Herpes Simplex Keratitis Following Corneal Crosslinking for Keratoconus: A One-Year Case Series Follow-Up.

Corneal crosslinking (CXL) is a medical procedure used to treat keratoconus. CXL works by strengthening the collagen fibers of the cornea through the application of riboflavin (vitamin B2) and ultraviolet (UV) light, which helps to stabilize the cornea and prevent further deterioration. There is a recognized risk that CXL can trigger the reactivation of dormant herpes simplex virus (HSV), leading to herpetic keratitis even in patients with no history of herpetic disease.

Evaluating Intraocular Pressure Alterations during Large Muscle Group Isometric Exercises with Varying Head and Body Positions.

Performing physical exercise affects intraocular pressure, and its elevation and fluctuations are the main risk factors for glaucoma development or progression. The aim of this study was to examine the acute alterations in intraocular pressure (IOP) during four unweighted isometric exercises and to determine whether the different head and body positions taken during exercise additionally affect IOP. Twelve healthy volunteers between the ages of 25 and 33 performed four isometric exercises: wall sit in neutral head and body position, elbow plank in prone head and body position, reverse plank in supine head and body position for 1 min, and right-side plank in lateral head and body position for 30 s.

New characterization and safety evaluation of human limbal stem cells used in clinical application: fidelity of mitotic process and mitotic spindle morphologies.

Background: Limbal stem cells (LSCs) are crucial for the regeneration of the corneal epithelium in patients with limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). Thus, LSCs during cultivation in vitro should be in highly homogeneous amounts, while potency and expression of stemness without tumorigenesis would be desirable. Therefore, further characterization and safety evaluation of engineered limbal grafts is required to provide safe and high-quality therapeutic applications.

Prolonged Face Mask Wearing Worsens Self-Reported Dry Eye Symptoms during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Dental Healthcare Practitioners.

Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate self-reported MADE during the COVID-19 pandemic in dental healthcare practitioners and identify their possible risk factors.

Material And Methods: An anonymous questionnaire was sent to doctors of dental medicine in the time period from February 2022 to August 2022. The online questionnaire included demographic characteristics and clinical characteristics: presence and deterioration of DED symptoms while wearing the face mask, personal protective face equipment, use of contact lenses, history of eye surgery, current use of medications, number of hours wearing face mask, and evaluation of subjective DED symptoms using modified Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI).

The Role of Thermal Camera in the Assessment of Thyroid Eye Disease Activity.

Background: Thyroid eye disease (TED; also known as thyroid - associated orbitopathy, Graves ophthalmopathy) is an autoimmune inflammatory disease which presents in typical signs and symptoms such as deep orbital pain, chemosis with or without caruncular edema, unilateral or bilateral proptosis, eyelid retraction, eyelid edema or erythema, restrictive strabismus and compressive optic neuropathy.

Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of thermal camera in the assessment of thyroid eye disease (TED) activity compared to the Clinical Activity Score (CAS) scale, exophthalmometry values, and thyroid hormone and antibody levels.

Methods: A total of 50 patients participated in this cross-sectional study of whom 29 were in the active phase of TED according to the sum on CAS scale and 21 patients in the inactive phase.

Diplopia, COVID-19 and Vaccination: Results from a Cross-Sectional Study in Croatia.

The aim of this study was to explore diplopia as a symptom of undetected COVID-19 infection or as a possible side effect of COVID-19 vaccination. We examined 380 patients with diplopia admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital Centre Sestre milosrdnice in Zagreb, Croatia, from July 2020 to June 2022. After excluding patients with confirmed organic underlying diplopia causes or monocular diplopia, we linked the patient information with the national COVID-19 and vaccination registries.

Mask-Associated Dry Eye During COVID-19 Pandemic-How Face Masks Contribute to Dry Eye Disease Symptoms.

Background: In the year 2020 we observe the world adapting to "new normal" due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ways of which include physical distancing, hand hygiene, and wearing a face mask. There is no conclusive evidence about ocular manifestations of the new coronavirus infection, but cases of conjunctivitis, keratitis, and episcleritis have been reported in infected individuals.

Objective: Determining if wearing a face mask during COVID-19 pandemic causes a new onset or deterioration of previously existing dry eye disease (DED).

Structure-Function Relationship of Changes in Visual Field Indices with Quadrant and Average Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in the Eyes with Exfoliation.

The progressive nature of glaucoma suggests it should be possible to detect structural changes such as retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness loss before the condition becomes clinically apparent with visual field (VF) impairment. Therefore, the aim was to analyze RNFL thickness and VF changes in study groups with unilateral exfoliation syndrome (XFS), bilateral XFS and bilateral exfoliative glaucoma (XFG), and compare it with controls. The study included 114 subjects (228 eyes) divided into 4 groups according to the presence of exfoliation: 30 subjects with unilateral XFS (30 with clinically visible XFS and 30 fellow eyes), 24 subjects (48 eyes) with bilateral XFS, 28 (56 eyes) subjects with bilateral XFG, and control group (32 subjects).

The Resident Surgeon Phacoemulsification Learning Curve at Clinical Department of Ophthalmology, Sestre Milosrdnice University Hospital Center.

The aim of the study was to analyze the resident learning process of phacoemulsification cataract surgery and to assess the resident phacoemulsification learning curve. This prospective study comprised 86 consecutive cases of phacoemulsification performed using standard technique by eight residents over a one-year period at Clinical Department of Ophthalmology, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center in Zagreb. Operative data on each case included resident and attending surgeon, date of operation, step-by-step success questionnaire, and intraoperative complications.

Metabolic risk factors, coping with stress, and psychological well-being in patients with age-related macular degeneration.

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between the risk factors (age, obesity, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, smoking, consumption of alchohol and drugs, positive family history, and exposure to sunlight), coping with stress, psychological well-being and age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). Forty patients with ARMD (case group) and 63 presbyopes (control group) participated in the study. Patient data were collected through general information questionnaire including patient habits, the COPE questionnaire that showed the way the patients handling stress, and the GHQ that analyzed the psychological aspects of their quality of life.

Toric intraocular lens implantation for astigmatism correction in cataract surgery.

The aim of this study was to evaluate clinical outcomes after toric intraocular lens implantation for astigmatism correction in patients undergoing cataract surgery. This prospective observational study included eyes undergoing cataract surgery at Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital Center between February and September 2011. The study enrolled eyes that had visually significant cataract and preexisting regular corneal astigmatism of 1.

Limbal relaxing incision during cataract surgery.

Limbal relaxing incisions are one of the more commonly performed procedures with phacoemulsification to correct preexisting astigmatism during cataract surgery. The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect and stability of limbal relaxing incisions in reducing preexisting astigmatism at the time of phacoemulsification. The study included 10 eyes in 12 patients who underwent limbal relaxing incisions during cataract surgery, with preexisting astigmatism of 1-2 diopter (D).

Eye drops preservative as the cause of corneal band keratopathy in long-term pilocarpine hydrochloride treatment.

The aim is to present a patient with severe bilateral corneal complications after long-term antiglaucoma treatment with 1% pilocarpine hydrochloride (Pilokarpin, Pliva, Zagreb, Croatia) and its management. A patient with narrow-angle glaucoma treated with 1% topical pilocarpine hydrochloride eye drops for the last twenty years complained of impaired vision, intermittent visual haloes and eye redness. Ophthalmologic examination showed bilateral band keratopathy, peripheral laser iridotomy, medicamentous myosis, brown nuclear cataract, and synchysis scintillans of his right eye.

Multifocal intraocular "mix and match" lenses.

The new generation multifocal lenses provide the surgeon with several options to meet the specific visual needs and desires of patients. A revolution in presbyopia surgery is being driven by two multifocal intraocular lenses, ReStor and ReZoom. Combined implantation of the ReZoom multifocal lens in nondominant eye and ReStor multifocal lens in dominant eye has been demonstrated to produce statistically and clinically superior results in bilateral uncorrected intermediate vision improving vision effectiveness in presbyopia patients after cataract surgery.

Common variant in myocilin gene is associated with high myopia in isolated population of Korcula Island, Croatia.

Aim: To study the association between genetic variants in myocilin and collagen type I alpha 1 genes and high myopia in an isolated island population.

Methods: A total of 944 examinees from the genetic epidemiology study conducted on the island of Korcula, Croatia, were included in the study. We selected 2 short nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) available in our genome-wide scan set of SNPs that were previously associated with high myopia and used them to replicate previous claims of possible association.

Bilateral optic neuritis as initial manifestation of neurosyphilis in a HIV-positive patient.

Syphilis, a disease which used to be terminal up to the 1950s, has become curable with the discovery of penicillin. In the last few years, an increase in its incidence has been recorded in the world as well as in Croatia, primarily with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) co-infection. We present a 40-year-old male patient who complained of a sudden decrease of visual acuity on both eyes, accompanied by dizziness.

[Ophthalmological causes of headache].

Ophthalmologic causes of headache represent a very complex and extensive problem, and very often differential diagnostic problem too. Many various reasons of headache can be caused by ophthalmologic diseases like those of anterior and posterior eye segments, acute and subacute angle closed glaucoma and orbital diseases. Headache can be caused by no or poor correction of the refraction anomalies.