluate the role of OCT in the diagnosis of uveitis secondary to syphilis.

Design: Consecutive, retrospective case series.

Participants: All patients 18 years of age or older with ocular syphilis from 2 tertiary referral centers.

Identifying RNA Biomarkers and Molecular Pathways Involved in Multiple Subtypes of Uveitis.

Purpose: Uveitis is a heterogeneous collection of diseases. We tested the hypothesis that despite the diversity of uveitides, there could be common mechanisms shared by multiple subtypes, and that evidence of these common mechanisms may be detected as gene expression profiles in whole blood.

Design: Cohort study.

Long-Term Safety and Efficacy of Adalimumab in Patients with Noninfectious Intermediate Uveitis, Posterior Uveitis, or Panuveitis.

Purpose: To evaluate long-term efficacy and safety of extended treatment with adalimumab in patients with noninfectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis.

Design: Open-label, multicenter, phase 3 extension study (VISUAL III).

Participants: Adults who had completed a randomized, placebo-controlled phase 3 parent trial (VISUAL I or II) without treatment failure (inactive uveitis) or who discontinued the study after meeting treatment failure criteria (active uveitis).

Revising the Diagnosis of Idiopathic Uveitis by Peripheral Blood Transcriptomics.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that idiopathic uveitis can be categorized into subtypes based on gene expression from blood.

Design: Case control study.

Methods: We applied RNA-Seq to peripheral blood from patients with uveitis associated with 1 of 4 systemic diseases, including axial spondyloarthritis (n = 17), sarcoidosis (n = 13), inflammatory bowel disease (n = 12), tubulo-interstitial nephritis with uveitis (n = 10), or idiopathic uveitis (n = 38) as well as 18 healthy control subjects evaluated predominantly at Oregon Health and Science University.

Bilateral Placoid Choroiditis in an HIV-Positive Patient With Meningitis and Disseminated Cryptococcal Disease.

Purpose: We report a presumptive case of bilateral placoid choroiditis secondary to disseminated infection and review the literature on choroidal involvement of .

Methods: A case report is presented.

Results: A 35-year-old HIV-positive man presented with disseminated cryptococcal infection.

Combined Phacoemulsification and Pars Plana Vitrectomy for the Treatment of Cataract in Patients With Noninfectious Uveitis.

Purpose: This work evaluates the role of combined phacoemulsification and vitrectomy surgery in the management of cataract associated with noninfectious uveitis.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted of all patients aged 7 years or older who underwent a combined surgical approach from 2005 to 2018.

Results: Eighty-five eyes of 67 patients were included in the study; 10.

Long-term visual outcomes of endophthalmitis and the role of systemic steroids in addition to intravitreal dexamethasone.

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of systemic steroids in post-procedural endophthalmitis as the role of intravitreal steroids in treatment algorithms of endophthalmitis remain controversial.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis from a single tertiary referral center of all patients older than 18 years old that developed presumed post-procedure endophthalmitis and were treated at our center from 2009 to 2018.

Results: Eighty-three patients were followed after being treated for post-procedural endophthalmitis that either received systemic steroids or did not around the time of diagnosis.

Not All That Flickers Is Snow.

A woman presented with bilateral visual disturbances that had been diagnosed as visual snow. Dilated ophthalmic examination and multimodal imaging were strongly suggestive of birdshot chorioretinopathy, meriting initiation of systemic immunomodulatory therapy. Visual snow requires a thorough ophthalmologic exam to exclude other ocular diseases.

ALPK1 missense pathogenic variant in five families leads to ROSAH syndrome, an ocular multisystem autosomal dominant disorder.

Purpose: To identify the molecular cause in five unrelated families with a distinct autosomal dominant ocular systemic disorder we called ROSAH syndrome due to clinical features of retinal dystrophy, optic nerve edema, splenomegaly, anhidrosis, and migraine headache.

Methods: Independent discovery exome and genome sequencing in families 1, 2, and 3, and confirmation in families 4 and 5. Expression of wild-type messenger RNA and protein in human and mouse tissues and cell lines.

Novel Dexamethasone Sodium Phosphate Treatment (DSP-Visulex) for Noninfectious Anterior Uveitis: A Randomized Phase I/II Clinical Trial.

Purpose: Frequent steroid drops represent a challenge in patient compliance. This study evaluated the safety and efficacy of 5 minute topical dexamethasone sodium phosphate-Visulex (DSP-Visulex) treatment regimen (two applications on the first week then weekly after) compared to daily prednisolone acetate 1% (PA) for noninfectious anterior uveitis.

Materials And Methods: Forty-four patients were randomized to 8% DSP-Visulex with placebo eye drops (8% group, n = 14), 15% DSP-Visulex with placebo eye drops (15% group, n = 15), or Vehicle-Visulex with PA eye drops (PA group, n = 15).

Periocular Triamcinolone vs. Intravitreal Triamcinolone vs. Intravitreal Dexamethasone Implant for the Treatment of Uveitic Macular Edema: The PeriOcular vs. INTravitreal corticosteroids for uveitic macular edema (POINT) Trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the comparative effectiveness of 3 regional corticosteroid injections for uveitic macular edema (ME): periocular triamcinolone acetonide (PTA), intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide (ITA), and the intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI).

Design: Multicenter, randomized clinical trial.

Participants: Patients with uveitic ME.

Safety and Efficacy of Adalimumab in Patients with Noninfectious Uveitis in an Ongoing Open-Label Study: VISUAL III.

Purpose: To evaluate safety and efficacy of adalimumab in patients with noninfectious intermediate, posterior, or panuveitis.

Design: Phase 3, open-label, multicenter clinical trial extension (VISUAL III).

Participants: Adults meeting treatment failure (TF) criteria or who completed VISUAL I or II (phase 3, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled) without TF.

Fundus Autofluorescence Findings in Eyes With Birdshot Chorioretinitis.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to describe fundus autofluorescence (FAF) findings in eyes with birdshot chorioretinitis (BSCR) and to compare findings to demographic, medical, and clinical characteristics.

Methods: In this multicenter, prospective, cross-sectional study, 172 eyes (86 patients) with BSCR were investigated. Participants underwent a standardized evaluation including collection of demographic data, ophthalmic and treatment history, and ophthalmologic examination.

INTERMEDIATE UVEITIS ASSOCIATED WITH PERIODIC FEVER, APHTHOUS STOMATITIS, PHARYNGITIS, AND CERVICAL ADENITIS SYNDROME.

Background/purpose: To report two novel cases of intermediate uveitis associated with Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, and Cervical Adenitis syndrome.

Methods: Observational case reports and review of the literature.

Results: Both patients in this report had an established diagnosis of Periodic Fever, Aphthous Stomatitis, Pharyngitis, and Cervical Adenitis syndrome before the onset of ocular inflammation.

Retinal Manifestations of Juvenile Dermatomyositis: Case Report of Bilateral Diffuse Chorioretinopathy with Paracentral Acute Middle Maculopathy and Review of the Literature.

Purpose: To review a case of bilateral diffuse chorioretinopathy as a presenting sign of juvenile dermatomyositis (JDM) and review the literature regarding retinal manifestations associated with this disease.

Methods: Review of case record and literature regarding retinal manifestations related to juvenile dermatomyositis.

Results: A 13-year-old girl presented with bilateral diffuse chorioretinopathy as the presenting sign of juvenile dermatomyositis.

Use of Immunosuppressive Medications for Treatment of Pediatric Intermediate Uveitis.

Purpose: To describe the treatment and outcomes of a cohort of pediatric intermediate uveitis (IU) patients, with a particular focus on the use of immunomodulatory therapy (IMT).

Methods: The disease course, treatment, and outcomes of 39 pediatric IU patients treated in the Uveitis Clinic at the University of Utah from 1999 to 2012 were reviewed, retrospectively.

Results: Mean age at presentation was 7.

Choroidal Findings in Eyes With Birdshot Chorioretinitis Using Enhanced-Depth Optical Coherence Tomography.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to describe choroidal findings observed using optical coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging (EDI-OCT) in eyes with birdshot chorioretinitis (BSCR) and to test the hypothesis that these findings are related to participant demographics, clinical characteristics, and treatment.

Methods: In a multicenter, cross-sectional study, 172 eyes of 86 individuals with BSCR underwent a standardized clinical evaluation, including defined protocols for EDI-OCT imaging, with macular and peripapillary volume scans. Choroidal findings were compared to demographic information, ophthalmic examination findings, and treatment history, using logistic regression models.

MACULA RETINAL VASCULITIS AND CHOROIDITIS ASSOCIATED WITH GRANULOMATOSIS WITH POLYANGIITIS.

Purpose: To report a case series of two cases of granulomatosis with polyangiitis, previously known as Wegener granulomatosis, which developed macular necrosis, not previously associated with granulomatosis with polyangiitis, healed with fibrosis, despite aggressive immune-modulating therapy and good control of systemic disease.

Methods: Case series of two cases with observation of treatment progress.

Results: The results reported the progress of response to treatment in the two cases, which resulted in the final outcome of fibrosis in the macula region, despite being on aggressive immune-modulating therapy and good systemic control.