A Review of Contact Lens Regulations in the Asia Pacific Region.

The increased usage of nonrefractive cosmetic contact lenses in Asia and a trend toward increased online purchasing of both refractive and cosmetic contact lenses poses unique challenges in the management of contact lens-related complications. However, regulations have lagged behind this increased uptake in the community. This paper reviews regulations surrounding the manufacturing, import, and distribution of contact lenses in the Asia Pacific region and compares them with international regulations from the European Union and United States.

Intraoperative optical coherence tomography guided iris stromal cyst treatment with absolute alcohol injection.

Purpose: To report on the utility of intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT) in the treatment of a traumatic iris cyst with aspiration and alcohol injection.

Observations: A 61-year-old male, with a past ocular history of a left corneoscleral laceration in 1982, presented with gradual onset of blurring of vision in 2021. Examination revealed a large iris stromal cyst.

Gene-Based Therapeutics for Acquired Retinal Disease: Opportunities and Progress.

Acquired retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy rank among the leading causes of blindness and visual loss worldwide. Effective treatments for these conditions are available, but often have a high treatment burden, and poor compliance can lead to disappointing real-world outcomes. Development of new treatment strategies that provide more durable treatment effects could help to address some of these unmet needs.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Corneal Transplantation in Brazil.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic on corneal transplantation (CT) in Brazil.

Methods: Data from patients who underwent CT at the Hospital Oftalmológico de Sorocaba (HOS), Brazil, were analyzed. National and state numbers of keratoplasties, patients added to the CT waiting list, and total patients on the waiting list were also obtained.

Comparative Study of Long-term Graft Survival Between Penetrating Keratoplasty and Deep Anterior Lamellar Keratoplasty.

Purpose: Endothelial failure and immunological graft rejection remain long-term complications leading to late graft failure in penetrating keratoplasty (PK). Deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty (DALK) has emerged as a viable alternative that enables preservation of the host's endothelial cells to eliminate risks of endothelial rejection and failure. The aim of this study was to compare long-term graft survival between PK and DALK.

Complications of small incision lenticule extraction.

The procedure of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) was introduced in 2011, and since then there has been an increase in the number of cases undergoing this procedure worldwide. The surgery has a learning curve and may be associated with problems in the intraoperative and postoperative periods. The intraoperative problems during SMILE surgery include the loss of suction, the occurrence of altered or irregular opaque bubble layer and black spots, difficulty in lenticular dissection and extraction, cap perforation, incision-related problems, and decentered ablation.

Pharmaceutical modulation of the proteolytic profile of Transforming Growth Factor Beta induced protein (TGFBIp) offers a new avenue for treatment of -corneal dystrophy.

Corneal dystrophies are a group of genetically inherited disorders with mutations in the gene affecting the Bowman's membrane and the corneal stroma. The mutant TGFBIp is highly aggregation-prone and is deposited in the cornea. Depending on the type of mutation the protein deposits may vary (amyloid, amorphous powdery aggregate or a mixed form of both), making the cornea opaque and thereby decreases visual acuity.

Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty With a Pull-Through Insertion Device: Surgical Technique, Endothelial Cell Loss, and Early Clinical Results.

Purpose: To describe a surgical technique for Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) using a pull-through, endothelium-in insertion device, the DMEK EndoGlide. We evaluated the endothelial cell loss (ECL) associated with the EndoGlide-DMEK (E-DMEK) technique in both ex vivo and prospective clinical studies.

Methods: The ex vivo study involved calcein acetoxymethyl staining and preparation of DMEK grafts, which were trifolded endothelium-in, loaded into the EndoGlide, pulled through, and unfolded in imaging dishes.

Corneal remodelling and topography following biological inlay implantation with combined crosslinking in a rabbit model.

Implantation of biological corneal inlays, derived from small incision lenticule extraction, may be a feasible method for surgical management of refractive and corneal diseases. However, the refractive outcome is dependent on stromal remodelling of both the inlay and recipient stroma. This study aimed to investigate the refractive changes and tissue responses following implantation of 2.

Trinucleotide repeat expansion length as a predictor of the clinical progression of Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy.

Purpose: To determine if CTG18.1 TNR expansion length prognosticates the clinical progression of Fuchs' Endothelial Corneal Dystrophy (FECD).

Methods: This was a prospective cohort study.

Corneal re-innervation following refractive surgery treatments.

Laser refractive surgery is one of the most performed surgical procedures in the world. Although regarded safe and efficient, it has side effects. All of the laser based refractive surgical procedures invoke corneal nerve injury to some degree.

Reshaping and Customization of SMILE-Derived Biological Lenticules for Intrastromal Implantation.

Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of excimer laser reshaping of biological lenticules available after small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE).

Methods: Fresh and cryopreserved SMILE-derived human lenticules underwent excimer laser ablation for stromal reshaping. The treatment effects in the lasered group were compared with the nonlasered group with respect to changes in surface functional groups (by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy [FTIR]) and surface morphology (by scanning electron microscopy [SEM] and atomic force microscopy [AFM]).

Predicative Factors for Corneal Endothelial Cell Migration.

Purpose: To characterize the effects of Descemet's stripping, Rho-associated protein kinase inhibitor Y-27632, and donor age on endothelial migration in human corneas maintained in ex vivo culture.

Methods: Twenty-eight cadaveric human corneas underwent ex vivo culture in either standard or Y-27632-supplemented culture medium for 14 days. The posterior surface of each cornea was manipulated to create two types of wounds: scratched wound--corneal endothelial cells (CECs) were denuded from the Descemet's membrane (DM) to leave behind a bare but intact DM; and peeled wound--both the DM and overlying CECs were stripped to leave behind bare corneal stroma.

Signature microRNAs in human cornea limbal epithelium.

This study was aimed to identify the signature microRNAs, which regulate the biological processes of corneal epithelial progenitor cell (CEPC) homeostasis and regulation through characterizing the differential expression profile of microRNAs in human limbal epithelium containing adult CEPC versus central corneal epithelium without CEPC. MicroRNA microarray had identified 37 microRNAs enriched in human corneal epithelium. Among them, nine were significantly upregulated in limbal epithelium and one in central corneal epithelium after validation by TaqMan® real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Absence of phenotype-genotype correlation of patients expressing mutations in the SLC4A11 gene.

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to describe the clinical characteristics of corneal patients with mutations in the SLC4A11 gene and to determine if these characteristics could be correlated with specific genetic mutations.

Methods: A retrospective case series review was conducted. Baseline demographic data, including gender, age at diagnosis of congenital hereditary endothelial dystrophy, family history, and pedigree information, were obtained.

Primary graft failure after Descemet-stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty: clinico-pathological study.

Purpose: Descemet-stripping automated endothelial keratoplasty (DSAEK) is a selective tissue corneal transplantation procedure in which only the diseased endothelium and the Descemet membrane is replaced. Refractive and visual results have been encouraging with this procedure, but higher rates of primary graft failure have been noted. We herein report histopathologic and ultrastructural changes in 2 cases of primary graft failure after DSAEK.

Femtosecond laser-assisted endothelial keratoplasty: a laboratory model.

Purpose: To evaluate the ability of a 40-kHz femtosecond laser in performing posterior stromal ablation for endothelial keratoplasty.

Methods: Human corneoscleral rims were mounted on an artificial anterior chamber. After corneal pachymetry, the femtosecond laser was used to create a donor lenticule by using a variety of diameter ablations, 150 microm from the Descemet membrane.