Imaging of Therapeutic Effects of Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Inhibitors by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in a Rat Model.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) as a high-resolution in vivo imaging modality for monitoring therapeutic response to different vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitors in the rat model of laser-induced choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Further, OCTA findings were compared with fluorescein angiography (FA) and fluorescence microscopy.

Methods: Laser treatment at day (D)0 was followed by intravitreal injection of aflibercept, AF564, and NaCl in dark agouti rats.

Progression of Photoreceptor Degeneration in Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Importance: Sensitive outcome measures for disease progression are needed for treatment trials in geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Objective: To quantify photoreceptor degeneration outside regions of GA in eyes with nonexudative AMD, to evaluate its association with future GA progression, and to characterize its spatio-temporal progression.

Design, Setting, And Participants: Monocenter cohort study (Directional Spread in Geographic Atrophy [NCT02051998]) and analysis of data from a normative data study at a tertiary referral center.

Longitudinal Analysis of Structural and Functional Changes in Presence of Reticular Pseudodrusen Associated With Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To examine longitudinal changes of retinal thickness and retinal sensitivity in patients with intermediate age-related macular degeneration (iAMD) and predominantly reticular pseudodrusen (RPD).

Methods: At baseline 30 eyes of 25 iAMD patients underwent optical coherence tomography imaging, mesopic and scotopic fundus-controlled perimetry (FCP) with follow-up examinations at month 12 (20 eyes), 24 (12 eyes), and 36 (11 eyes). Thicknesses of different retinal layers and results of FCP testing (n = 56 stimuli) were spatially and longitudinally analyzed using linear mixed-effects models.

Optical Coherence Tomography-Angiography in Geographic Atrophy.

Geographic atrophy (GA) represents the non-exudative late stage of age-related macular degeneration and constitutes a leading cause of legal blindness in the developed world. It is characterized by areas of loss of outer retinal layers including photoreceptors, degeneration of the retinal pigment epithelium, and rarefication of the choriocapillaris. As all three layers are functionally connected, the precise temporal sequence and relative contribution of these layers towards the development and progression of GA is unclear.

Fundus autofluorescence imaging.

Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging is an in vivo imaging method that allows for topographic mapping of naturally or pathologically occurring intrinsic fluorophores of the ocular fundus. The dominant sources are fluorophores accumulating as lipofuscin in lysosomal storage bodies in postmitotic retinal pigment epithelium cells as well as other fluorophores that may occur with disease in the outer retina and subretinal space. Photopigments of the photoreceptor outer segments as well as macular pigment and melanin at the fovea and parafovea may act as filters of the excitation light.

Prediction of Function in ABCA4-Related Retinopathy Using Ensemble Machine Learning.

Full-field electroretinogram (ERG) and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measures have been shown to have prognostic value for recessive Stargardt disease (also called "-related retinopathy"). These functional tests may serve as a performance-outcome-measure (PerfO) in emerging interventional clinical trials, but utility is limited by variability and patient burden. To address these limitations, an ensemble machine-learning-based approach was evaluated to differentiate patients from controls, and predict disease categories depending on ERG ('inferred ERG') and visual impairment ('inferred visual impairment') as well as BCVA values ('inferred BCVA') based on microstructural imaging (utilizing spectral-domain optical coherence tomography) and patient data.

A Novel Device for Smartphone-Based Fundus Imaging and Documentation in Clinical Practice: Comparative Image Analysis Study.

Background: Smartphone-based fundus imaging allows for mobile and inexpensive fundus examination with the potential to revolutionize eye care, particularly in lower-resource settings. However, most smartphone-based fundus imaging adapters convey image quality not comparable to conventional fundus imaging.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate a novel smartphone-based fundus imaging device for documentation of a variety of retinal/vitreous pathologies in a patient sample with wide refraction and age ranges.

Longitudinal Analysis of Retinal Thickness and Retinal Function in Eyes with Large Drusen Secondary to Intermediate Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To assess the longitudinal association between outer retinal microstructure and mesopic as well as scotopic retinal sensitivity in patients with drusen secondary to intermediate age-related macular degeneration (iAMD).

Design: Prospective, longitudinal natural history study.

Participants: Fifty-nine eyes of 54 patients with large drusen (> 125 μm) associated with iAMD and 27 age-matched healthy control eyes.

Smartphone-Based Fundus Imaging-Where Are We Now?

With the advent of smartphone-based fundus imaging (SBFI), a low-cost alternative to conventional digital fundus photography has become available. SBFI allows for a mobile fundus examination, is applicable both with and without pupil dilation, comes with built-in connectivity and post-processing capabilities, and is relatively easy to master. Furthermore, it is delegable to paramedical staff/technicians and, hence, suitable for telemedicine.

Clinical study protocol for a low-interventional study in intermediate age-related macular degeneration developing novel clinical endpoints for interventional clinical trials with a regulatory and patient access intention-MACUSTAR.

Background: There is an unmet need for treatment options in intermediate age-related macular degeneration (iAMD). However, for any new interventions to be tested in clinical trials, novel currently unavailable clinical endpoints need to be developed. Thus, the MACUSTAR study aims to develop and evaluate functional, structural, and patient-reported candidate endpoints for use in future iAMD trials.

Quantitative Fundus Autofluorescence and Genetic Associations in Macular, Cone, and Cone-Rod Dystrophies.

Purpose: To investigate quantitatively lipofuscin-associated fundus autofluorescence in patients with macular and cone/cone-rod dystrophies (MD/CCRDs).

Design: Prospective, single-center, case-control study.

Participants: Two hundred thirty patients with MD/CCRDs who had undergone genetic testing and 110 control participants without any eye disease.

HAWK and HARRIER: Ninety-Six-Week Outcomes from the Phase 3 Trials of Brolucizumab for Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To report the 96-week outcomes from HAWK and HARRIER.

Design: Phase 3, prospective, randomized, double-masked, multicenter studies comparing efficacy and safety of brolucizumab 3 mg (HAWK only) and 6 mg with aflibercept 2 mg in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Participants: Treatment-naïve eyes with nAMD were randomized 1:1:1 to brolucizumab 3 mg (n = 358), brolucizumab 6 mg (n = 360), aflibercept 2 mg (n = 360; HAWK) or 1:1 to brolucizumab 6 mg (n = 370), aflibercept 2 mg (n = 369; HARRIER).

Optical coherence tomography-angiography for monitoring neovascularisations in macular telangiectasia type 2.

Purpose: To evaluate the utility of optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCT-A) for monitoring activity, progression and response to therapy of neovascularisations (NVs) secondary to macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel).

Methods: In a retrospective analysis, eyes with NVs secondary to MacTel were reviewed over a period of ≥8 months. Examinations at monthly intervals included visual acuity testing, dilated funduscopy, spectral domain-OCT and OCT-A.

Ubiquitin Carboxyl-Terminal Hydrolases (UCHs): Potential Mediators for Cancer and Neurodegeneration.

Emerging evidence suggests an inverse association between cancer and neurodegenerative diseases (NDD). Although phenotypically different, both diseases display a significant imbalance in the ubiquitination/deubiquitination processes. Therefore, we particularly investigated the expression of ubiquitin C-terminal hydrolases (UCHs and ) a subfamily of deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), using publically available datasets (GTEx, TCGA) and observed altered expression of -, in 17 cancer types.

Diabetic Retinopathy Screening Using Smartphone-Based Fundus Imaging in India.

Purpose: Early detection and treatment can prevent irreversible blindness from diabetic retinopathy (DR), which is the leading cause of visual impairment among working-aged adults worldwide. Some 80% of affected persons live in low- and middle-income countries, yet lack of resources has largely prevented DR screening implementation in these world regions. Smartphone-based fundus imaging (SBFI) allows for low-cost mobile fundus examination using an adapter on a smartphone; however, key aspects such as image quality, diagnostic accuracy, and comparability of different approaches have not been systematically assessed to date.

Determinants of Quality of Life in Geographic Atrophy Secondary to Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To longitudinally evaluate vision-related quality of life (VRQoL) in geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and define its relation to visual function and structural biomarkers.

Methods: Patients with GA secondary to AMD were recruited in the context of the prospective, non-interventional, natural-history Directional Spread in Geographic-Atrophy study (NCT02051998). Fundus autofluorescence and infrared reflectance images were semi-automatically annotated for GA.

Replication and Refinement of an Algorithm for Automated Drusen Segmentation on Optical Coherence Tomography.

Here, we investigate the extent to which re-implementing a previously published algorithm for OCT-based drusen quantification permits replicating the reported accuracy on an independent dataset. We refined that algorithm so that its accuracy is increased. Following a systematic literature search, an algorithm was selected based on its reported excellent results.

Retinal light sensitivity as outcome measure in recessive Stargardt disease.

Background/aims: To evaluate the applicability of mesopic light sensitivity measurements obtained by fundus-controlled perimetry (FCP, also termed 'microperimetry') as clinical trial endpoint in Stargardt disease (STGD1).

Methods: In this retrospective, monocentre cohort study, 271 eyes of 136 patients (age, 37.1 years) with STGD1 and 87 eyes of 54 healthy controls (age, 41.

Detecting vision loss in intermediate age-related macular degeneration: A comparison of visual function tests.

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of visual function tests in intermediate age-related macular degeneration (iAMD). A total of 62 subjects (38 patients with iAMD and 24 controls) were included and underwent several functional assessments: Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), low luminance visual acuity (LLVA), visual acuity (VA) measured with the Moorfields Vanishing Optotypes Acuity Charts (MAC), contrast sensitivity with the Pelli-Robson test, reading speed using the International Reading Speed texts (IReST) and mesopic and dark-adapted microperimetry (S-MAIA, CenterVue, Padova, Italy). Groups were compared using non-parametric Wilcoxon rank sum tests and ROC analyses.

Determinants of Cone and Rod Functions in Geographic Atrophy: AI-Based Structure-Function Correlation.

Purpose: To investigate the association between retinal microstructure and cone and rod function in geographic atrophy (GA) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by using artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms.

Design: Prospective, observational case series.

Methods: A total of 41 eyes of 41 patients (75.

Prognostic value of intermediate age-related macular degeneration phenotypes for geographic atrophy progression.

Background: To characterise early stages of geographic atrophy (GA) development in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and to determine the prognostic value of structural precursor lesions in eyes with intermediate (i) AMD on the subsequent GA progression.

Methods: Structural precursor lesions for atrophic areas (lesion size at least 0.5 mm² in fundus autofluorescence images) were retrospectively identified based on multimodal imaging and evaluated for association with the subsequent GA enlargement rates (square-root transformed, sqrt).

Association of Visual Function Measures with Drusen Volume in Early Stages of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To assess which visual function measures are most strongly associated with overall retinal drusen volume in age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: A total of 100 eyes (16 eyes with early AMD, 62 eyes with intermediate AMD, and 22 eyes from healthy controls) were recruited in this cross-sectional study. All subjects underwent several functional assessments: best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), low-luminance visual acuity (LLVA), visual acuity (VA) measured with the Moorfields Acuity Chart (MAC-VA), contrast sensitivity with the Pelli-Robson test, reading speed using the International Reading Speed texts, and mesopic and dark-adapted microperimetry.