Four-Year Visual Outcomes in the Protocol W Randomized Trial of Intravitreous Aflibercept for Prevention of Vision-Threatening Complications of Diabetic Retinopathy.

Importance: Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections in eyes with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) without center-involved diabetic macular edema (CI-DME) reduce development of vision-threatening complications from diabetes over at least 2 years, but whether this treatment has a longer-term benefit on visual acuity is unknown.

Objective: To compare the primary 4-year outcomes of visual acuity and rates of vision-threatening complications in eyes with moderate to severe NPDR treated with intravitreal aflibercept compared with sham. The primary 2-year analysis of this study has been reported.

Management of repository corticotropin injection therapy for non-infectious uveitis: a Delphi study.

Purpose: Diagnosis and management of non-infectious uveitis (NIU), a major cause of blindness worldwide, are challenging. Corticosteroids, the cornerstone of therapy, are not appropriate for long-term use, and while non-biologic and biologic immunomodulators may be used for some patients, data on their efficacy and safety in this population are limited. Repository corticotropin injection (RCI), believed to affect uveitis by multiple mechanisms, has received regulatory approval for treatment of ophthalmic diseases including posterior uveitis, but is not widely used or discussed in guidelines for the management of uveitis and ocular inflammatory diseases.

Risk and clinical course of retinopathy of prematurity in 78 infants of gestational age 22-25 weeks.

Purpose: To characterize the retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and survival of infants born at gestational age (GA) of 22-25 weeks.

Methods: This study was a comparative case series for the total set of 78 infants ≤25 GA screened for ROP at a level IV NICU during a 21-month period. Data are presented on infants screened for ROP from 6 weeks after birth for 22 and 23 weeks' GA infants and from 5 weeks after birth for 24 and 25 weeks' GA.

Subconjunctival sirolimus for the treatment of chronic active anterior uveitis: results of a pilot trial.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and possible efficacy of subconjunctival sirolimus for the treatment of chronic active anterior uveitis.

Design: Prospective, nonrandomized, open-label clinical trial.

Methods: This single-center pilot trial enrolled 5 patients with chronic active anterior uveitis.

Treatment for atrophic macular degeneration.

Purpose Of Review: To summarize ongoing and recently completed trials on geographic atrophy associated with age-related macular degeneration.

Recent Findings: A large number of investigational agents are under development for treatment of geographic atrophy in both pre and early-phase clinical testing.

Summary: Therapies targeting all putative phases of pathogenesis in geographic atrophy are under development.

Finasteride for chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of finasteride, an inhibitor of dihydrotestosterone synthesis, in the treatment of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Methods: Five patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy were prospectively enrolled in this pilot study. Patients were administered finasteride (5 mg) daily for 3 months, after which study medication was withheld and patients were observed for 3 months.

Changes in retinal sensitivity in geographic atrophy progression as measured by microperimetry.

Purpose: To characterize changes in macular sensitivity during geographic atrophy (GA) progression using microperimetry.

Methods: Retinal sensitivity in the macular area was evaluated by microperimetry in 10 patients with bilateral GA, with adequate data obtained in 9 of 10 patients (n = 18 eyes). Patients had been enrolled in an interventional trial in which one eye had been randomized to treatment and the other eye observed.

Nutritional supplements for age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose Of Review: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of visual loss in older adults, has limited therapeutic options. This review describes the current literature on the role of nutritional supplementation in primary and secondary prevention of AMD.

Recent Findings: Many observational studies have explored the association between diet, nutrient intake, and AMD.

Serum inflammatory markers in diabetic retinopathy.

Purpose: To evaluate the association of serum factors with the severity of diabetic retinopathy and to assess their presence in retinal tissue obtained at autopsy.

Methods: The following serum factors of 93 subjects were examined at the National Eye Institute (NEI) clinical center: the chemokines regulated on activation, normal T-cell expressed and presumably secreted (RANTES)/CCL5, epithelial neutrophil activator (ENA)-78/CXCL5, interferon-induced protein (IP)-10/CXCL10, stromal cell-derived factor (SDF)-1alpha/CXCLl2, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1/CCL2, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1alpha/CCL3, interleukin (IL)-8/CXCL8; the cytokine IL-6; the cell adhesion molecules intercellular adhesion molecule (ICAM-1/CD54) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM/CD106); and the growth factor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Logistic regression was performed to assess the association of these factors with age, sex, severity of retinopathy, hemoglobin A(1C), total cholesterol, creatinine, duration of diabetes, and presence of macular edema.

Rapid upregulation of alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors by tyrosine dephosphorylation.

Alpha7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) modulate network activity in the CNS. Thus, functional regulation of alpha7 nAChRs could influence the flow of information through various brain nuclei. It is hypothesized here that these receptors are amenable to modulation by tyrosine phosphorylation.

Associations of mortality and diabetes complications in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes: early treatment diabetic retinopathy study report no. 27.

Objective: Diabetes is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study is to assess the associations between diabetes complications and mortality in the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS).

Research Design And Methods: We examined demographic, clinical, and laboratory characteristics of the 3,711 subjects enrolled in the ETDRS, a randomized controlled clinical trial designed to evaluate the role of laser photocoagulation and aspirin therapy for diabetic retinopathy.

The involvement of sequence variation and expression of CX3CR1 in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration.

This study examined the association between the sequence variation/expression of CX3CR1, a chemokine receptor, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Peripheral blood from 85 AMD patients and 105 subjects without AMD (controls), as well as ocular tissue from 40 pathological sections with AMD and two normal eye sections, were screened for V249I and T280M, two single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in CX3CR1. An increased prevalence, with the highest odds ratio of 3.