Posterior Segment Ocular Findings in HLA-B27 Positive Patients with Uveitis: A Retrospective Analysis.

Purpose: To describe the prevalence and characteristics of posterior segment manifestations in patients with HLA-B27-associated uveitis using wide field imaging.

Methods: Medical records of patients diagnosed with HLA-B27-associated uveitis from a tertiary uveitis clinic were reviewed. Posterior segment involvements including but not limited to peripheral vasculitis, optic disc inflammation, and macula edema documented based on medical records and various imaging modalities including wide field fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography, were noted.

A Rare Case of Congenitally Acquired Ocular Toxocariasis in A Five-Week-Old Infant.

Purpose: To report a case of strabismus in a five-week-old infant, likely secondary to a rare occurrence of congenitally acquired ocular toxocariasis.

Methods: Retrospective case report.

Results: A five-week-old male infant with left exotropia was referred to pediatric ophthalmology and to a vitreoretinal specialist.

Vascularized drusen: a cross-sectional study.

Background: To investigate whether neovascularization may arise and be detectable in drusen, as reported in histopathologic studies, by OCTA prior to developing exudation and to assess its prevalence in a cohort of patients with intermediate AMD.

Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional study of 128 patients with intermediate AMD recruited as part of a separate ongoing clinical trial conducted at multiple large tertiary referral retina clinics. One hundred and twenty-eight consecutive patients with exudative AMD in one eye and intermediate non-exudative AMD in the fellow eye were enrolled and analyzed between September 2015 and March 2017.

Combined Multimodal Analysis of Peripheral Retinal and Macular Circulation in Diabetic Retinopathy (COPRA Study).

Purpose: To systematically examine the relationships between the microvascular indices that are measured on OCT angiography (OCTA) and the presence and extent of peripheral nonperfusion in persons with diabetic retinopathy.

Design: A retrospective cross-sectional study of patients who had varying degrees of diabetic retinopathy. The study sample was recruited from 2 large tertiary referral retina clinics.

QUANTIFICATION OF RETINAL CAPILLARY NONPERFUSION IN DIABETICS USING WIDE-FIELD OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY.

Purpose: To combine advances in high-speed, wide-field optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) with image processing methods for semiautomatic quantitative analysis of capillary nonperfusion in patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: Sixty-eight diabetic patients (73 eyes), either without retinopathy or with different degrees of retinopathy, were prospectively recruited for volumetric swept-source OCTA imaging using 12 mm × 12 mm fields centered at the fovea. A custom, semiautomatic software algorithm was used to quantify areas of capillary nonperfusion.

Use of OCTA, FA, and Ultra-Widefield Imaging in Quantifying Retinal Ischemia: A Review.

As ischemia remains a key prognostic factor in the management of various diseases including diabetic retinopathy, an increasing amount of research has been dedicated to its quantification as a potential biomarker. Advancements in the quantification of retinal ischemia have been made with the imaging modalities of fluorescein angiography (FA), ultra-widefield imaging (UWF), and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), with each imaging modality offering certain benefits over the others. FA remains the gold standard in assessing the extent of ischemia.

Alterations in intraocular cytokine levels following intravitreal ranibizumab.

Objective: Our previous work has shown that, after intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) administration, decreases in the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and placental growth factor (PlGF), along with increases in the levels of interleukin (IL)-8 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β2, can be observed. It is not yet known if similar changes occur after intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR). The purpose of this study was to examine intraocular cytokine changes after IVR.

VOLUMETRIC ASSESSMENT OF THE RESPONSIVENESS OF PIGMENT EPITHELIAL DETACHMENTS IN NEOVASCULAR AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION TO INTRAVITREAL BEVACIZUMAB.

Purpose: To determine baseline factors that can predict the response of pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration to treatment with intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB).

Methods: Patients with newly diagnosed neovascular age-related macular degeneration and PED who were treated exclusively with IVB were included. Response to treatment was defined by change in PED volume (determined using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography).

Uveitic crystalline maculopathy.

Background: The purpose of this case report is to present a novel cause of crystalline maculopathy.

Findings: A 52-year-old Japanese female presented with a 4-month history of decreased vision in the left eye. Best corrected visual acuity in the left eye was 20/40.

Optical coherence tomography-based measurement of drusen load predicts development of advanced age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To determine whether baseline drusen load, as measured using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD OCT), is a useful predictor of development of advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Methods: setting: Academic clinical practice.

Vitelliform focal choroidal excavation.

Focal choroidal excavations (FCE) are characterized by foveal or perifoveal choroid excavations seen on optical coherence tomography (OCT). The authors report a case of FCE associated with a vitelliform lesion within the excavation. A case of FCE associated with a small vitelliform lesion has been described previously, but the larger extent of the vitelliform lesion observed in the current case has not been previously reported.

Optical coherence tomography in the diagnosis and management of uveitis.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has become an integral tool in the imaging of numerous diseases of the posterior segment. The diagnostic investigation of infectious and noninfectious uveitic conditions often requires multiple imaging modalities in the appropriate clinical context. Modern OCT technology has proved useful not only in the diagnostic investigation of these conditions, but also in monitoring of their clinical course and therapeutic response.

Exacerbation of choroidal and retinal pigment epithelial atrophy after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment in neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To study the progression of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and choroidal atrophy in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to assess for a possible association with the number and type of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatments.

Methods: Patients with neovascular AMD and a minimum of 1-year follow-up were reviewed. Fellow eyes with nonneovascular AMD were used as control eyes.

Pro-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic effects of bisphosphonates on human cultured retinal pigment epithelial cells.

Aim: Bisphosphonates have been shown to induce ocular inflammatory diseases such as uveitis and scleritis, while being protective against angiogenic diseases like neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Therefore, we studied the effects of bisphosphonates on primary culture of human fetal retinal pigment epithelium (hRPE), a cell type known to secrete both inflammatory and angiogenic factors. Alendronate and etidronate were selected for this experiment as they are members of the two structurally different classes of bisphosphonates.

Endotoxin-induced cardiovascular dysfunction in mice: effect of simvastatin.

Lung infections are associated with acute lung injury (ALI), systemic inflammation, and vascular events. Clinical studies suggest that statins improve health outcomes of patients with pneumonia and ALI. The mechanisms by which this occurs are unknown.

Acute lung injury induces cardiovascular dysfunction: effects of IL-6 and budesonide/formoterol.

Acute lung injury (ALI) is associated with systemic inflammation and cardiovascular dysfunction. IL-6 is a biomarker of this systemic response and a predictor of cardiovascular events, but its possible causal role is uncertain. Inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β2 agonists (ICS/LABA) down-regulate the systemic expression of IL-6, but whether they can ameliorate the cardiovascular dysfunction related to ALI is uncertain.