Intraoperative Retinal Changes May Predict Surgical Outcomes After Epiretinal Membrane Peeling.

Purpose: To investigate whether intraoperative retinal changes during epiretinal membrane (ERM) peeling affect anatomic or functional outcomes after surgery.

Methods: We measured retinal thickness using an intraoperative optical coherence tomography (iOCT) device in patients undergoing pars plana vitrectomy with membrane peeling for idiopathic ERM. Changes in intraoperative central macular thickness (iCMT) were compared with postoperative improvements in CMT and best-corrected visual acuity (VA).

Repeatability of Vascular Density Measurement of the Three Retinal Plexus Layers Using OCT Angiography in Pathologic Eyes (OCTA Vascular Density Repeatability of Three Plexus Layers).

Purpose: Although commercial optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) machines quantitate retinal vascular density (VD) by dividing the vasculature into superficial and deep capillary plexus (SCP, DCP), histology reveals three distinct plexus layers. This study tested the hypothesis that the VD measurement of three distinct retinal plexus layers obtained using custom segmentation has high repeatability comparable to that of automatically segmented SCP and DCP layers.

Materials And Methods: Forty-four participants (86 eyes) were enrolled - 54 eyes with retinal vasculopathy and 25 eyes with macular edema.

Phase I/II randomized study of proton beam with anti-VEGF for exudative age-related macular degeneration: long-term results.

Background/objective: To determine if treatment of exudative age-related macular degeneration (eAMD) using proton beam therapy (PBT) combined with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy is safe and effective long term.

Subject/methods: Thirty eyes with newly diagnosed eAMD were enrolled in a phase I/II prospective, sham-controlled double-masked university study. Eyes were randomized 1:1:1-24 GyE, 16 GyE or sham radiation, and treated with three initial monthly intravitreal ranibizumab or bevacizumab.

Choriovitreal Neovascularization After Resolution of Infectious Chorioretinitis.

This report describes the first documented case of choriovitreal neovascularization (CVNV) occurring after infectious chorioretinitis, with OCT-angiography (OCT-A) demonstrating flow through the vitreal portion of the lesion, and response to anti-VEGF therapy.

Long-term natural history of idiopathic epiretinal membranes with good visual acuity.

Background/objectives: To evaluate the long-term progression of idiopathic epiretinal membranes (iERMs) with good baseline visual acuity, and to identify predictors of visual decline.

Design: Retrospective case series SUBJECTS METHODS: We reviewed records of 145 eyes with iERM and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/40 or greater at presentation, including BCVA, lens status, and central macular thickness (CMT) at yearly visits; as well as anatomic biomarkers including vitreomacular adhesion, pseudohole, lamellar hole, intraretinal cysts, disorganization of the inner retinal layers (DRIL), and disruption of outer retinal layers. Linear mixed effects and mixed-effects Cox proportional hazards models were used to identify clinical and anatomic predictors of vision change and time to surgery.

Application of Clinical Trial Results to Clinical Practice.

Two critical questions one must answer as one applies the results of a clinical trial to clinical practice are: (1) Regardless of whether the trial result is likely to be replicated or reproduced in a second large-scale trial, are the results likely to be reproduced in one's practice? (2) Regardless of whether the experimental treatment was better than the alternative on average for a population of patients, are the results clinically important for a given patient in one's practice? To determine if a study result is likely to be reproduced in one's clinical practice, it may be helpful to answer 5 questions: (1) Have steps been taken to minimize bias? (2) Is the result likely due to the treatment? (3) Is the result unlikely due to chance? (4) Is the study population representative of one's patients? (5) Is the totality of evidence consistent? If the answer to all 5 questions is "yes," then we posit that the trial result is likely to be reproduced in one's practice. If not, the likelihood of reproducibility is low. If the answer is yes to all questions except the last, then reproducibility in one's practice is not clear and depends on the strength of the prior versus the current evidence.

Practical Lessons from Protocol T for the Management of Diabetic Macular Edema.

Purpose: To review the results of Diabetic Retinopathy Clinical Research Network Protocol T, as applied to clinical practice.

Methods: Review of major publications reporting the results of Protocol T, a randomized single-masked (in year-1 only), multicenter clinical trial comparing aflibercept, bevacizumab, and ranibizumab as treatment option for center-involving diabetic macular edema (DME). The main outcome measures were change in visual acuity (VA), central subfield thickness (CST) on optical coherence tomography, cost effectiveness, burden of care, and safety.

Practical Lessons from Protocol I for the Management of Diabetic Macular Edema.

Protocol I, a multicenter randomized clinical trial, compared the visual outcomes of patients treated with 0.5 mg intravitreal ranibizumab with either prompt or deferred (by 24 weeks laser), 4 mg intravitreal triamcinolone with prompt laser, or sham injection with prompt laser for the treatment of center-involving diabetic macular edema (DME). A total of 854 adult patients with type I or II diabetes and any level of non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy or proliferative retinopathy with adequate panretinal photocoagulation, with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 78 to 24 ETDRS letters (Snellen equivalent of 20/32 to 20/320) and visual loss attributed to macular edema, or retinal thickening with central subfield thickness of at least 250 µm by OCT were enrolled.

Posterior Segment Intraocular Foreign Bodies: A 10-Year Review.

Purpose: To describe the characteristics of open-globe injuries with posterior segment intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs).

Design: Retrospective chart review study.

Participants: Patients treated for posterior segment IOFB injuries.

Corneal Haze as Prognostic Indicator of Intraocular Pressure in Primary Congenital Glaucoma.

Purpose: To perform a longitudinal analysis on the association of corneal haze with intraocular pressure (IOP) in eyes with primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) over 3 years.

Patients And Methods: Charts of all patients diagnosed with glaucoma of childhood from 2002 to 2012 at our institution were retrospectively reviewed. Inclusion criteria were age 18 years and below, plus elevated IOP or characteristic clinical signs.

The Economic Burden of Childhood Glaucoma.

Purpose: To date, there are limited data on the economic burden of childhood glaucoma, a relatively rare but visually debilitating disease. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the immediate costs of illness associated with childhood glaucoma during the first 4 years after presentation.

Methods: Data on age, sex, surgical interventions, visits, examinations under anesthesia, and medications were collected yearly following presentation in patients with childhood glaucoma.

Intraocular foreign bodies: A review.

Intraocular foreign body injuries may result in a wide range of intraocular pathology and visual outcomes based on the mechanism of injury, type of foreign body, and subsequent complications. We have reviewed the literature to describe the epidemiology and mechanisms of such injuries; types of foreign bodies; imaging tools for diagnosis; current trends in management, presurgical, and surgical interventions; as well as visual prognosis and potential complications. The purpose of this review is to familiarize clinicians with the recent advances in diagnosis and management of such injuries.

Characteristics of Children With Primary Congenital Glaucoma Receiving Trabeculotomy and Goniotomy.

Purpose: To describe the groups of patients who received trabeculotomy or goniotomy for the treatment of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) regarding age at treatment, intraocular pressure (IOP) outcome, and medication burden.

Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients with PCG seen at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, from 1998 to 2012 was conducted. Inclusion criteria were patients who received trabeculotomy or goniotomy with at least 9 months of follow-up.

Multimodal imaging in a severe case of hydroxychloroquine toxicity.

Retinal toxicity from hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) can be detected most readily on fundus autofluorescence, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and multifocal electroretinogram. The authors describe a case of a 60-year-old woman with a history of systemic lupus erythematosus undergoing HCQ treatment for 30 years who presented with visual loss over several years. Examination and multimodal imaging showed bilateral retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) changes in a bull's-eye distribution associated with cystoid macular edema.