TWENTY-THREE-GAUGE HYPERSONIC VITRECTOMY: Real-World Surgical Evidence.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety, effectiveness, and the best parameters setup of hypersonic vitrectomy.

Methods: A prospective, multicentric, interventional study on 50 eyes that had undergone hypersonic vitrectomy because of various vitreoretinal diseases. We primarily assessed the effectiveness of vitreous removal, intraoperative complications, and surgical setup.

Functional and morphological outcomes after surgery in lamellar macular holes versus epiretinal membrane foveoschisis.

Purpose: To compare the clinical findings and outcomes of vitrectomy for lamellar macular holes (LMH) versus epiretinal membrane foveoschisis (ERMF).

Materials And Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 36 eyes of 35 patients with a minimum follow-up of 6 months. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) parameters and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were analyzed preoperatively and postoperatively.

Corneal staining patterns in vernal keratoconjunctivitis: the new VKC-CLEK scoring scale.

Aim: To propose a new scoring system in the assessment of ocular surface epithelial damage in vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

Methods: 25 consecutive patients with VKC (50 eyes) were evaluated using the Quality of Life in children with VKC (QUICK) questionnaire and objective clinical measures: fluorescein and lissamine green staining and cornea confocal microscopy (Heidelberg Retina Tomography 3). Oxford, Van Bljsterweld and a new system, the VKC-Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus study (CLEK) (VKC-CLEK) scores, were used to evaluate the epithelial damage after staining.

Epithelial downgrowth after cataract surgery: an atypical presentation with scleral thinning and massive seeding in anterior chamber.

Purpose: To report an atypical presentation of epithelial downgrowth (ED) after clear cornea cataract extraction, characterized by mixed clinical expression of both cystic and diffuse form and massive epithelial debris seeding in anterior chamber, associated with scleral involvement.

Methods: In this case report, fine needle anterior chamber aspiration cytology was performed to identify pathologic tissue invading iris, cornea, and angular structures. The patient was treated with anterior chamber membrane surgical excision.

Epidemiology of allergic conjunctivitis: clinical appearance and treatment patterns in a population-based study.

Purpose Of Review: To analyse the most recently published studies on the prevalence of allergic conjunctivitis alone or in association with allergic rhinitis, and the clinical and demographic aspects of the disease.

Recent Findings: Allergic conjunctivitis or conjunctival symptoms are present in 30-71% of patients with allergic rhinitis. Allergic conjunctivitis alone has been estimated in 6-30% of the general population and in up to 30% in children alone or in association with allergic rhinitis.

Disinfection of ocular cells and tissues by atmospheric-pressure cold plasma.

Background: Low temperature plasmas have been proposed in medicine as agents for tissue disinfection and have received increasing attention due to the frequency of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. This study explored whether atmospheric-pressure cold plasma (APCP) generated by a new portable device that ionizes a flow of helium gas can inactivate ocular pathogens without causing significant tissue damage.

Methodology/principal Findings: We tested the APCP effects on cultured Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Candida albicans, Aspergillus fumigatus and Herpes simplex virus-1, ocular cells (conjunctival fibroblasts and keratocytes) and ex-vivo corneas.