Crossing the Death Valley of publication process in cornea and ocular surface diseases: from abstracts presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting to full-text manuscripts.

Purpose: This study was conducted to analyze the profile and publication rate of abstracts in indexed journals presented in the cornea section at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting and to further identify potential predictive factors for better outcomes.

Methods: Abstracts accepted for presentation at the 2013 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Annual Meeting in the cornea section were sought via PubMed and Scopus to identify whether they had been published as full-text manuscripts. First author's name, time of publication, journal's name, and impact factor were recorded.

Direct Versus Indirect Corneal Neurotization for the Treatment of Neurotrophic Keratopathy: A Multicenter Prospective Comparative Study.

Purpose: To analyze the comparative safety and efficacy of two techniques of corneal neurotization (CN) (direct corneal neurotization [DCN] vs indirect corneal neurotization [ICN]) for the treatment of neurotrophic keratopathy (NK).

Design: Multicenter interventional prospective comparative case series.

Methods: This study took place at ASST Santi Paolo e Carlo University Hospital, Milan; S.

Effects of Cord Blood Serum (CBS) on viability of retinal Müller glial cells under in vitro injury.

Oxidative stress and inflammation determine retinal ganglion cell degeneration, leading to retinal impairment and vision loss. Müller glial cells regulate retinal repair under injury, through gliosis. Meanwhile, reactive gliosis can turn in pathological effects, contributing to neurodegeneration.

Cord Blood Serum (CBS)-Based Eye Drops Modulate Light-Induced Neurodegeneration in Albino Rat Retinas.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading causes of visual loss in western countries, it has no cure, and its incidence will grow in the future, for the overall population aging. Albino rats with retinal degeneration induced by exposure to high-intensity light (light-damage, LD) have been extensively used as a model of AMD to test neuroprotective agents. Among them, trophic factors (NGF and BDNF) have been shown to play a significant role in photoreceptors' survival.

Blood derived treatment from two allogeneic sources for severe dry eye associated to keratopathy: a multicentre randomised cross over clinical trial.

Aim: To compare the efficacy of cord blood and peripheral adult donor blood serum eyedrops, controlled for growth factor content, in the treatment of severe dry eye diseases (DED) resistant to conventional therapy.

Methods: This was a multicentre randomised, double-masked, cross-over clinical trial. Sixty patients diagnosed as severe DED, associated to persistent corneal epithelial defects were randomised and equally assigned to group A (treated with cord blood serum (CBS)) or group B (treated with PBS), eyedrops administered eight times/day for 1 month.

Non-genetic factors and polymorphisms in genes CYP2C9 and VKORC1: predictive algorithms for TTR in Brazilian patients on warfarin.

Purpose: This study was designed to evaluate the association of non-genetic factors and polymorphisms CYP2C9*2 (rs1799853), CYP2C9*3 (rs1075910), and VKORC1-G1639A (rs9923231) with time in therapeutic range (TTR), and to build a regression model to predict the quality of oral anticoagulation control in a sample of Brazilian patients.

Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study developed at an anticoagulation clinic of a university hospital. Overall, 312 patients were included.

In Vivo and Ex Vivo Comprehensive Evaluation of Corneal Reinnervation in Eyes Neurotized With Contralateral Supratrochlear and Supraorbital Nerves.

Purpose: To use an automated morphometric analysis system of in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) images for evaluating reinnervation occurring at the subbasal nerve plexus (SNP) after direct corneal neurotization (DCN) and to further report neurophysiological and histopathological findings.

Methods: Prospective interventional case series including 3 eyes with neurotrophic keratitis that underwent DCN. Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty was performed 18 months after DCN in patient 1.

Longitudinal Morphometric Analysis of Sub-Basal Nerve Plexus in Contralateral Eyes of Patients with Unilateral Neurotrophic Keratitis.

: To investigate longitudinally corneal sub-basal nerve plexus (SNP) by means of in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) in the contralateral eye (CE) of patients with unilateral neurotrophic keratitis (NK) secondary to central nervous system (CNS) diseases who underwent different treatments. : Ten patients with NK and 10 matched controls were included. In 7 NK patients, conservative treatment maintained unchanged the clinical picture over the 1-year follow-up (Group 1), while NK progressed in 3 patients who underwent direct corneal neurotization (Group 2).

In Vivo Confocal Microscopy Automated Morphometric Analysis of Corneal Subbasal Nerve Plexus in Patients With Dry Eye Treated With Different Sources of Homologous Serum Eye Drops.

Purpose: To investigate the comparative effect of allogeneic peripheral blood serum (allo-PBS) and cord blood serum (CBS) eye drops on the status of the corneal subbasal nerve plexus in patients with dry eye disease by using an automated analysis system of in vivo confocal microscopy images.

Methods: This prospective, randomized, double-blind study included 30 patients with severe dry eye disease assigned to receive allo-PBS (group 1) or CBS (group 2) eye drops 8 times a day for 30 days. The following in vivo confocal microscopy parameters were calculated with ACCMetrics before (visit 1 [V1]) and after treatment (visit 2 [V2]): corneal nerve fiber density, corneal nerve branch density, corneal nerve fiber length, corneal nerve total branch density, corneal nerve fiber area, corneal nerve fiber width, and corneal nerve fractal dimension (CNFrD).

Corneal biomechanical alterations in patients with chronic ocular Graft Versus-Host Disease.

Purpose: To compare corneal biomechanics between patients with ocular graft versus-host disease (oGVHD) and healthy subjects (controls), and to further correlate these values with ocular and hematological characteristics.

Materials And Methods: The following procedures were performed in oGVHD patients and controls: Schirmer test (ST), break-up time (BUT), corneal and conjunctival staining, tear matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) assay (InflammaDry test, Rapid Pathogen Screening, Inc, Sarasota, FL). Corneal biomechanics were calculated by using ocular response analyzer (ORA, Reichert Instruments, Depew, New York, USA).

Choroidal Vascular Changes in Arteritic and Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy.

Purpose: To compare choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in patients with arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (A-AION), nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION), and control subjects.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Methods: This study was conducted at the Ophthalmology Unit of the S.

Ocular surface system alterations in ocular graft-versus-host disease: all the pieces of the complex puzzle.

Purpose: Graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) is a major complication of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cells transplantation, occurring in about half of transplanted patients. This condition seems to be the result of a progressive immune-mediated damage that can involve various tissues, including the eyes. The ocular surface system is the ocular structure most frequently impaired, and dry eye disease is considered the hallmark of ocular GVHD.

Intraocular inflammation after Ultrasound Cyclo Plasty for the treatment of glaucoma.

This is a prospective interventional clinical study evaluating intraocular inflammation developed after Ultrasound Cyclo Plasty (UCP) for the treatment of glaucoma. Eighteen eyes of 18 patients were treated with UCP second-generation probes (Eye OP1). After treatment, the mean intraocular pressure (IOP) significantly decreased from 26.

Gaze Trajectory Index (GTI): A novel metric to quantify saccade trajectory deviation using eye tracking.

Background: Many different indexes have been proposed to quantify saccade curvature based on geometric properties of the saccade trajectory projected on the 2D plane. We introduce the Gaze Trajectory Index (GTI), a novel metric to quantify saccade trajectory deviation based on calculation of the rotational eye movements performed in 3D space while following a 2D saccade trajectory recorded with eye tracking (ET).

Methods: We provided a description of GTI calculation.

Efficacy of Omega-3 Fatty Acid Supplementation for Treatment of Dry Eye Disease: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials.

Purpose: To assess whether omega-3 fatty acid (FA) supplementation is more efficacious than placebo in amelioration of signs and symptoms of dry eye disease.

Methods: We performed a systematic literature search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases. We included randomized clinical trials comparing omega-3 FA supplementation with placebo in patients with dry eye disease.

CHOROIDAL VASCULARITY INDEX QUANTIFICATION IN GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY USING BINARIZATION OF ENHANCED-DEPTH IMAGING OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHIC SCANS.

Purpose: To evaluate choroidal structural changes occurring over time in geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration using choroidal vascularity index (CVI).

Methods: Enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography scans of 34 patients with GA and 32 control subjects were retrospectively analyzed. Data were collected at baseline and after a mean follow-up of 18.

In vivo confocal microscopy morphometric analysis of corneal subbasal nerve plexus in dry eye disease using newly developed fully automated system.

Purpose: To evaluate in vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) features of corneal subbasal nerve plexus (SNP) in the setting of dry eye disease (DED) using fully automated software "ACCMetrics," and to further investigate its diagnostic performance in discriminating DED patients.

Methods: IVCM exams of SNP in DED patients and matched control subjects were performed using Heidelberg Retina Tomograph with the Rostock Cornea Module. The following parameters were obtained with ACCMetrics: corneal nerve fiber density (CNFD), corneal nerve branch density (CNBD), corneal nerve fiber length (CNFL), corneal nerve total branch density (CTBD), corneal nerve fiber area (CNFA), corneal nerve fiber width (CNFW), and corneal nerve fractal dimension (CNFrD).

Eyelid metrics assessment in patients with chronic ocular graft versus-host disease.

Purpose: To assess eyelid metrics in the setting of chronic ocular graft versus-host disease (oGVHD), and to further correlate them with hematological and ocular characteristics.

Methods: Prospective case-control study conducted at a single tertiary-referred Center. The following eyelid tests were performed in oGVHD patients and control subjects: vertical lid pull; anterior/lower distraction; lateral/medial distraction; distance between lateral canthal angle and orbital rim; margin reflex distances (MRD) 1 and 2; duration of tarsus exposure; snap back.

Comparison among different diagnostic criteria for chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease applied with and without pre-transplant ophthalmological examination.

Purpose: To compare the proportion and the agreement rate in the diagnosis of chronic ocular graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) among three criteria applied with and without ophthalmological examination before hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT).

Methods: National Institutes of Health (NIH), International Consensus Criteria on ocular GVHD (ICCGVHD) and TFOS Dry Eye Workshop (DEWS) II criteria were used for the diagnosis of ocular GVHD according to two protocols: ophthalmological examination after HSCT (Protocol A), or before and after HSCT (Protocol B). Proportion of GVHD diagnosis and inter-rate agreement coefficient Kappa (K) among the criteria were calculated.

Topical Treatment with Cord Blood Serum in Glaucoma Patients: A Preliminary Report.

Purpose: To report data which happened to be observed in two glaucoma patients treated with Cord Blood Serum (CBS) eye drops.

Design: A case report and retrospective data analysis.

Methods: CBS topical eye drops, characterized in advance for growth factors (GFs) content, were administered for two months with the aim to relieve their subjective symptoms, in two patients who had referred ocular surface discomfort, although in absence of any sign of keratopathy.

The Comparative Efficacy and Tolerability of Diclofenac 0.1% and Bromfenac 0.09% Ophthalmic Solutions after Cataract Surgery.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and tolerability of diclofenac and bromfenac ophthalmic solutions as adjunctive therapy after cataract surgery.

Materials And Methods: This prospective randomized controlled study included 130 patients who underwent cataract surgery. One hundred patients were randomized to receive postoperatively diclofenac 0.

Neurotrophic keratitis: current challenges and future prospects.

Neurotrophic keratitis (NK) is a degenerative corneal disease caused by damage of trigeminal corneal innervation, which leads to spontaneous epithelial breakdown and corneal ulceration. The impairment of corneal sensory innervation causes the reduction of both protective reflexes and trophic neuromodulators that are essential for the vitality, metabolism, and wound healing of ocular surface tissues. A wide range of ocular and systemic conditions, including herpetic keratitis, ocular chemical burns, corneal surgery, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, and neurosurgical procedures, can cause NK by damaging trigeminal innervation.

Ultrasound Cyclo-Plasty in Patients with Glaucoma: 1-Year Results from a Multicentre Prospective Study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ultrasound cyclo-plasty (UCP) for reducing intraocular pressure (IOP) in patients with glaucoma.

Methods: This is a multicentre prospective study conducted in 3 Italian glaucoma centres. UCP was performed by EyeOP1, which delivers ultrasound beams using 6 piezoelectric transducers activated for 4/6 s (first generation) or 8 s (second generation).

In vivo assessment of changes in corneal hysteresis and lamina cribrosa position during acute intraocular pressure elevation in eyes with markedly asymmetrical glaucoma.

Purpose: To investigate the biomechanical response of the cornea, lamina cribrosa (LC), and prelaminar tissue (PT) to an acute intraocular pressure (IOP) increase in patients with markedly asymmetrical glaucoma and in healthy controls.

Patients And Methods: A total of 24 eyes of 12 patients with markedly asymmetrical primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 12 eyes of 12 healthy patients were examined with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and ocular response analyzer (ORA) at baseline and during acute IOP elevation by means of an ophthalmodynamometer. The displacement of the LC and PT and the change in corneal hysteresis (CH) and corneal resistance factor (CRF) were evaluated.