Intravitreal quantum dots for retinitis pigmentosa: a first-in-human safety study.

Studies indicate that electrical stimulation of retinitis pigmentosa (RP) retina is beneficial. Quantum dots (QDs) can convert light to electrical stimulus and therefore may have therapeutic potential for RP. This was an open-label, fellow eye-controlled, first-in-human safety study.

Intraoperative fibrin formation during Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty.

Purpose: To describe Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) cases complicated by spontaneous intraoperative fibrin formation.

Methods: DMEK surgeries performed at two centers using a standardized technique were reviewed retrospectively for the occurrence of intraoperative fibrin formation. Cases were assessed for recipient medical history, donor age, best spectacle-corrected visual acuity (BSCVA), intraoperative unscrolling time, 6-month endothelial cell loss (ECL), and the course of the mate donor cornea.

DMEK outcomes using nondiabetic grafts for recipients with diabetes mellitus.

Purpose: To compare Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) outcomes using nondiabetic grafts in diabetic and nondiabetic recipients.

Methods: All eyes that underwent DMEK between February 2013 and October 2016 (follow-up ≥3 months, without prior keratoplasty) were included. Recipients were divided into diabetic (insulin dependent [IDDM] or noninsulin dependent [NIDDM]) and nondiabetic groups.

Evaluation of interferon alpha 2b as adjunctive therapy for conjunctival melanoma.

Purpose: Interferon alpha 2b (IFN-α2b) has been used as an adjunctive agent to treat conjunctival melanoma (CM), however its efficacy is unproved due to a paucity of data. We present 5 cases of incompletely excised CM lesions to inform clinical decision making regarding the adjunctive use of IFN-α2b.

Observations: We identified all biopsy proven CM cases treated between 1997 and 2017 at the University of Iowa.

Uveal Melanoma with Histopathologic Intratumoral Heterogeneity Associated with Gene Expression Profile Discordance.

Purpose: To report a case of intratumoral gene expression profile discordance in a malignant uveal melanoma, associated with intratumoral heterogeneity based upon histopathologic features.

Methods: The clinical history, fundus findings, imaging and histopathologic features, and DecisionDx-UM gene expression profile results (Castle Biosciences, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, USA) of the tumor were reviewed.

Vaccine-Associated Uveitis.

All of the widely administered vaccines have been reported to cause uveitis. The ocular inflammation is usually temporary and resolves with topical ocular steroids. During a 26-year period, a total of 289 cases of vaccine-associated uveitis were reported to three adverse reaction reporting databases.

An assessment of antenatal care among Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Background: After more than three years of violence in Syria, Lebanon hosts over one million Syrian refugees creating significant public health concerns. Antenatal care delivery to tens of thousands of pregnant Syrian refugee women is critical to preventing maternal and fetal mortality but is not well characterized given the multiple factors obtaining health data in a displaced population. This study describes antenatal care access, the scope of existing antenatal care, and antenatal and family planning behaviors and practice among pregnant Syrian refugees in various living conditions and multiple geographic areas of Lebanon.

Medication safety program reduces adverse drug events in a community hospital.

Background: There is widespread interest in improving medication safety, particularly in the hospital setting. Numerous suggestions have been made as to how this should be done, but there is a paucity of data demonstrating the effectiveness of any of the interventions that have been proposed.

Objectives: To assess the impact of a wide ranging, community hospital based patient safety program on patient harm as measured by the rate of adverse drug events.

Implementing a hospitalwide patient safety program for cultural change.

Background: After focus groups revealed that staff perceived a punitive culture, Missouri Baptist Medical Center (MBMC) embarked on a comprehensive patient safety program, which was initially directed at creating a just culture of patient safety.

Interventions: A series of structures, processes, and initiatives were introduced to change the attitudes of management and staff toward human error, to communicate broadly with staff and the community, and to provide feedback on leadership's responses to specific events. All events reported were tracked continuously and recorded each month on a spreadsheet.