A summary of the main themes and findings presented at the ASM Intermountain Branch meeting (2024).

The annual meeting for the Intermountain Branch was held in April 2024 on the campus of Brigham Young University. There were 127 branch members from Utah, Idaho, and Nevada who attended the meeting and were composed of undergraduate students, graduate or medical students, and faculty. This report highlights the diversity of, and the emerging trends in, the research conducted by American Society for Microbiology members in the Intermountain Branch.

Comparison of long-term outcomes of simultaneous accelerated corneal crosslinking combined with intracorneal ring segment or topography-guided PRK.

Purpose: To compare long-term outcomes of simultaneous accelerated corneal crosslinking (CXL) with intrastromal corneal ring segments (CXL-ICRS) with simultaneous accelerated CXL with topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (CXL-TG-PRK) in progressive keratoconus (KC).

Setting: Kensington Eye Institute and Bochner Eye Institute, Toronto, Canada.

Design: Prospective nonrandomized interventional study.

Multi-center validation of Catquest-9SF visual function questionnaire in Ontario, Canada.

Purpose: To investigate the psychometric performance and responsiveness of Catquest-9SF, a patient-reported questionnaire developed to evaluate visual function as related to daily tasks, in patients referred for cataract surgery in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: This is a pooled analysis on prospective data collected for previous projects. Subjects were recruited from three tertiary care centers in Peel region, Hamilton, and Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Subjective and objective evaluation of corneal haze after accelerated corneal crosslinking for corneal ectasias.

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between subjective (slit lamp examination [SLE]) and objective (densitometry) measurements of corneal haze after accelerated corneal crosslinking (aCXL), assess the relationship between densitometry and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), and determine the effect of baseline characteristics on densitometry after aCXL in eyes with progressive keratoconus and other ectasias.

Setting: Kensington Eye Institute and Bochner Eye Institute, Toronto, Canada.

Design: Retrospective analysis of a prospective interventional cohort study.

Characteristics of the Ontario Neurodegenerative Disease Research Initiative cohort.

Introduction: Understanding synergies between neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular pathologies that modify dementia presentation represents an important knowledge gap.

Methods: This multi-site, longitudinal, observational cohort study recruited participants across prevalent neurodegenerative diseases and cerebrovascular disease and assessed participants comprehensively across modalities. We describe univariate and multivariate baseline features of the cohort and summarize recruitment, data collection, and curation processes.

Retinal nerve fiber layer in frontotemporal lobar degeneration and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Purpose: Tauopathy and transactive response DNA binding protein 43 (TDP-43) proteinopathy are associated with neurodegenerative diseases. These proteinopathies are difficult to detect . This study examined if spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) can differentiate the difference in peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (pRNFL) thickness and macular retinal thickness between participants with presumed tauopathy (progressive supranuclear palsy) and those with presumed TDP-43 proteinopathy (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and semantic variant primary progressive aphasia).

Ontario Cataract Quality Outcome Initiative: appropriateness and prioritization of cataract surgery.

Objective: To explore the utility of the Catquest 9SF visual function (VF) questionnaire along with visual acuity (VA) for determining appropriateness and priority for cataract surgery. To evaluate the feasibility of administering the Catquest-9SF in a clinical setting using web-based electronic data capture and interpretation.

Design: Prospective multicentred interventional observational study.

Patient Satisfaction and Visual Function Following Implantation of Trifocal or Extended Range of Vision Intraocular Lenses.

Purpose: To compare the trifocal TFNT00 and extended depth-of-focus (EDF) ZXR00 intraocular lenses (IOLs) with respect to overall satisfaction with near and distance vision, visual acuity, dysphotopsia symptoms, spectacle dependence, and mesopic best corrected contrast sensitivity (MBCCS).

Materials And Methods: This non-randomized, retrospective, single-centre, comparative study took place at the Kensington Eye Institute in Toronto, Canada. Subjects implanted with either the TFNT00 IOL (n = 11) or ZXR00 IOL (n = 13) were assessed up to 4 years post operatively.

Fellow Eye as a Predictor for Keratoconus Progression Following Accelerated Corneal Cross-linking.

Purpose: To assess the fellow eye as a predictor for keratoconus progression following bilateral same-day accelerated corneal cross-linking (A-CXL).

Methods: This was a post-hoc analysis of data from a prospective study of bilateral A-CXL for progressive keratoconus between 2013 and 2015. The primary outcome measures were absolute change in maximum keratometry (Kmax) (diopters [D]), relative change in Kmax (%), and A-CXL progression (increase in Kmax > 2.

Central versus paracentral cone location and outcomes of accelerated cross-linking in keratoconus patients.

Purpose: To compare outcomes 1 year after accelerated cross-linking (CXL) between keratoconus eyes with central cones to those with paracentral cones.

Methods: In this post hoc analysis of data from a prospective multicentre study, consecutive progressive keratoconus eyes treated with accelerated CXL were included. Preoperative and 1 year post CXL manifest refraction, corneal cylinder, maximal keratometry (Kmax), central corneal thickness and coma were assessed.

A recommended "minimum data set" framework for SD-OCT retinal image acquisition and analysis from the Atlas of Retinal Imaging in Alzheimer's Study (ARIAS).

Introduction: We propose a minimum data set framework for the acquisition and analysis of retinal images for the development of retinal Alzheimer's disease (AD) biomarkers. Our goal is to describe methodology that will increase concordance across laboratories, so that the broader research community is able to cross-validate findings in parallel, accumulate large databases with normative data across the cognitive aging spectrum, and progress the application of this technology from the discovery stage to the validation stage in the search for sensitive and specific retinal biomarkers in AD.

Methods: The proposed minimum data set framework is based on the Atlas of Retinal Imaging Study (ARIAS), an ongoing, longitudinal, multi-site observational cohort study.

Factors affecting central corneal thickness measurement agreement between Scheimpflug imaging and ultrasound pachymetry in keratoconus.

Purpose: To evaluate the agreement of central corneal thickness (CCT) measurement between Scheimpflug imaging and ultrasound (U/S) pachymetry in keratoconic eyes, and investigate factors that affect the agreement.

Methods: This post hoc analysis within a prospective, observational non-randomised study preformed at the Kensington Eye Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, included crosslinking candidates with progressive keratoconus (KC). Main outcome measures were the agreement of CCT measurement between Scheimpflug imaging (Pentacam Oculus, Wetzlar, Germany) and U/S pachymetry (PachPen 24-5100, Accutome Inc.

Comparison of accelerated CXL alone, accelerated CXL-ICRS, and accelerated CXL-TG-PRK in progressive keratoconus and other corneal ectasias.

Purpose: To compare accelerated corneal crosslinking (CXL) alone, CXL with simultaneous intrastromal corneal ring segments (CXL-ICRS), and CXL with simultaneous topography-guided photorefractive keratectomy (CXL-TG-PRK) in progressive keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration (PMD), or laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK)-induced ectasia.

Setting: The Kensington Eye Institute and Bochner Eye Institute, Toronto, Canada.

Design: Prospective nonrandomized interventional study.

Accelerated Corneal Cross-Linking: Efficacy, Risk of Progression, and Characteristics Affecting Outcomes. A Large, Single-Center Prospective Study.

Purpose: We examined the efficacy and preoperative characteristics that affect outcomes of accelerated (9 mW/cm for 10 minutes) corneal cross-linking (CXL).

Design: Prospective single-center observational cohort study.

Methods: We enrolled 612 eyes of 391 subjects with progressive keratoconus (n = 589), pellucid marginal degeneration (n = 11), and laser in situ keratomileusis-induced ectasia (n = 12).

Validation and application of Catquest-9SF in various populations: A systematic review.

Cataract is a common cause of reversible blindness. Visual acuity alone is not enough to assess appropriateness for surgery, prioritization, and outcomes. Catquest-9SF questionnaire evaluates patients' self-assessed visual function as related to daily tasks.

Vision to improve: quality improvement in ophthalmology.

Improving quality of care and patient outcomes is a professional duty of all health care workers. Quality improvement is a part of health policy, an accreditation requirement of residency programs, and a recognized sub-specialty in academic medicine. Given the increasing need for ophthalmological services with our aging population, it is critical for ophthalmologists and their staff to develop the necessary skills in quality improvement to ensure access to care that is safe, patient-centered, effective, efficient, equitable, and timely.

Validation of Optical Coherence Tomography Retinal Segmentation in Neurodegenerative Disease.

Purpose: This study assessed agreement between an automated spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) retinal segmentation software and manually corrected segmentation to validate its use in a prospective clinical study of neurodegenerative diseases (NDD).

Methods: The sample comprised 30 subjects with NDD, including vascular cognitive impairment, frontotemporal dementia, Parkinson's disease, and Alzheimer's disease. Macular SD-OCT scans were acquired and segmented using Heidelberg Spectralis.

Corneal Collagen Cross-Linking in the Management of Keratoconus in Canada: A Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

Purpose: To use patient-level microsimulation models to evaluate the comparative cost-effectiveness of early corneal cross-linking (CXL) and conventional management with penetrating keratoplasty (PKP) when indicated in managing keratoconus in Canada.

Design: Cost-utility analysis using individual-based, state-transition microsimulation models.

Participants: Simulated cohorts of 100 000 individuals with keratoconus who entered each treatment arm at 25 years of age.

Responses of the soft coral Xenia elongata following acute exposure to a chemical dispersant.

Limited toxicology data are available regarding oil dispersant exposure to coral species. Corexit® EC9500A (Corexit) is a commonly applied dispersant most well known for its use after the Deepwater Horizon spill in April, 2010. There is limited evidence that Corexit can cause a bleaching response in corals.

The relationship between sociodemographic factors and persistence with topical glaucoma medications.

Purpose: To investigate the relationship between sociodemographic factors and nonpersistence with topical glaucoma medication.

Design: This was a retrospective, observational cohort study.

Patients And Methods: We invited glaucoma patients on medical therapy from a general ophthalmology practice to complete a standardized questionnaire between November 2011 and April 2012.

Development of a slide agglutination assay for detection of blastomycosis.

Blastomycosis, caused by the thermally dimorphic fungus Blastomyces dermatitides, which is endemic to eastern regions of the USA, is commonly misdiagnosed as a viral or bacterial infection and therefore treated improperly. Over the years, many immunodiagnostic assays to aid in the diagnosis of blastomycosis have been developed; however, a reliable assay for use in local clinics still remains elusive. Procedures for a slide agglutination assay for detection of antibody in serum from rabbits immunized with B.