Refractive amblyogenic risk factors in private and public school children.

: To assess refractive amblyopia risk factors in Lebanese children aged 3 to 6 years through school-based automated vision screenings, comparing outcomes between public and private schools. : A school-based vision screening was conducted across multiple regions in Lebanon, including 990 children aged 3 to 6 years from both public and private schools. Trained personnel utilized the Plusoptix S12 photoscreener for vision screening.

Retinoblastoma programme outcome over a 10-year period in Lebanon: assessment of potential impact of the pandemic and economic crisis.

Background/objectives: To evaluate the long-term outcomes of patients enrolled in the retinoblastoma programme at the Children's Cancer Institute of the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) and to assess the effects of the Lebanese economic crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic on treatment outcomes.

Subjects/methods: A retrospective review of medical charts was conducted for retinoblastoma patients enrolled in the programme from 2012 to 2022. Parameters included age at diagnosis, gender, nationality, tumour characteristics, treatment modalities, follow-up duration, imaging results, and genetic testing outcomes.

Treatment outcomes in retinoblastoma and the effect of tumor topography.

Background: Retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular malignancy in children, has high fatality rates if untreated. It is crucial to monitor treatment effectiveness and explore factors influencing favorable outcomes. Our study aims to examine how tumor location impacts the response to standard treatments and the achievement of favorable outcomes among retinoblastoma patients, while controlling for other tumor-related factors.

Ocular surface complications in children undergoing general anaesthesia: A prospective observational study.

Objective: Ophthalmic complications frequently occur after procedures requiring general anaesthesia, but their incidence is widely variable and not well reported in the paediatric population. The aim was to identify the incidence and possible risk factors of postoperative ocular surface complications in a tertiary care centre.

Methods And Analysis: This is a prospective study for paediatric patients undergoing general anaesthesia.

Long-term surgical outcomes of one-muscle vs. two-muscle horizontal strabismus surgery.

Purpose: While horizontal strabismus surgery is generally considered to have favorable outcomes, success rates can vary by type of procedure. Our purpose is to compare the long-term outcomes of patients who underwent one-muscle vs. two-muscle horizontal strabismus surgery.

The Ophthalmology Workload during the Lebanese Crisis and Pandemic.

Purpose: The purpose is to to explore the effects of the Lebanese economic crisis on the ophthalmology workload in Lebanon, and the concomitant influence of the COVID-19-related lockdown and Beirut port explosion.

Methods: Data pertaining to all the clinic visits to the Ophthalmology Department at the American University of Beirut Medical Center between January 01, 2019, and December 31, 2021, were extracted. Completed visits to different subspecialties were used to analyze the different parameters.

Success of Endoscopic Laser Cyclophotocoagulation vs Repeat Transscleral Treatment after Prior Transscleral Cycloablation.

Aim: To compare the efficacy of endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation (ECP) vs repeat transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (TCP) in eyes with persistent glaucoma despite prior treatment with TCP.

Materials And Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of glaucoma patients at the American University of Beirut Medical Center over 10 years who underwent ECP or repeat TCP. We reported qualified and complete success; success was defined as postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) ≤21 mm Hg, with (qualified) or without medications (complete) and without procedure-related complications.

Modified partial Jensen procedure to treat a hypertropic Knobby eye syndrome in a high myopic monocular patient.

We present a case of severe esotropia and hypertropia in a monocular high myope with an inferolateral staphyloma. Surgery was undertaken to secure the inferior rectus to the lateral rectus via a modified partial Jensen technique, along with medial rectus recession successfully improving head and eye positions and ductions.

Noncoding variants alter GATA2 expression in rhombomere 4 motor neurons and cause dominant hereditary congenital facial paresis.

Hereditary congenital facial paresis type 1 (HCFP1) is an autosomal dominant disorder of absent or limited facial movement that maps to chromosome 3q21-q22 and is hypothesized to result from facial branchial motor neuron (FBMN) maldevelopment. In the present study, we report that HCFP1 results from heterozygous duplications within a neuron-specific GATA2 regulatory region that includes two enhancers and one silencer, and from noncoding single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) within the silencer. Some SNVs impair binding of NR2F1 to the silencer in vitro and in vivo and attenuate in vivo enhancer reporter expression in FBMNs.

Whole-exome screening for primary congenital glaucoma in Lebanon.

Purpose: Mutations were previously identified in the CYP1B1 gene in six out of 18 Lebanese families (33%) with primary congenital glaucoma (PCG). The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency and type of pathogenic mutations in other genes and compare to other populations using whole-exome sequencing and perform genotype-phenotype correlations.

Methods: Twelve PCG patients previously negative for CYP1B1/MYOC mutations were subjected to whole-exome sequencing.

Effect of the COVID-19 Lockdown on Myopia Progression of School-aged Children: A Retrospective Chart Review.

Purpose: To study the effect of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related lockdown on myopia progression of school-aged children, comparing across the years and within different age groups.

Methods: This was a retrospective chart review of school-aged children with myopia who presented to the pediatric ophthalmology clinic at the American University of Beirut between January 2020 and December 2021 (during COVID-19 lockdown). Annual myopia progression rate (back to January 2016) was computed by dividing the absolute value of the spherical equivalent (SE) difference of two consecutive visits by the duration (in years).

A Comparison of the Long-Term Surgical Outcomes of Horizontal Strabismus Surgery between Resident Clinic and Private Clinic Patients.

Purpose: To compare the long-term surgical outcomes of patients with horizontal strabismus whose surgery was performed in an outpatient department (OPD) setting (by residents-in-training) to those whose surgery was performed in a private clinic (PC) setting (by staff-ophthalmologists) in the same operating room/institution.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-four patients' charts who had horizontal strabismus surgeries from January 2007 to 2020 were reviewed retrospectively. A total of 92 patients were operated on by residents and followed in OPD, and 152 patients by staff-surgeons and followed in PC.

Characteristics and long-term surgical outcomes of horizontal strabismus.

Purpose: Our aim was to report the characteristics and long-term surgical outcomes of three subgroups of horizontal strabismus in a single institution (divided by strabismus subtype) in a developing country and look into pre-operative factors predictive of surgical success.

Methods: Two hundred and forty-four complete charts of patients, divided into 152 esotropes (ET) and 92 exotropes (XT) who had undergone horizontal strabismus surgeries, were retrospectively reviewed. Charts of patients with muscle palsy, Duane syndrome and consecutive strabismus were excluded; 172 patients were included divided into partially accommodative ET, congenital ET and intermittent XT.

Scleral Perforation as a Complication of Strabismus Surgery: A Literature Review.

The aim of this review was to report the existing literature on the incidence, risk factors, treatment, and outcomes of scleral perforation as a vision-threatening complication of strabismus surgery. The current literature reported an incidence range of scleral perforation/penetration between 3 in 1,000 and 7.8%.

Teaching the Scleral Pass in Strabismus Surgery.

The authors describe a method to improve teaching the most critical step in strabismus surgery, the scleral pass. The attending surgeon fashions a "scleral tunnel" by performing the scleral pass and retracting the needle so the resident can pass it through the same tunnel. This ultimately helps decrease complications during surgical training.

Pediatric Glaucoma in a University Hospital.

Aims And Objectives: This study aimed at describing the characteristics and outcomes of pediatric glaucoma patients in a university hospital in Lebanon and comparing them between primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) and secondary glaucoma.

Materials And Methods: Sixty-four eyes of 40 pediatric glaucoma patients with a follow-up of 1 year or more were reviewed. Parameters were studied for both PCG and secondary glaucoma groups.

Amblyopia risk factors among pediatric patients in a hospital-based setting using photoscreening.

Purpose: The aim of our study was to determine the prevalence of amblyopia risk factors in children visiting the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) using automated vision screening.

Methods: This was a hospital-based screening of 1102 children aged between 2 and 6 years. Vision screening was performed using PlusoptiX S12 over 2 years (2018-2020).

A Review of Driving and Binocularity.

Although most jurisdictions allow stereoscopically deficient and monocular individuals to drive, studies regarding these visual components' effects on driving have to date yielded contradicting results. Interviews, record reviews, and experiments have been used to unmask these effects. In interviews, participants with amblyopia reported several difficulties operating automobiles.

A comparison of the workload between pediatric and adult ophthalmology encounters.

Purpose: To explore the differences in workload between pediatric and adult ophthalmology encounters in the private clinics of an academic medical center.

Methods: Complete encounters from four different subspecialties were analysed: pediatric ophthalmology, pediatric ophthalmology/neuroophthalmology, anterior segment, and retina. Five parameters were studied: time waiting for assistant, time with assistant, time waiting for physician, time with physician, and total visit time.

Gene therapy in color vision deficiency: a review.

Background: Color vision deficiencies are a group of vision disorders, characterized by abnormal color discrimination. They include red-green color blindness, yellow-blue color blindness and achromatopsia, among others. The deficiencies are caused by mutations in the genes coding for various components of retinal cones.

KIF21A pathogenic variants cause congenital fibrosis of extraocular muscles type 3.

Congenital fibrosis of the extraocular muscles (CFEOM) is characterized by ptosis and non-progressive restrictive ophthalmoplegia. CFEOM1 is a stereotypical phenotype with isolated bilateral ptosis, bilateral ophthalmoplegia, absent upgaze, and globe infraduction. CFEOM3 is a more variable phenotype that can include unilateral disease, absent ptosis, residual upgaze, and/or orthotropia.

Recurrence of Intermittent Exotropia after Bilateral Lateral Rectus Recession.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate predictive factors for intermittent exotropia (XT) recurrence after bilateral lateral rectus (BLR) recession.

Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of patients with XT who underwent BLR recession surgery between January 2007 and March 2017 with at least one postsurgical follow-up. Forty-one medical records were reviewed.

Global Retinoblastoma Presentation and Analysis by National Income Level.

Importance: Early diagnosis of retinoblastoma, the most common intraocular cancer, can save both a child's life and vision. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that many children across the world are diagnosed late. To our knowledge, the clinical presentation of retinoblastoma has never been assessed on a global scale.