The Glaucoma Italian Pediatric Study (GIPSy): The Long-term Effect of Topical Latanoprost on Central Corneal Thickness.

Precis: Central corneal thickness (CCT) may increase over time in children affected by primary congenital glaucoma and treated with latanoprost for at least 30 months.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate CCT modification over time in a population of primary pediatric glaucoma (PPG) patients prescribed a monotherapy of latanoprost.

Materials And Methods: The present paper reports the results of a post hoc analysis on patients enrolled in the Glaucoma Italian Pediatric Study (GIPSy).

How many aqueous humor outflow pathways are there?

The aqueous humor (AH) outflow pathways definition is still matter of intense debate. To date, the differentiation between conventional (trabecular meshwork) and unconventional (uveoscleral) pathways is widely accepted, distinguishing the different impact of the intraocular pressure on the AH outflow rate. Although the conventional route is recognized to host the main sites for intraocular pressure regulation, the unconventional pathway, with its great potential for AH resorption, seems to act as a sort of relief valve, especially when the trabecular resistance rises.

The Glaucoma Italian Pediatric Study (GIPSy): 3-Year Results.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of a treatment strategy with latanoprost and dorzolamide in primary pediatric glaucoma patients partially responsive to surgery.

Patients And Methods: Children with primary pediatric glaucoma with postsurgical intraocular pressure (IOP) between 22 and 26 mm Hg were eligible. At baseline, patients were administered latanoprost once daily.

Morphology of the optic nerve head in glaucomatous eyes with visual field defects in superior or inferior hemifield.

Purpose: To evaluate the morphology of optic nerve head (ONH) and border tissue (BT) of Elschnig in glaucomatous eyes with visual field defects in superior or inferior hemifield.

Methods: In a case-control study, we included 25 patients with superior arcuate scotoma, 25 patients with inferior arcuate scotoma, and 25 healthy controls. They received visual field testing, measurement of peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and ONH examination in a radial pattern with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

The Glaucoma Italian Pediatric Study (GIPSy): 1-Year Results.

Purpose: To investigate the efficacy and safety of a treatment strategy with latanoprost and dorzolamide in primary pediatric glaucoma patients partially responsive to surgery.

Patients And Methods: Children with primary pediatric glaucoma having postsurgical untreated intraocular pressure (IOP) between 22 and 26 mm Hg were eligible. At baseline, patients were administered latanoprost once daily.

Correction: miRNAs in the vitreous humor of patients affected by idiopathic epiretinal membrane and macular hole.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.

miRNAs in the vitreous humor of patients affected by idiopathic epiretinal membrane and macular hole.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to assess the expression of miRNAs in the Vitreous Humor (VH) of patients with Macular Hole (MH) and Epiretinal Membrane (ERM) compared to a control group.

Methods: In this prospective, comparative study, 2-ml of VH was extracted from the core of the vitreous chamber in consecutive patients who underwent standard vitrectomy for ERM and MH. RNA was extracted and TaqMan® Low Density Arrays (TLDAs) were used to profile the transcriptome of 754 miRNAs.

Optic nerve head in central retinal vein occlusion by spectral-domain OCT.

Purpose: To evaluate the morphology of optic nerve head by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in patients with unilateral central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO).

Methods: In 39 consecutive patients with unilateral CRVO and 39 healthy controls, morphologic parameters of optic nerve head were assessed in both eyes by Spectralis SD-OCT using a custom radial B-scan pattern. The length of Bruch membrane opening (BMO) was measured in OCT scans, and optic disc diameters (DD) were assessed in infrared fundus photographs.

DEXAMETHASONE INTRAVITREAL IMPLANT VS RANIBIZUMAB IN THE TREATMENT OF MACULAR EDEMA SECONDARY TO BRACHYTHERAPY FOR CHOROIDAL MELANOMA.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy of an intravitreal dexamethasone (Dex) implant 0.7 mg compared with intravitreal ranibizumab (Ra) for the treatment of radiation maculopathy with macular edema secondary to plaque brachytherapy in choroidal melanoma.

Methods: Eight patients were treated with intravitreal Ra, and eight patients received the Dex intravitreal implant.

Association of neovascular age-related macular degeneration with month and season of birth in Italy.

In order to investigate the influence of season and month of birth on the risk of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (n-AMD) in Italy, we evaluated the month birth and sex of all patients, recorded in the anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) monitoring registry of the Italian Medicines Agency, born between 1925-1944, who received intravitreal anti-VEGF injections for n-AMD between January 1, 2013 and July 29, 2015. The numbers of all births in Italy in the same years, extracted from the Italian National Institute of Statistics, were used to calculate the expected number of n-AMD cases. Overall, 45,845 patients (19,207 men, 26,638 women) received intravitreal anti-VEGF for n-AMD; in the same years, 20,140,426 people (10,334,262 male, 9,806,164 female) were born in Italy.

Latanoprost and Dorzolamide for the Treatment of Pediatric Glaucoma: The Glaucoma Italian Pediatric Study (Gipsy), Design and Baseline Characteristics.

Introduction: To investigate the efficacy of a treatment strategy with latanoprost and dorzolamide in primary pediatric glaucoma patients partially responsive to surgery.

Methods: Single arm, prospective, interventional multicenter study. Primary pediatric glaucoma patients younger than 13 years after a single surgical procedure with IOP between 22 and 26 mmHg were considered eligible.

Acute serous macular detachment and edema after uncomplicated phacoemulsification: A case series.

Objective: To report cases of acute serous macular detachment and edema after uncomplicated phacoemulsification.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Participants: We reviewed the clinical data of 5 patients who developed an acute serous macular detachment and edema after uncomplicated phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation by the same expert surgeon and without any complication during surgery.

Effects of Topical Fucosyl-Lactose, a Milk Oligosaccharide, on Dry Eye Model: An Example of Nutraceutical Candidate.

Purpose: Colostrum has been proposed to treat severe dryness and problematic eye lesions showing a beneficial effect. The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of 2-fucosyl-lactose, a natural sugar present in the human colostrum, in an experimental dry eye.

Methods: Dry eye was induced in adult male New Zealand albino rabbits by topical administration of 1% atropine.

Intravitreal Steroids for the Prevention of PVR After Surgery for Retinal Detachment.

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) can occur in eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) or after RRD surgery, and it is the most common cause of failure of this surgery, accounting for about 75% of all primary failures. Complex biological pathways induce PVR development, with growth factors and cytokines from the vitreous and from the serum (as a result of the breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier) stimulating RPE and Muller cells transformation and proliferation, and membrane formation and contraction. Identification of pre-operative risk factors, recognition of the early signs of PVR, use of adequate surgical techniques and of pharmacological therapy can reduce the PRV incidence.

Intravitreal dexamethasone implant for cystoid macular edema and inflammation after scleral buckling.

Purpose: Cystoid macular edema may occur following scleral buckling and therefore deteriorate the visual outcome. Inflammation may be the major causative factor in the development of postoperative cystoid macular edema. This case demonstrates the effectiveness of a dexamethasone implant as a treatment after the onset of choroidal inflammation and cystoid macular edema 6 months following scleral buckling and having visual acuity restored.

Diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and ultrasound evaluation of choroidal melanomas after proton-beam therapy.

Purpose: This study was undertaken to compare the ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging parameters of ocular melanoma and to assess their variation after proton-beam therapy.

Materials And Methods: Fifteen choroidal melanoma patients treated with proton-beam therapy were enroled in the study. All patients underwent ophthalmologic evaluations, ultrasound, conventional magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and diffusion-weighted MR imaging before the start of therapy and 3 and 6 months after therapy.

Correlation of preoperative retinal pigment epithelium status with foveal microstructure in repaired macular holes.

Purpose: To investigate, with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, if the preoperative status of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) affects the postoperative foveal morphology and visual outcomes in eyes with surgically closed macular holes (MHs).

Methods: In 52 eyes with surgically closed MHs, preoperative RPE morphology was evaluated and graded based on the measurement of the largest hyperreflective protrusions above the RPE line. Foveal microstructural features and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) were evaluated 12 months after surgery.

Cellular stress response, redox status, and vitagenes in glaucoma: a systemic oxidant disorder linked to Alzheimer's disease.

Amyloid deposits, constituted of amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregates, are a characteristic feature of several neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer's, mild cognitive impairment and Parkinson's disease. They also have been recently implicated in the pathogenesis of retinal damage, as well as age-related macular degeneration and glaucoma. Glaucoma is a progressive optic neuropathy characterized by gradual degeneration of neuronal tissue due to retinal ganglion cell loss, associated to visual field loss over time resulting in irreversible blindness.

Treatment of persistent serous retinal detachment in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada syndrome with intravitreal bevacizumab during the systemic steroid treatment.

Purpose: To report the use of bevacizumab in patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and persistent serous retinal detachment during the systemic steroid treatment.

Methods: Four patients with bilateral Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease with the resolution of ocular inflammation presenting a serous retinal detachment involving the fovea that persisted for at least 1 month, despite systemic corticosteroid treatment, received an intravitreal injection of bevacizumab during the steroid tapering stage. Best-corrected visual acuity, central retinal thickness, and macular sensitivity were evaluated.

Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment with a High Risk of Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy Treated with Episcleral Surgery and an Intravitreal Dexamethasone 0.7-mg Implant.

Purpose: To report a case of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with a high risk of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) effectively treated with episcleral surgery and an intravitreal dexamethasone 0.7-mg implant.

Methods: A 35-year-old Caucasian man with a macula-off rhegmatogenous subtotal retinal detachment that had persisted for 1 month in his myopic left eye presented several risk factors that could have led to the development of PVR after retinal detachment surgery.

Intrasession reproducibility of RNFL thickness measurements using SD-OCT in eyes with keratoconus.

Background And Objective: To evaluate the intrasession reproducibility of the peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness measurements obtained by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in eyes with keratoconus and normal eyes.

Patients And Methods: Peripapillary RNFL thickness measurements with SD-OCT were repeated three times during the same visit using the eye tracker and retest function in one eye of each participant. Reproducibility was evaluated using within-subject standard deviation (Sw), coefficient of variation (CV), and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC).

Pharmacological management of ocular hypertension: current approaches and future prospective.

Elevated eye pressure is the main risk factor for glaucoma, and intraocular pressure rises when the balance between aqueous humor formation and outflow resistance is compromised. In a normal eye there is a precise tune of aqueous outflow under the fine control of ciliary body and trabecular meshwork. Current pharmacological therapies for lowering the intraocular pressure in glaucoma include increasing aqueous humor outflow and suppression of aqueous humor production.

Foveal microstructure and functional parameters in lamellar macular hole.

Purpose: To evaluate the morphologic features of the photoreceptor layer (by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography) and functional parameters in patients with a lamellar macular hole.

Design: Prospective, multicenter, observational case series.

Methods: Fifty-four patients with lamellar macular hole were enrolled in the study.

Pattern ERG and RNFL thickness in hypertensive eyes with normal blue-yellow visual field.

Purpose: To evaluate the transient pattern electroretinogram (t-PERG) and the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in eyes with ocular hypertension (OH) and normal short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP).

Methods: In 26 patients with bilateral OH with normal SWAP, and in 26 age and sex matched healthy controls, t-PERG recording and RNFL thickness measurement were performed. Mean deviation (MD) and pattern standard deviation (PSD) of a reliable full threshold 24-2 SWAP were considered.

Oral administration of forskolin and rutin contributes to intraocular pressure control in primary open angle glaucoma patients under maximum tolerated medical therapy.

Background: Tight control of intraocular pressure (IOP) is still the only therapeutic approach available for the treatment of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG). However, some patients do not respond adequately to hypotonising drugs, and despite multiple drug combinations they cannot reach their target IOP. Forskolin is a natural compound that has already shown efficacy in IOP reduction following topical application.