Publications by authors named "Francis Char DeCroos"
Purpose: To examine the effect of low-dose, oral isotretinoin in lowering the risk of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) following rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair.
Methods: Prospective, open label, dual-cohort study with pathology-matched historical controls. The prospective experimental arms included two cohorts, composed of 51 eyes with recurrent PVR-related RRD and 58 eyes with primary RRD associated with high-risk features for developing PVR.
Purpose: To determine the efficacy and durability of aflibercept used in a treat-and-extend (TAE) regimen for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NVAMD).
Design: Multicenter, prospective, open label, noncomparative, interventional study.
Methods: Forty eyes of 40 patients with treatment-naïve NVAMD were managed with a TAE regimen of intravitreal aflibercept.
Purpose: To compare the incidence and clinical outcomes of endophthalmitis following intravitreal injections of bevacizumab, ranibizumab, and aflibercept.
Design: Multicenter, retrospective cohort study.
Methods: All included patients had received intravitreal injections of bevacizumab, ranibizumab, or aflibercept between January 1, 2009 and September 30, 2013 at 5 retina practices.
Purpose: To examine treatment decisions by ophthalmologists versus reading center fluid identification from optical coherence tomography in Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT).
Methods: Fluid in 6,210 optical coherence tomography scans (598 patients) in "as needed treatment" arm of CATT Year 1 was compared with ophthalmologist's treatment: positive fluid agreement (PFA, fluid+, treatment+) and positive fluid discrepancy (PFD, fluid+, treatment-), negative fluid agreement (fluid-, treatment-) and negative fluid discrepancy (fluid-, treatment+). For PFDs, fluid location and visual acuity were characterized.
Purpose: To evaluate the visual acuity agreement between a standard back-illuminated Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) chart and a handheld internally illuminated ETDRS chart.
Methods: Two-center prospective study. Seventy patients (134 eyes) with retinal pathology were enrolled between October 2012 and August 2013.
Purpose: To characterize the onset and type of neovascular events in eyes with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) undergoing serial anti-VEGF therapy.
Methods: Consecutive eyes undergoing serial intravitreal bevacizumab or ranibizumab injections for treatment of CME secondary to CRVO were identified. Pertinent data was retrospectively collected and included type and onset of the neovascular event, and the treatment free interval from last injection until the neovascular event.
Aim: To evaluate the role of intravitreal aflibercept injection as a treatment for eyes with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).
Methods: This prospective pilot study enrolled 12 patients with chronic CSCR who received a 6-month treatment regimen of intravitreal aflibercept. Patients were followed with monthly Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) with enhanced depth imaging.
Purpose: To determine the impact of segmentation error correction and precision of standardized grading of time domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans obtained during an interventional study for macular edema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).
Methods: A reading center team of two readers and a senior reader evaluated 1199 OCT scans. Manual segmentation error correction (SEC) was performed.
Purpose: To report the frequency of postoperative vitreous hemorrhage (VH) in eyes that underwent primary 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for nonclearing VH resulting from proliferative diabetic retinopathy, as well as associated risk factors.
Design: Retrospective, consecutive, interventional case series.
Setting: Institutional (Retina Service of Wills Eye Institute).
Purpose: To investigate the rates of Descemet's stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) graft dislocation and failure in glaucomatous eyes, including eyes with history of trabeculectomy and/or aqueous shunts.
Methods: A retrospective, case-control study on a total of 424 consecutive eyes undergoing DSAEK at an academic setting compared 96 glaucomatous eyes to a control group of 328 eyes. Pre- and post DSAEK procedure data was aggregated for up to 2 years (mean follow-up, 6.
Purpose: To determine the relative ability of time domain (TD)-optical coherence tomography (OCT) compared with spectral domain (SD)-OCT to assess vitreoretinal interface abnormalities and pharmacologic treatment of symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion (VMA)/traction (VMT) with or without full-thickness macular hole (FTMH), and the reproducibility of trained readers' evaluation of these images in an interventional phase III program of ocriplasmin.
Methods: Eyes from the MIVI-TRUST program with concurrent SD-OCT and TD-OCT at baseline and day 28 were included. Pairwise intermodality agreement frequency and interreader reproducibility were calculated for baseline OCT features and the study endpoints of VMA resolution and FTMH closure.
Objective: To report reading center reproducibility during grading of Stratus optical coherence tomography (OCT) (Carl Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA) images obtained during the Comparison of Age-Related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials (CATT).
Design: Prospective, clinical trial.
Participants: Independent reading teams reevaluated 270 OCT scans randomly sampled from the first 2 years of CATT enrollment.
Purpose: We determined the reproducibility of a novel optical coherence tomography (OCT) protocol designed to evaluate formally vitreoretinal interface abnormalities on scans obtained during two phase 3 studies of intravitreal ocriplasmin to treat symptomatic vitreomacular adhesion with or without macular hole.
Methods: Certified technicians obtained time-domain OCT scans that included a macular thickness map (MTM), Fast MTM, and three high resolution linear scans: one 10 mm horizontal and one 10 mm vertical through the optic nerve head (ONH), and one 10 mm 5-degree-offset through the ONH and fovea. Reading Center teams graded all 3695 scans from 652 study eyes for pre-established quantitative and morphologic features.
To examine and improve outcomes of resident-performed manual small incision cataract surgery (MSICS) cases via analysis of visual recovery, intraoperative adverse events, and early postoperative course. Particular focus was directed toward mature cataracts extracted by MSICS. A retrospective review was performed to identify MSICS cases performed by resident surgeons unfamiliar with the technique (initial ten cases) in an academic setting.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose/aims: This study investigates the efficacy of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) for cystoid macular edema (CME) secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). Subgroup analysis was performed comparing early (within 90 days of CRVO onset) and late treatment (after 90 days) as well as perfused and ischemic subgroups.
Materials And Methods: Retrospective review of 48 consecutive eyes with CRVO treated with IVB was performed.
Purpose: To evaluate the effect of intravitreal bevacizumab on the visual and anatomical outcome in eyes with macular edema secondary to branch retinal vein occlusion.
Methods: A retrospective, consecutive case series identified 53 consecutive patients with a branch retinal vein occlusion treated with intravitreal bevacizumab. Clinical variables were analyzed, including best-corrected visual acuity, angiographic characteristics, central foveal thickness, and complications.
Purpose: Long-term intraocular pressure reduction by glaucoma drainage devices (GDDs) is often limited by the fibrotic capsule that forms around them. Prior work demonstrates that modifying a GDD with a porous membrane promotes a vascularized and more permeable capsule. This work examines the in vitro fluid dynamics of the Ahmed valve after enclosing the outflow tract with a porous membrane of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: To identify clinical factors and microbiological assays that facilitate a rapid diagnosis of Nocardia keratitis, scleritis, and endophthalmitis, and to determine optimal medical and surgical management strategies.
Design: Retrospective, consecutive case series.
Participants: A total of 111 cases of keratitis, 11 cases of scleritis, and 16 cases of endophthalmitis, all culture-proven Nocardia infections, were identified between January 1999 and January 2010.
Purpose: Long-term intraocular pressure control by glaucoma drainage implants is compromised by the formation of an avascular fibrous capsule that surrounds the glaucoma implant and increases aqueous outflow resistance. It is possible to alter this fibrotic tissue reaction and produce a more vascularized and potentially more permeable capsule around implanted devices by enclosing them in a porous membrane.
Methods: Ahmed glaucoma implants modified with an outer 5-microm pore size membrane (termed porous retrofitted implant with modified enclosure or PRIME-Ahmed) and unmodified glaucoma implants were implanted into paired rabbit eyes.
Purpose: To investigate the visual and anatomic outcomes in eyes with cystoid macular edema (CME) resulting from central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) that underwent pars plana vitrectomy, internal limiting membrane peeling, and panretinal endolaser photocoagulation (PPV/MP/EL).
Design: Retrospective, observational case series.
Methods: Consecutive, nonrandomized patients at the Duke Eye Center who underwent PPV/MP/EL for treatment of CME secondary to CRVO by a single surgeon (S.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the microbial profile, resistance patterns, and antibiotic sensitivity of bacterial keratitis to three commonly used ocular antibiotics.
Methods: All cases of bacterial keratitis referred to the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary Microbiology Laboratory from two consecutive annual 10-month periods were reviewed. The bacterial profile and resistance to ciprofloxacin, cefazolin, and gentamicin was evaluated within the two intervals.
Perioperative antibiotics and anti-inflammatory agents in cataract surgery.
Curr Opin Ophthalmol
January 2008
Purpose Of Review: Cataract surgery has benefited from great technical advances but no consensus exists as regards optimal perioperative medical management of inflammation and infection prophylaxis.
Recent Findings: The present article primarily reviews recent evidence about the most advantageous antibiotic regimen to minimize endophthalmitis, and the utility of steroids or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in management of both postoperative inflammation and cystoid macular edema. Prospective data from Europe supports the efficacy of intracameral cephalosporins in reducing the incidence of endophthalmitis.