Changes in Alcohol Intake by Educational Level Among Older Men and Women in Spain During the 21st Century.

Background And Objectives: Despite alcohol use being very common in older adults, studies are scarce and suggest alcohol use may be increasing. Furthermore, despite the known relationship between education and alcohol consumption, there is limited evidence of educational differences in older adults. Our objective was to describe trends in alcohol consumption in individuals aged ≥65 by sex and educational level in Spain.

The Umbra and the Penumbra: Longitudinal Effects of Geographic Atrophy in AMD on the Outer Choroid by Imaging Analysis and Histopathological Correlation.

Purpose: To quantitate regional changes in the outer choroidal vessels in patients with geographic atrophy (GA) in AMD and to correlate with a histopathological donor sample.

Methods: We analyzed 35 participants with GA for in vivo analysis and 1 participant with subject for histopathological analysis. Participants underwent three structural optical coherence tomography scans spaced 6 months apart over 1 year.

Cancer Immunotherapy Using AIRE Conditioning of the Tumor Epitopeome.

T cell immune tolerance is established in part through the activity of the Auto-immune Regulator (AIRE) transcription factor in the medullary Thymic Epithelial Cells (mTEC) of the thymus. AIRE induces expression of SELF peripheral tissue-specific antigens for presentation to naïve T cells to promote activation/deletion of potentially autoreactive T cells. We show, for the first time to our knowledge, that tumors mimic the role of AIRE in mTEC to evade immune rejection.

Retinal Vasculopathy and Choroiditis after Pegcetacoplan Injection: Clinicopathologic Support for a Drug Hypersensitivity Reaction.

Purpose: To report the detailed histopathology of 2 enucleated eyes from 2 patients who developed severe visual loss associated with retinal hemorrhages, vessel sheathing, and vascular nonperfusion after administration of an initial dose of intravitreal pegcetacoplan, and propose, with supportive histopathology, the pathogenesis of the clinical syndrome previously termed hemorrhagic occlusive retinal vasculitis.

Design: Case series.

Subjects: Two enucleated eyes from 2 patients treated with intravitreal pegcetacoplan.

Secondary Multiple Evanescent White Dot Syndrome in a patient with North Carolina Macular Dystrophy.

Purpose: To describe a novel case of secondary multiple evanescent white dot syndrome in a patient with North Carolina Macular Dystrophy (NCMD).

Methods: The patient was evaluated with ultra-widefield color and autofluorescence imaging, fluorescein angiography, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

Results: A 43-year-old man with longstanding blurred vision in both eyes acutely developed glare in the right eye after an upper respiratory illness.

Minocycline-induced retinal pigment epithelium hyperpigmentation masquerading as age-related macular degeneration: Case presentation and proposed mechanism.

Purpose: We describe the case of an 80-year-old man with bilateral minocycline-induced retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) hyperpigmentation, which initially masqueraded as AMD. Secondarily, using multimodal imaging features, we propose a mechanism for the development of minocycline-induced RPE hyperpigmentation.

Observations: The patient was referred with concern for AMD given the presence of macular drusenoid deposits on optical coherence tomography.

Assessing educational disparities in COVID-19 related excess mortality in Spain: a population register-linked mortality study.

Introduction: Data on the increase in mortality during the COVID-19 pandemic based on individuals' socioeconomic positions are limited. This study examines this increase in mortality in Spain during the epidemic waves of 2020 and 2021.

Methods: We calculated the overall and cause-specific mortality rates during the 2017-2019 pre-pandemic period and four epidemic periods in 2020 and 2021 (first, second, third-fourth, and fifth-sixth waves).

Chitin Nanocomposites for Fused Filament Fabrication: Flexible Materials with Enhanced Interlayer Adhesion.

In this work, we present a series of nanocomposites for Fused filament fabrication (FFF) based on polycaprolactone (PCL) and chitin nanocrystals (ChNCs). The ChNCs were synthesized by acid hydrolysis using HCl or lactic acid (LA). The approach using LA, an organic acid, makes the ChNCs synthesis more sustainable and modifies their surface with lactate groups, increasing their compatibility with the PCL matrix.

Optical coherence tomography features in vitreoretinal lymphoma compared with non-infectious uveitis.

Background: Vitreoretinal lymphoma (VRL) is a rare intraocular malignancy that poses a diagnostic challenge due to the non-specific clinical presentation that resembles uveitis. The use of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) has emerged as a valuable imaging tool to characterize VRL. Therefore, we sought to determine the specific OCT features in VRL compared to the uveitides.

Differences urban versus non-urban trends in mortality from ischemic heart disease and diabetes in Italy and Spain, 2003-2019.

Background And Aims: In recent years, mortality from ischemic heart disease and diabetes has decreased. There is an inequality in mortality reduction between urban and non-urban areas. This study aims to estimate the trend in mortality from ischemic heart disease and diabetes mellitus in urban and non-urban areas in Italy and Spain, throughout the first two decades of the 21st century.

Exploring the Associated Genetic Causes of Diabetic Retinopathy as a Model of Inflammation in Retinal Diseases.

To investigate potential biomarkers and biological processes associated with diabetic retinopathy (DR) using transcriptomic and proteomic data. The OmicsPred PheWAS application was interrogated to identify genes and proteins associated with DR and diabetes mellitus (DM) at a false discovery rate (FDR)-adjusted -value of <0.05 and also <0.

Retinal Dystrophies Associated With Peripherin-2: Genetic Spectrum and Novel Clinical Observations in 241 Patients.

Purpose: To describe the clinical, electrophysiological and genetic spectrum of inherited retinal diseases associated with variants in the PRPH2 gene.

Methods: A total of 241 patients from 168 families across 15 sites in 9 countries with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in PRPH2 were included. Records were reviewed for age at symptom onset, visual acuity, full-field ERG, fundus colour photography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and SD-OCT.

Histological Findings in the Eyes of Abcc6 Knockout Rat Model of Pseudoxanthoma Elasticum.

Purpose: To describe the ocular findings of murine pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) models with ATP-binding cassette subfamily C member 6 (Abcc6) gene knockout.

Methods: This experiment was conducted in four Abcc6-/- rats and compared with six wild-type Abcc6+/+ control rats. The animals underwent necropsy at 6 months of age.

Pseudoxanthoma elasticum-associated angioid streaks near a scleral buckle.

Purpose: We report a patient with pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) with angioid streaks near a scleral buckle site.

Observations: A 46-year-old male with PXE presented for evaluation of blurry vision and was found to have classic PXE findings in both eyes and angioid streaks adjacent to the site of a scleral buckle in his left eye. He underwent multimodal imaging, genetic testing, and intravitreal aflibercept in the right eye.

New forays into measurement of ocular biomechanics.

Purpose Of Review: The field of corneal biomechanics has rapidly progressed in recent years, reflecting technological advances and an increased understanding of the clinical significance of measuring these properties. This review will evaluate in-vivo biomechanical properties obtained by current technologies and compare them regarding their relevance to established biomechanical properties obtained by gold-standard ex-vivo techniques normally conducted on elastic materials.

Recent Findings: Several new technologies have appeared in recent years, including vibrational optical coherence tomography (VOCT) and the corneal indentation device (CID).

Genetic analysis of ocular tumour-associated genes using large genomic datasets: insights into selection constraints and variant representation in the population.

Background: Large genomic databases enable genetic evaluation in terms of haploinsufficiency and prevalence of missense and synonymous variants. We explored these parameters in ocular tumour-associated genes.

Methods: A curated list of ocular tumour-associated genes was assessed using the genomic databases Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD) and DatabasE of genomiC varIation and Phenotype in Humans using Ensembl Resources (DECIPHER) and compared with breast and lung cancer-associated gene lists.

Excess Mortality During 2020 in Spain: The Most Affected Population, Age, and Educational Group by the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Objective: The objective of this work was to study mortality increase in Spain during the first and second academic semesters of 2020, coinciding with the first 2 waves of the Covid-19 pandemic; by sex, age, and education.

Methods: An observational study was carried out, using linked populations and deaths' data from 2017 to 2020. The mortality rates from all causes and leading causes other than Covid-19 during each semester of 2020, compared to the 2017-2019 averages for the same semester, was also estimated.

Detection of TTR Amyloid in the Conjunctiva Using a Novel Fluorescent Ocular Tracer.

Background: Transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is a significant cause of cardiomyopathy and other morbidities in the elderly and Black Americans. ATTR can be treated with new disease-modifying therapies, but large shortfalls exist in its diagnosis. The objective of this study was to test whether TTR amyloid can be detected and imaged in the conjunctiva using a novel small-molecule fluorescent ocular tracer, with the implication that ATTR might be diagnosable by a simple eye examination.

Reliability and accuracy of artificial intelligence ChatGPT in providing information on ophthalmic diseases and management to patients.

Purpose: To assess the accuracy of ophthalmic information provided by an artificial intelligence chatbot (ChatGPT).

Methods: Five diseases from 8 subspecialties of Ophthalmology were assessed by ChatGPT version 3.5.

Osteogenic organoid for bone regeneration: Healing of bone defect in congenital pseudoarthrosis of the tibia.

Background: Congenital pseudoarthrosis of the tibia (CPT) is an uncommon disease associated with failure to achieve bone union and recurrent fractures. There is evidence showing that CPT is associated with decreased osteogenesis. Based on the capacity of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) to induce osteogenesis, we develop an osteogenic organoid (OstO) constituted by these cells, and other components of the bone niche, for inducing bone formation in a child diagnosed with CPT.

Random Allelic Expression in Inherited Retinal Disease Genes.

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a significant contributor to visual loss in children and young adults, falling second only to diabetic retinopathy. Understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of IRDs remains paramount. Some autosomal genes exhibit random allelic expression (RAE), similar to X-chromosome inactivation.

Association of Circulating Antiretinal Antibodies With Clinical Outcomes in Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Purpose: To determine if circulating antiretinal antibodies (ARAs) differ between patients affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and control participants and to assess whether ARAs are associated with clinical outcomes in patients with RP.

Methods: Cross-sectional study involving a group of patients clinically diagnosed with RP and a control group of healthy participants. Serum autoantibodies against enolase, heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), and carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) were tested in all participants using Jess capillary Western blot.

Instances of ocular findings in transgender patients undergoing hormonal therapy.

Purpose: To describe the ophthalmological manifestations in transgender patients on gender-affirming hormone therapy.

Methods: A retrospective chart review study was conducted. Female-to-male (FTM) and male-to-female (MTF) transgenders on gender-affirming hormone therapy evaluated at a single center were included.