Real-world experience of using stereotactic radiotherapy combined with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor to treat neovascular AMD.

Introduction: Adjunctive treatment or longer-acting drugs are required to treat nAMD to help ease burdens for patients and hospital clinics alike. Stereotactic therapy is one such option, providing a reduction in the number of injections over time.

Objective: To determine the clinical outcomes in a cohort of patients with nAMD receiving a combination therapy of stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) with intravitreal anti-VEGF injections (IVI).

Scope of practice of optometrists working in the UK Hospital Eye Service: Second national survey.

Purpose: As the landscape in ophthalmology and related commissioning continues to change, there is a pressing need to re-evaluate the current scope of practice of hospital optometrists working within secondary care in the UK. We aim to establish if the skills or services delivered by optometrists have changed to meet varying demands, and to better understand what changes in practice may have arisen as a result of COVID-19.

Method: A survey developed from that used in 2015 was disseminated to 129 optometry Hospital Eye Service (HES) leads in September 2020, including questions on department workforce; core services; extended roles; procedures undertaken within extended roles; level of autonomy; arrangements for prescribing; training and accreditation, and service changes in response to COVID-19.

Treatment decisions of UK hospital optometrists and ophthalmologists in patients with nAMD: a vignette study.

Purpose: A vignette study to examine treatment decisions made by UK hospital optometrists in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and the effect of optometrists' experience on agreement.

Methods: Patients with nAMD attending Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Manchester, UK were identified as potential candidates for the case series of vignettes. The cases were chosen to reflect a varied case-mix with respect to difficulty as well as ensuring good quality of the images.

An Ecological Study of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Part 2: Functional Performance Tests Correlate With Return-to-Sport Outcomes.

Background: Additional high-quality prospective studies are needed to better define the objective criteria used in relation to return-to-sport decisions after anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in active populations.

Purpose: To investigate prospectively the relationship between functional performance test results at 24 weeks postoperative and return-to-sport activity (Tegner activity score) at 12 and 24 months, respectively, after synthetic (ligament advanced reinforcement system [LARS]) and autograft (doubled semitendinosus/gracilis [2ST/2GR]) ACL reconstructions.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

An Ecological Study of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Part 1: Clinical Tests Do Not Correlate With Return-to-Sport Outcomes.

Background: Additional high-quality prospective studies are needed to better define the objective criteria used in relation to return-to-sport decisions after synthetic (ligament advanced reinforcement system [LARS]) and autograft (hamstring tendon [2ST/2GR]) anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction in active populations.

Purpose: To prospectively investigate and describe the recovery of objective clinical outcomes after autograft (2ST/2GR) and synthetic (LARS) ACL reconstructions, as well as to investigate the relationship between these clinimetric test outcomes and return-to-sport activity (Tegner activity scale [TAS] score) at 12 and 24 months postoperatively.

Study Design: Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Scope of practice of optometrists working in the UK Hospital Eye Service: a national survey.

Purpose: The role of the optometrist in the Hospital Eye Service (HES) has undergone significant development in recent years to include extended areas of clinical practice more traditionally undertaken by ophthalmologists, commensurate with a growing demand for increased capacity in ophthalmic services. In this report, we present the findings from a national survey of the scope of practice of optometrists working in the UK HES.

Methods: A survey was designed to incorporate questions on the provision of core services before seeking detailed information on the scope of practice within extended roles to include: ophthalmic sub-specialist areas where optometrists currently practice; the undertaking of specific procedures within these services; the relative autonomy of practice within these extended roles; and the training and accreditation requirements for working within extended roles.

The effect of limb dominance on lower limb functional performance--a systematic review.

Lower limb dominance (or lateral preference) could potentially effect functional performance. Clinicians are often asked to make judgements as to when a patient has sufficiently "recovered" from an injury, typically using strength and dynamic performance outcome measures. The primary purpose of this study was to systematically review the literature in relation to limb dominance within active adult populations and discuss some limitations to current methods and relate this to current clinical practice.

Radiation-induced cognitive impairment and altered diffusion tensor imaging in a juvenile rat model of cranial radiotherapy.

Purpose: To assess the long-term effects of fractionated whole brain irradiation (fWBI) using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and behavior in a pediatric rodent model for the clinical presentation of adult pediatric cancer survivors.

Materials And Methods: Five-week-old, male F344xBN rats were randomized to receive 0, 5, or 6.5 Gy fractions biweekly for 3 weeks, resulting in Sham, Irradiated-30 (IR-30) and IR-39 Gy total dose groups.

An international collaborative family-based whole-genome linkage scan for high-grade myopia.

Purpose: Several nonsyndromic high-grade myopia loci have been mapped primarily by microsatellite markers and a limited number of pedigrees. In this study, whole-genome linkage scans were performed for high-grade myopia, using single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 254 families from five independent sites.

Methods: Genomic DNA samples from 1411 subjects were genotyped (Linkage Panel IVb; Illumina, San Diego, CA).

Myocilin polymorphisms and high myopia in subjects of European origin.

Purpose: Three previous studies have tested for an association between high myopia and polymorphisms in the open angle glaucoma gene, myocilin (MYOC), all in subjects of Chinese ethnicity. In two of the studies, a significant association was found while in the third, there was no association. We sought to investigate the association between high myopia and polymorphisms in MYOC in subjects of European ethnicity.

Postnatal refractive development in the Brown Norway rat: limitations of standard refractive and ocular component dimension measurement techniques.

Purpose: The genetic tractability of the rat and its larger eye size as compared to the mouse make it an attractive model for studies of ocular development and emmetropisation. This study aimed to provide normative data in the strain of rat being used for the rat genome sequencing project whilst also evaluating standard measurement techniques.

Methods: Ocular refraction (retinoscopy, Hartinger coincidence optometry) and ocular component dimensions (keratometry, A-scan ultrasonography, calliper measures, eye weight) were measured at intervals from eye-opening to adulthood.

Gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy in a child with developmental delay: clinicopathological features and exclusion of the M1S1 gene.

Aims: Gelatinous drop-like corneal dystrophy (GDLD) is an early-onset, autosomal recessive condition characterised by amyloid deposits within the cornea. We report the histopathological and molecular genetic findings in a Caucasian child with GDLD who also exhibited global developmental delay.

Methods: Bilateral lamellar keratoplasty was carried out at age 6 and 7 years.