Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma Polygenic Risk Score and Risk of Disease Onset: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is a heritable disease. A polygenic risk score (PRS) threshold may be used to identify individuals at low risk of disease onset.

Objective: To assess the utility of a POAG PRS to identify ocular hypertensive individuals at low risk of disease onset.

Large animal model species in pluripotent stem cell therapy research and development for retinal diseases: a systematic review.

Aim: Retinal cell therapy modalities, in the category of advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), are being developed to target several retinal diseases. Testing in large animal models (LAMs) is a crucial step in translating retinal ATMPs into clinical practice. However, challenges including budgetary and infrastructure constraints can hinder LAM research design and execution.

Transpupillary-Guided Trans-Scleral Transplantation of Subretinal Grafts in a Retinal Degeneration Mouse Model.

Transplantation of photoreceptor cells and retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells provide a potential therapy for retinal degeneration diseases. Subretinal transplantation of therapeutic donor cells into mouse recipients is challenging due to the limited surgical space allowed by the small volume of the mouse eye. We developed a trans-scleral surgical transplantation platform with direct transpupillary vision guidance to facilitate the subretinal delivery of exogenous cells in mouse recipients.

Multimodal Phenomap of Stargardt Disease Integrating Structural, Psychophysical, and Electrophysiologic Measures of Retinal Degeneration.

Objective: To cluster the diverse phenotypic features of Stargardt disease (STGD) using unsupervised clustering of multimodal retinal structure and function data.

Design: Retrospective cross-sectional study.

Subjects: Eyes of subjects with STGD and fundus autofluorescence (FAF), OCT, electroretinography (ERG), and microperimetry (MP) data available within 1 year of the baseline evaluation.

Risk of Tertiary, Quaternary, and Quinary Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy: Analysis of a Nationwide Database (2010-2017).

Objective: Primary proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is established as an important cause of the failed repair of a fresh retinal detachment (RD) and the consequent need for secondary repair. However, the burden of multiple repairs beyond the initial failure has not been studied in detail. We aimed to determine the association between primary PVR and the occurrence of tertiary, quaternary, and quinary RD repairs, using a nationwide database.

Telemedicine Curriculum in an Ophthalmology Residency Program.

 The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the adoption of telemedicine in the field of ophthalmology. Despite the increasing utilization of telemedicine, there is a lack of formal training in ophthalmology residency programs to ensure ophthalmologists are prepared to conduct virtual eye exams.  This article aims to assess the impact of an ophthalmic telemedicine curriculum on ophthalmology residents' self-reported knowledge acquisition in conducting telemedicine eye exams, perceived ability to diagnose, manage, and triage common eye diseases, and evaluate their attitudes toward the current and future use of teleophthalmology.

Localized Structural and Functional Deficits in a Nonhuman Primate Model of Outer Retinal Atrophy.

Purpose: Cell-based therapy development for geographic atrophy (GA) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is hampered by the paucity of models of localized photoreceptor and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) degeneration. We aimed to characterize the structural and functional deficits in a laser-induced nonhuman primate model, including an analysis of the choroid.

Methods: Macular laser photocoagulation was applied in four macaques.

Association of Patient Characteristics With Delivery of Ophthalmic Telemedicine During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: Telemedicine has been shown to have had reduced uptake among historically marginalized populations within multiple medical specialties during the COVID-19 pandemic. An evaluation of health disparities among patients receiving ophthalmic telemedical care during the pandemic is needed.

Objective: To evaluate disparities in the delivery of ophthalmic telemedicine at Massachusetts Eye and Ear (MEE) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lessons Learned From 2 Large Community-based Glaucoma Screening Studies.

Community-based screening programs have had limited success in preventing vision loss from glaucoma due to overall low prevalence of glaucoma, screening limitations, and barriers to follow-up appointments. This editorial highlights lessons learned from 2 large prospective trials: the Philadelphia Telemedicine Glaucoma Detection and Follow-up Study and the Screening To Prevent Glaucoma Study. While some lessons are specific to ophthalmology, many lessons are applicable to screening for asymptomatic diseases in underserved, vulnerable communities.

Investigation of the Accuracy of a Low-Cost, Portable Autorefractor to Provide Well-Tolerated Eyeglass Prescriptions: A Randomized Crossover Trial.

Purpose: To compare patient preferences for eyeglasses prescribed using a low-cost, portable wavefront autorefractor versus standard subjective refraction (SR).

Design: Randomized, cross-over clinical trial.

Participants: Patients aged 18 to 40 years presenting with refractive errors (REs) to a tertiary eye hospital in Southern India.

A Review of Ophthalmic Telemedicine for Emergency Department Settings.

Background: Patients presenting to emergency departments for ophthalmic emergencies benefit from prompt evaluation. However, Few emergency departments (EDs) have ophthalmologists on call, and eye care provided in EDs without ophthalmic services can be inaccurate.

Methods: We review the current state of ophthalmic telemedical care in EDs and highlight important considerations when implementing telemedicine in this setting.

The Direct Healthcare Cost of Stargardt Disease: A Claims-Based Analysis.

: Stargardt disease (SD) is the most common juvenile macular degeneration and a leading cause of uncorrectable childhood blindness. The progressive and incurable nature of this chronic condition entails a long-term financial burden on affected individuals. The economic costs of SD have not been characterized in detail, so we aimed to estimate the direct healthcare cost of SD.

Screening first-degree relatives of glaucoma patients reveals barriers to participation.

Purpose: To report the results of a glaucoma screening campaign targeting first-degree relatives of glaucoma patients in South India.

Methods: 1598 glaucoma patients were contacted via letter or letter and phone call and asked to bring their siblings and children to a glaucoma screening. Participants underwent standardised eye examinations and completed questionnaires that assessed barriers to participation and awareness of glaucoma risk.

Long-Term Outcomes from an Intraoperative Bleb Needling Procedure Augmented with Continuous Infusion.

Purpose: To investigate long-term outcomes of a modified bleb needling technique performed in the operating room in controlling intraocular pressure (IOP) and to report risk factors for procedure failure.

Design: Retrospective, observational cohort study.

Participants: One hundred six eyes of 98 consecutive patients undergoing intraoperative bleb needling with a continuous infusion of balanced salt solution at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins Hospital, in the setting of a failed trabeculectomy or express shunt, between May 2011 and December 2015.

Risk Factors for Repeat Keratoplasty after Endothelial Keratoplasty in the Medicare Population.

Purpose: To evaluate long-term rates of repeated keratoplasty after endothelial keratoplasty (EK), and to explore risk factors associated with graft failure.

Design: Retrospective, cohort study.

Methods: Population-based using 2010-2019 Medicare carrier claims.

Postoperative Complications in Medicare Beneficiaries Following Endothelial Keratoplasty Surgery.

Purpose: To determine national-level incidence rates of major postoperative complications following endothelial keratoplasty (EK) procedures and to stratify these rates based on EK indications over an 8-year period using Medicare claims data.

Design: Retrospective, cohort study.

Methods: Setting: population-based; study population: Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65 years who underwent EK procedures; main outcome measurements: 1) occurrence of major postoperative complications (i.

Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor for neovascular glaucoma.

Background: Neovascular glaucoma (NVG) is a potentially blinding, secondary glaucoma. It is caused by the formation of abnormal new blood vessels, which prevent normal drainage of aqueous from the anterior segment of the eye. Anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) medications are specific inhibitors of the primary mediators of neovascularization.

Tonometers-which one should I use?

Although several factors are known to play a role in the development and progression of glaucoma, intraocular pressure (IOP) remains the only modifiable risk factor. Medical and surgical treatments for glaucoma both aim to reduce IOP to minimize disease progression. Tonometry is therefore an essential element of the ophthalmological exam.

Pancreatic Fistula and Delayed Gastric Emptying After Pancreatectomy: Where do We Stand?

Pancreatic resection has become a feasible treatment of pancreatic neoplasms, and with improvements in surgical techniques and perioperative management, mortality associated with pancreatic surgery has decreased considerably. Despite this improvement, a high rate of complications is still associated with these procedures. Among these complications, delayed gastric emptying (DGE) and postoperative pancreatic fistula (POPF) have a substantial impact on patient outcomes and burden our healthcare system.

Patients' visual experience during phacoemulsification cataract surgery and associated fear.

Background: Data from several published studies indicate that patients undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery can experience a variety of visual sensations which can result in fear. This phenomenon has not been studied in Pakistan to-date. We examined the visual experience and its associated fear among patients undergoing phacoemulsification cataract surgery under topical anaesthesia.

Safety and efficacy of fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant (0.59 mg) in birdshot retinochoroidopathy.

Purpose: To report the treatment outcomes of the fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant (0.59 mg) in patients with birdshot retinochoroidopathy whose disease is refractory or intolerant to conventional immunomodulatory therapy.

Methods: A retrospective case series involving 11 birdshot retinochoroidopathy patients (11 eyes).

Combination approaches to potentiate immune response after photodynamic therapy for cancer.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been used as a cancer therapy for forty years but has not advanced to a mainstream cancer treatment. Although it has been shown to be an efficient way to destroy local tumors by a combination of non-toxic dyes and harmless visible light, it is its additional effects in mediating the stimulation of the host immune system that gives PDT great potential to become more widely used. Although the stimulation of tumor-specific cytotoxic T-cells that can destroy distant tumor deposits after PDT has been reported in some animal models, it remains the exception rather than the rule.