Improved Interchangeability with Different Corneal Specular Microscopes for Quantitative Endothelial Cell Analysis.

Introduction: During our clinical practice and research, we encountered an interchangeability problem when using the SP-2000P and SP-3000P TopCon corneal specular microscopes (CSMs) (TopCon Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) regarding the endothelial cell count (ECC). We describe a method to improve interchangeability between these CSMs.

Methods: Five consecutive good-quality endothelial cell photographs were obtained in 22 eyes of 11 subjects.

Straylight As The Result Of Refractive Correction.

Purpose: To investigate the effect of refractive correction on straylight.

Patients And Methods: Straylight values were measured with the C-Quant (Oculus Optikgeräte, GmbH, Wetzlar, Germany) in 1) near-emmetropic eyes (n=30) with various negative powered refractive lenses and in 2) myopic eyes (n=30) corrected with prescribed eyeglasses and contact lenses. The straylight measurements in each group were compared in the different conditions.

Clinical characteristics and long-term visual outcome of severe phenotypes of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate disease onset and disease progression in patients with severe chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (cCSC).

Patients And Methods: The medical records of 143 cCSC patients (199 eyes) were reviewed. All cases had visual complaints for >6 months and showed signs of a severe disease phenotype on optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescein angiography (FA).

The Prognostic Value of AJCC Staging in Uveal Melanoma Is Enhanced by Adding Chromosome 3 and 8q Status.

Purpose: The American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) staging system has been validated for use as a prognostic parameter in uveal melanoma (UM). We studied whether adding information regarding chromosome 3 and 8q status further enhances the prognostic value of this staging system.

Methods: We retrospectively studied a cohort of 522 patients who had been treated for UM in two different centers between 1999 and 2015.

Association of Axial Length With Risk of Uncorrectable Visual Impairment for Europeans With Myopia.

Importance: Myopia (ie, nearsightedness) is becoming the most common eye disorder to cause blindness in younger persons in many parts of the world. Visual impairment due to myopia is associated with structural changes of the retina and the globe because of elongation of the eye axis. How axial length-a sum of the anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, and vitreous chamber depth-and myopia relate to the development of visual impairment over time is unknown.

Upregulation of HLA Expression in Primary Uveal Melanoma by Infiltrating Leukocytes.

Introduction: Uveal melanoma (UM) with an inflammatory phenotype, characterized by infiltrating leukocytes and increased human leukocyte antigen (HLA) expression, carry an increased risk of death due to metastases. These tumors should be ideal for T-cell based therapies, yet it is not clear why prognostically-infaust tumors have a high HLA expression. We set out to determine whether the level of HLA molecules in UM is associated with other genetic factors, HLA transcriptional regulators, or microenvironmental factors.

Clinical evaluation of ultra-high-field MRI for three-dimensional visualisation of tumour size in uveal melanoma patients, with direct relevance to treatment planning.

Objectives: To assess the tumour dimensions in uveal melanoma patients using 7-T ocular MRI and compare these values with conventional ultrasound imaging to provide improved information for treatment options.

Materials And Methods: Ten uveal melanoma patients were examined on a 7-T MRI system using a custom-built eye coil and dedicated 3D scan sequences to minimise eye-motion-induced image artefacts. The maximum tumour prominence was estimated from the three-dimensional images and compared with the standard clinical evaluation from 2D ultrasound images.

Donor sclera-wrapped acrylic orbital implants following enucleation: experience in 179 patients in the Netherlands.

Purpose: To report the postoperative results after enucleation of using an acrylic orbital implant covered in donor sclera for implantation.

Methods: We retrospectively analysed the charts of patients who were enucleated between 2007 and 2011. Only patients who received an acrylic implant covered with donor sclera were included.

Heterogeneity revealed by integrated genomic analysis uncovers a molecular switch in malignant uveal melanoma.

Gene expression profiles as well as genomic imbalances are correlated with disease progression in uveal melanoma (UM). We integrated expression and genomic profiles to obtain insight into the oncogenic mechanisms in development and progression of UM. We used tumor tissue from 64 enucleated eyes of UM patients for profiling.

Radiation Treatment Affects Chromosome Testing in Uveal Melanoma.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether radiation treatment induces chromosomal aberrations in uveal melanoma (UM) and to evaluate which tumor features determine success of karyotyping and FISH.

Methods: Material from 327 UM-containing enucleated eyes was submitted for karyotyping, while FISH for chromosome 3 was performed in 248 samples. Thirty-six UMs had previously undergone irradiation.

Distribution of GNAQ and GNA11 Mutation Signatures in Uveal Melanoma Points to a Light Dependent Mutation Mechanism.

Uveal melanomas (UM) originate from melanocytes in the interior wall of the eye, namely from the iris, ciliary body and the choroid with marked differences in light exposure (from dark anterior to illuminated posterior). In contrast to UV radiation, focused or converging visible light readily reaches the retina and can damage DNA which possibly contributes to UM development. In this report choroidal, ciliochoroidal and iridociliary melanomas were analyzed for GNAQ and GNA11 mutations which were subsequently correlated to the location of tumor origin.

Automated retinal topographic maps measured with magnetic resonance imaging.

Purpose: Recent studies on ocular shape have raised increased interest in the peripheral characteristics of the eye, as it potentially triggers changes in the central vision. Current techniques are, however, not capable of accurately measuring the three-dimensional shape of the retina. We describe a new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based method to obtain the retinal shape with high precision and use it to assess if differences in retinal shape could explain previously described trends in peripheral refraction.

Prognostic parameters in uveal melanoma and their association with BAP1 expression.

Aim: To determine whether BAP1 gene and protein expression associates with different prognostic parameters in uveal melanoma and whether BAP1 expression correctly identifies patients as being at risk for metastases, following enucleation of the primary tumour.

Methods: Thirty cases of uveal melanoma obtained by enucleation between 1999 and 2004 were analysed for a variety of prognostic markers, including histological characteristics, chromosome aberrations obtained by fluorescence in situ hybridisation (FISH) and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) analysis and gene expression profiling. These parameters were compared with BAP1 gene expression and BAP1 immunostaining.

Effect of hypoxic stress on migration and characteristics of monocytes in uveal melanoma.

Importance: Among the characteristics of uveal melanoma that are associated with a poor prognosis are a large tumor size and the presence of increased numbers of lymphocytes and macrophages. In rapidly growing tumors, reduction in oxygen tension may occur with increased distance from blood vessels, which we hypothesize may lead to an inflammatory microenvironment, further stimulating tumor growth.

Objectives: To analyze whether hypoxia induces uveal melanoma cells to express proinflammatory cytokines and whether tumor supernatant (TSN) affects monocyte migration and differentiation.

Implantation of phakic intraocular lens in 3 patients with oculocutaneous albinism.

Unlabelled: We present 3 cases with oculocutaneous albinism in which a high refractive error was optically corrected by implantation of an Artisan iris-fixated phakic intraocular lens, with a follow-up of 8 to 14 years.

Financial Disclosure: No author has a financial or proprietary interest in any material or method mentioned.

A fish scale-derived collagen matrix as artificial cornea in rats: properties and potential.

Purpose: A fish scale-derived collagen matrix (FSCM) is proposed as an alternative for human donor corneal tissue. Light scatter and light transmission of the FSCM were measured and compared with human cornea, and its short-term biocompatibility was tested in a rat model.

Methods: light scatter was determined with a straylight measuring device, whereas light transmission was measured using a broadband absorption spectrometer.

Analysis of inflammatory cells in uveal melanoma after prior irradiation.

Purpose: Primary uveal melanomas with a poor prognosis contain high numbers of infiltrating macrophages, especially of the M2 phenotype, as well as lymphocytes. We wondered whether local inflammatory responses were affected by irradiation and therefore determined the presence of inflammatory cells in uveal melanomas enucleated after prior irradiation.

Methods: We analyzed 46 uveal melanoma-containing eyes that had to be enucleated due to nonresponsiveness, tumor recurrence, or complications.

Bevacizumab and intraocular tumors: an intriguing paradox.

Purpose: Bevacizumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody to vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A), was originally developed as an anti-tumor treatment. In ocular oncology, it is being used to treat macular edema due to radiation retinopathy, but it may also be useful for the treatment of primary uveal melanoma (UM) or its metastases. We determined the effect of bevacizumab on the growth of B16F10 cells inside the eye and on B16F10 and UM cells cultured in vitro.

High levels of Hdmx promote cell growth in a subset of uveal melanomas.

The p53 tumor suppressor pathway is inactivated in cancer either via direct mutation or via deregulation of upstream regulators or downstream effectors. P53 mutations are rare in uveal melanoma. Here we investigated the role of the p53 inhibitor Hdmx in uveal melanoma.

Cytokines and chemokines in the vitreous fluid of eyes with uveal melanoma.

Purpose: In uveal melanoma, both tumor size and an inflammatory phenotype have been shown to correlate with a poor clinical prognosis. The purpose of this study was to identify whether inflammatory cytokines were present in the vitreous of eyes with uveal melanoma and to determine whether the vitreal concentration of cytokines correlated with prognostic variables such as tumor dimensions and immune cell infiltrate.

Methods: Vitreous was acquired from patients with uveal melanoma (n = 33) and from control eyes with no known ocular conditions (n = 9), and analyzed using a 27-plex cytokine bead array.

Different subsets of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes correlate with macrophage influx and monosomy 3 in uveal melanoma.

Purpose: In contrast to many other malignancies, in uveal melanoma (UM) the presence of an immune infiltrate is associated with a bad prognosis. An analysis of the different functional phenotypes of tumor-infiltrating leukocytes (TIL) and a comparison with the genetic background of the tumors may help to explain this apparent anomaly.

Methods: We performed a comprehensive immunohistochemical study by evaluating the density of CD8(+) and CD4(+) T lymphocytes, forkhead box p3 (Foxp3(+)) regulatory T cells (Tregs), and CD68(+) and CD68(+)CD163(+) macrophages in 43 cases of UM in relation to tumor characteristics.

Magnetic resonance compatibility of intraocular lenses measured at 7 Tesla.

Purpose: To determine whether intraocular lenses (IOLs) are compatible with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at a magnetic field strength of 7 Tesla, the highest field strength at which clinical MRI scans are performed.

Methods: A set of 23 intraocular lenses was selected based on the presence of dyes and metals and different geometric shapes. MR compatibility was evaluated in a high-field 7-Tesla MRI scanner according to the American Standard Test Method (ASTM).

Fuchs' adenoma of the choroid simulating a choroidal hemangioma.

We report the case of a 54-year-old female who was referred to us with an amelanotic mass on the posterior pole of the left eye involving the macula. Fundus fluorescein angiography revealed a hyperfluorescent choroidal mass. Indocyanine green chorioangiography revealed a hypofluorescent choroidal lesion with hyperfluorescent margins.

A comparison of HLA genotype with inflammation in uveal melanoma.

Purpose: Human leukocyte antigen (HLA) polymorphisms have been associated with the development of autoimmune diseases. In uveal melanoma, a high expression of HLA classes I and II, and infiltration with lymphocytes and macrophages are associated with a bad prognosis. Inflammation has an important role in this malignancy.