Artificial intelligence in ophthalmology.

Purpose Of Review: To review role of artificial intelligence in medicine.

Recent Findings: Artificial intelligence is continuing to revolutionize access, diagnosis, personalization of medicine, and treatment in healthcare. As a matter of fact, artificial intelligence contributed to the research that resulted in 2024 Nobel Prizes in physics, chemistry, and economics.

Retinal integrity in human babesiosis: a pilot study.

Background: Prior case reports and animal studies have reported on potential ophthalmologic complications of babesiosis, but this issue has not previously been addressed in a cohort of patients with babesiosis. This cross-sectional descriptive pilot study evaluated the retinas of patients with acute babesiosis to determine if retinal abnormalities are a feature of the disease.

Methods: We screened all patients admitted to Yale New Haven Hospital with laboratory confirmed babesiosis during the summer of 2023 and obtained informed consent.

Disparity in Medicare Reimbursement Between Female and Male Vitreoretinal Surgeons.

To quantify the Medicare reimbursement disparity between female and male vitreoretinal surgeons. Reimbursement reports were obtained from the US Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services from 2013 through 2020, which detail all Medicare Part B services. A vitreoretinal surgeon was defined as any provider with at least 10 charges of a Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code related to vitrectomy or retinal detachment repair.

Ophthalmic care may not align with patient need: An analysis on state-wide patient needs and provider density between 2008 and 2022.

Purpose: This study aims to assess the extent to which the demand for ophthalmologic care among patients at the state level is reflected in Google Trends data, serving as an indicator of patient desire in ophthalmology.

Methods: For each state, patient interest in ophthalmologic care was estimated using the Google Trends resource measuring web search and YouTube search rates for multiple ophthalmologic terms. We compared the change in search for ophthalmologic terms over time and used ordinary least squares regression to evaluate whether search interest for ophthalmologic terms was able to predict the rate of practicing ophthalmologists in each state.

A case of extrafoveal focal choroidal excavation.

Purpose: To describe an extrafoveal presentation of focal choroidal excavation and corresponding imaging findings.

Methods: Retrospective case report.

Patients: Single patient with diagnosis of extrafoveal focal choroidal excavation.

Association of the Affordable Care Act with Eye-Related Emergency Department Utilization in the United States.

Purpose: To investigate the association of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) with nationwide eye-related emergency department (ED) use.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Participants: All patients who presented to the ED with an eye-related primary diagnosis were eligible for inclusion.

Retinal Cell Transplantation, Biomaterials, and In Vitro Models for Developing Next-generation Therapies of Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells grown on a scaffold, an RPE patch, have potential to ameliorate visual impairment in a limited number of retinal degenerative conditions. This tissue-replacement therapy is suited for age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and related diseases. RPE cells must be transplanted before the disease reaches a point of no return, represented by the loss of photoreceptors.

Management of optic disc pit maculopathy: the European VitreoRetinal society optic pit study.

Purpose: To evaluate a variety of techniques, and their anatomical and functional results, for the treatment of optic disc pit maculopathy (ODP-M). A secondary aim was to report on results of secondary procedures in cases of initial failure or recurrence.

Methods: Multicentre retrospective study of 95 eyes with ODP-M, treated by 25 surgeons from 12 countries.

Topographic Variation of Retinal Vascular Density in Normal Eyes Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

Purpose: To establish a continuous topography of retinal vessel density in normal eyes using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods: A retrospective chart review was performed, and 8-mm × 8-mm OCTA images from 22 normal eyes were analyzed. Vessel density was plotted as a continuous function of distance from the foveal center (radial vessel density) and directional meridians (directional vessel density) for the superficial capillary plexus and deep capillary plexus.

Quantitative Modeling of Ultra-Widefield Choroidal Indocyanine Green Angiography in Systemic Vascular Diseases.

Background And Objective: To evaluate quantitative measurements of choroidal vasculature as obtained via ultra-widefield indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in patients with systemic vascular diseases.

Patients And Methods: Retrospective chart review and image analysis of 38 eyes from 21 patients with ICGA as part of routine retinal care. Images were binarized with lines drawn at specific antero-posterior landmarks.

Knockdown of Claudin-19 in the Retinal Pigment Epithelium Is Accompanied by Slowed Phagocytosis and Increased Expression of SQSTM1.

Purpose: Besides regulating paracellular diffusion, claudin-19 modulates the expression of proteins essential for the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This study asks how RPE responds when the expression of claudin-19 is reduced.

Methods: In stem cell-derived RPE, claudin-19 and sequestosome-1/p62 (SQSTM1) were knocked down with siRNAs.

Partially Differentiated Neuroretinal Cells Promote Maturation of the Retinal Pigment Epithelium.

Purpose: Many studies have demonstrated the ability of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) to foster the maturation of the developing retina. Few studies have examined the reciprocal effects of developing retina on the RPE.

Methods: RPE isolated from human fetal RPE or differentiated from human stem cells was cultured on Transwell filter inserts.

Fractal Dimension Analysis of Widefield Choroidal Vasculature as Predictor of Stage of Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To evaluate the fractal dimension ( ) of the choroidal vasculature using widefield indocyanine green (ICG) angiography and correlate it with the stage of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: Widefield ICG angiography performed on 38 eyes was retrospectively analyzed using the FracLac application within the National Institutes of Health ImageJ software to determine regional fractal dimensions in the macular field and widefield. These values were then associated with a diagnosis of no AMD, non-exudative AMD (subdivided into early/intermediate stage vs.

Claudins regulate gene and protein expression of the retinal pigment epithelium independent of their association with tight junctions.

Claudin-19 is the major claudin in the tight junctions of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Claudin-3 is also uniformly expressed albeit in lesser amounts. Besides modulating transepithelial diffusion, claudins modulate gene expression.

Clinical Etiologies, Microbial Spectrum, Antibiotic Susceptibilities, and Visual Acuity Outcomes of Acute Endophthalmitis.

The purpose of this study was to report the clinical etiologies, microbial spectrum, antibiotic resistance, and visual acuity (VA) outcomes associated with acute endophthalmitis. A retrospective chart review of patients with International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-9 and ICD-10 codes for endophthalmitis over a 6-year period (2011-2016) at a tertiary referral center was performed. The clinical records were reviewed to evaluate clinical etiologies, microbial spectrum, antibiotic susceptibilities and resistance, and visual outcomes.

The new Myopic Traction Maculopathy Staging System.

Purpose: To describe a comprehensive OCT-based classification of myopic traction maculopathy (MTM).

Methods: Two hundred eighty-one eyes with MTM (visited from 2006 to 2018), were retrospectively reviewed for age, best-corrected-visual-acuity (BCVA), axial length (AL), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and wide-field color fundus-photographs. The study was divided in two Phases.

VISUAL OUTCOME OF EARLY VITRECTOMY AND INTRAVITREAL ANTIBIOTICS IN ACUTE POSTSURGICAL AND POSTINTRAVITREAL INJECTION ENDOPHTHALMITIS: European Vitreo-Retinal Society Endophthalmitis Study Report Two.

Purpose: To evaluate the visual outcome associated with intravitreal antibiotics (IVA) and pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for acute postprocedure endophthalmitis.

Methods: Data from 237 eyes presenting with acute postprocedure endophthalmitis were collected from 57 retina specialists in 28 countries. All eyes were treated with IVA on the day of presentation.

National Trends in the United States Eye Care Workforce from 1995 to 2017.

Purpose: To describe temporal and geographic trends in the US eye care workforce.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: We obtained data from the 2017 Area Health Resources File.

Management of vitreous floaters: an international survey the European VitreoRetinal Society Floaters study report.

Background/objectives: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of pars plana vitrectomy for symptomatic floaters.

Subjects/methods: Forty-eight vitreoretinal surgeons from 16 countries provided information on 581 eyes who underwent vitrectomy for floaters in this retrospective survey study conducted by European VitreoRetinal Society. Percentage symptomatic improvement, incidence of retinal tears/detachment and post-vitrectomy cataract surgery, and the factors associated with satisfaction and complications were investigated.