Ocular Dirofilariasis: A Clinicopathologic Case Series and Literature Review.

Purpose: Ocular dirofilariasis is an uncommon zoonotic infection that is usually associated with a carnivore host. In this case series and literature review, we investigate the clinical presentation, management, and histopathology of ocular dirofilariasis.

Methods: The database at the Florida Lions Ocular Pathology Laboratory was searched for surgical specimens at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute under approval of the Institutional Review Board.

CENTRAL BOUQUET HEMORRHAGE: Clinical and Multimodal Imaging Features.

Purpose: To describe the clinical characteristics, multimodal imaging features, and anatomic basis of a distinctive pattern of deep retinal hemorrhages located in the central fovea, a presentation referred to as "central bouquet hemorrhage."

Methods: Retrospective, observational, multicenter case series of eyes with central bouquet hemorrhage. Multimodal imaging features were reviewed and analyzed.

Patients With Dragged Optic Disc Vessels and Retinal Folds: Clinical Features, Multimodal Imaging, and Histopathology.

Background And Objective: To describe the multimodal imaging and histopathological features of patients with dragged optic disc vessels (DODV).

Patients And Methods: This is a retrospective, observational analysis using multimodal imaging of eyes with DODV in patients with retinal vascular diseases including familial exudative vitreoretinopathy, inflammatory disease, and others. In addition, two additional enucleated eyes with DODV underwent histopathological analysis.

Choroideremia presenting as vision loss secondary to choroidal neovascularization.

Background: Choroidal neovascularization (CNV) is a rare complication of choroideremia that occurs secondary to relative atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium and eventual rupture of Bruch's membrane. The ideal management of CNV in choroideremia is unclear.

Materials And Methods: Case report.

Reusable Fundus Model for Laser Retinopexy Simulation and Training.

Background And Objective: To describe a simulation technique for laser barrier retinopexy as an option for ophthalmologists in training to practice slit lamp and laser indirect ophthalmoscopy (LIO) retinopexy.

Materials And Methods: A commercially available fundus model and laser printer labels were used to simulate laser retinopexy of horseshoe tears (HST). At two time points, seven first-year residents and seven second-year residents were asked to complete three rows of laser burns around HSTs and the times were recorded.

Acute-onset postoperative endophthalmitis after cataract surgery performed by resident and attending physicians at a university teaching hospital.

Purpose: To evaluate acute-onset postoperative endophthalmitis following cataract surgery and to compare rates between resident and attending physician-performed cohorts.

Setting: Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Florida.

Design: Retrospective chart review.

Adoption and Use of Social Media Platforms by Ophthalmology Programs during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

 The aim of this study was to determine whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic influenced the presence of ophthalmology residency programs on social media platforms.  The presence of all accredited ophthalmology residency programs on Twitter and Instagram was assessed for January 2020 and August through March 2021 through an online search. The number of followers and posts per month during these periods was collected for each program.

Rates of RNFL Thinning in Patients with Suspected or Confirmed Glaucoma Receiving Unilateral Intravitreal Injections for Exudative AMD.

Purpose: This study evaluated whether the rate of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning is faster in eyes receiving intravitreal injections than in fellow uninjected eyes among patients suspected of having or confirmed to have glaucoma and exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design: Retrospective comparative cohort study.

Methods: Patients with a diagnosis of unilateral exudative AMD and confirmed to have or suspected of having glaucoma in both eyes receiving unilateral intravitreal injections were identified.

Surgical Removal of Intraocular Parasite in a Patient With Diffuse Unilateral Subacute Neuroretinitis.

Diffuse unilateral subacute neuroretinitis (DUSN) is a rare ocular infectious disease caused by migrating larvae of a nematode. DUSN is often a diagnostic challenge as it is difficult to identify the pathogenic nematode on funduscopic examination because it moves frequently and often resides within the subretinal space. Herein, the authors present a patient with unilateral, chronic visual loss who was noted to have a live, motile worm within the vitreous cavity.

Ocular trauma secondary to exercise resistance bands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: To characterize injuries caused by exercise resistance bands.

Method: Single-site retrospective case series of patients presenting to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute emergency room with ocular injuries secondary to exercise resistance bands from March through September 2020.

Results: Eleven patients (9 males, 2 females, 14 eyes) were reviewed.

UV-Photokeratitis Associated with Germicidal Lamps Purchased during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Purpose: To report photokeratitis caused by the improper use of germicidal lamps purchased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Case series.

Results: Seven patients presented with acute ocular surface pain after exposure to UV-emitting germicidal lamps.

Association between postpartum physical symptoms and mood.

Objective: Postpartum depression may be associated with higher levels of postpartum pain, but the association with discomfort in general is unclear. We sought to describe an association between postpartum mood disturbances and quantitatively measured physical symptoms at the time of the routine postpartum encounter.

Methods: We designed a novel quantitative measurement of postpartum symptoms, the Postpartum Symptom Inventory (PSI), to allow comparison to scores of postpartum mood.

Neuroblastomas vary widely in their sensitivities to herpes simplex virotherapy unrelated to virus receptors and susceptibility.

Although most high-risk neuroblastomas are responsive to chemotherapy, relapse is common and long-term survival is < 40%, underscoring the need for more effective treatments. We evaluated the responsiveness of 12 neuroblastoma cell lines to the Δγ134.5 attenuated oncolytic herpes simplex virus (oHSV), Seprehvir (HSV1716), which is currently used in pediatric phase I trials.

A novel, blocking, Fc-silent anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody prolongs nonhuman primate renal allograft survival in the absence of B cell depletion.

CD40-CD154 pathway blockade prolongs renal allograft survival in nonhuman primates (NHPs). However, antibodies targeting CD154 were associated with an increased incidence of thromboembolic complications. Antibodies targeting CD40 prolong renal allograft survival in NHPs without thromboembolic events but with accompanying B cell depletion, raising the question of the relative contribution of B cell depletion to the efficacy of anti-CD40 blockade.

Nothing but NET: a review of norepinephrine transporter expression and efficacy of 131I-mIBG therapy.

Neuroblastoma is unique amongst common pediatric cancers for its expression of the norepinephrine transporter (NET), enabling tumor-selective imaging and therapy with radioactive analogues of norepinephrine. The majority of neuroblastoma tumors are avid for (123)I-metaiodobenzaguanidine (mIBG) on imaging, yet the therapeutic response to (131) I-mIBG is only 30% in clinical trials, and off-target effects cause short- and long-term morbidity. We review the contemporary understanding of the tumor-selective uptake, retention, and efflux of meta-iodobenzylguanidine (mIBG) and strategies currently in development for improving its efficacy.

Oral efficacy of the new immunomodulator FTY720 in cynomolgus monkey kidney allotransplantation, given alone or in combination with cyclosporine or RAD.

Background: FTY720 is a novel immunomodulator with a unique mechanism of action, i.e. chemokine-dependent lymphocyte homing into secondary lymphoid organs associated with profound lymphocyte depletion in blood.

Safety of percutaneous ultrasound-guided biopsy of renal allografts in the cynomolgus monkey: results of 348 consecutive biopsies.

The safety of a technique for ultrasound-guided biopsy of renal allografts was evaluated based on 348 consecutive procedures in cynomolgus monkeys. A spring-loaded biopsy device with an 18G tru-cut biopsy needle was used to biopsy renal allografts in 139 cynomolgus monkeys performed either on clinical indication (n = 95 animals) or as serial protocol biopsies (n = 44 animals) for a total of 348 biopsies. Monkeys having serial biopsies received between 3-9 biopsies per animal.

The novel immunosuppressant FTY720 induces peripheral lymphodepletion of both T- and B-cells in cynomolgus monkeys when given alone, with Cyclosporine Neoral or with RAD.

Objective: FTY720 is a new immunosuppressant active in transplantation models, which modulates lymphocyte recirculation, leading to transient peripheral lymphopenia and increased lymphocytes in lymph nodes and Peyer's patches. Here, we investigated the susceptibility of cynomolgus monkeys to FTY720 given orally either alone or in combination with two other immunosuppressants, Cyclosporin Neoral or RAD, as an introductory study to transplantation protocols.

Methods: Each of the three phases of the study comprised a 3-week treatment period with FTY720 administered daily orally at 0.

Medical student involvement in a major disaster.

Five to six months after the deaths of 95 football spectators at Hillsborough football ground, senior clinical students at Sheffield Medical School were surveyed in order to assess their degree of involvement with the disaster. Approximately one student in eight could be said to have had a high level of involvement. Students with high involvement showed higher levels of distress on both the General Health Questionnaire and the Impact of Events Scale.