Knowledge and attitude of medical students towards artificial intelligence in ophthalmology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in ophthalmology represents a transformative leap in healthcare. AI-powered technologies, such as machine learning and computer vision, enhance the accuracy and efficiency of ophthalmic diagnosis and treatment.

Objective: This study aimed to determine medical students' awareness and attitudes towards the use of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology.

The application of artificial intelligence in diabetic retinopathy screening: a Saudi Arabian perspective.

Introduction: Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of preventable blindness in Saudi Arabia. With a prevalence of up to 40% of patients with diabetes, DR constitutes a significant public health burden on the country. Saudi Arabia has not yet established a national screening program for DR.

Identification of Novel Variants Causing Moderate to Profound Progressive Nonsyndromic Hearing Loss.

Mutant alleles of , a gene that encodes a putative calcium-dependent cell-adhesion glycoprotein with multiple cadherin-like domains, are responsible for both recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss (NSHL) and Usher syndrome 1D (). The encoded protein cadherin 23 (CDH23) plays a vital role in maintaining normal cochlear and retinal function. The present study's objective was to elucidate the role of allelic variants of in Saudi Arabian patients.

Effect of Pegylated Interferon and Mitomycin C on Ocular Surface Squamous Neoplasia in Xeroderma Pigmentosum: A Case Series.

BACKGROUND Xeroderma pigmentosum (XP) is an autosomal recessive disease caused by mutations in DNA repair genes. Clinical manifestations include extreme sensitivity to ultraviolet (UV) rays, freckle-like pigmentation, ocular abnormalities, and an increased risk of developing neoplasms in sun-exposed areas of the skin, mucous membranes, and eyes. This paper describes the clinical outcome of pegylated interferon alpha 2b (PEG-IFN-alpha-2b) subconjunctival injections and topical mitomycin C (MMC) in the treatment of ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) in patients with XP.

Chromosome 1q Terminal Deletion and Congenital Glaucoma: A Case Report.

BACKGROUND This paper aims to highlight the presence of primary congenital glaucoma (PCG) in a patient with chromosome 1 q31 and q42.1 deletion of the distal long arm. The characteristic combination of phenotypic features in this deletion include dysmorphic features, psychomotor retardation and neurological signs; however, PCG has never been recognized as part of these features before.

Asymmetrical Ocular Manifestations of Nephropathic Cystinosis; A Case Report.

BACKGROUND Infantile nephropathic cystinosis is the most common and severe variant of cystinosis, which is a rare autosomal recessive condition related to a defect in the transportation of the protein cystine resulting in its deposition in various organs. Due to the rarity of this condition, only 1 case with extensive ocular involvement has been found in the English-language literature. Here, we report a second such case to highlight the significance of early diagnosis in avoiding devastating but preventable vision loss.

Unusual Association of Aniridia with Aicardi-Goutières Syndrome-Related Congenital Glaucoma in a Tertiary Care Center.

BACKGROUND Aicardi-Goutières syndrome (AGS) is a rare autosomal recessive encephalopathy of early onset. AGS visual dysfunction range from nystagmus and optic atrophy to cortical blindness in affected individuals; however, congenital glaucoma has been recently noticed among AGS pediatric patients. According to the literature, aniridia has never been recognized among AGS patients.

Utility of whole exome sequencing in the diagnosis of Usher syndrome: Report of novel compound heterozygous MYO7A mutations.

Next generation sequencing (NGS), such as targeted panel sequencing, whole-exome sequencing and whole-genome sequencing has led to an exponential increase of elucidated genetic causes in both rare diseases, and common but heterogeneous disorders. NGS is applied in both research and clinical settings, and the clinical exome sequencing (CES), which provides not only the sequence variation data but also clinical interpretation, aids in reaching a final conclusion with regards to a genetic diagnosis. Usher syndrome is a group of disorders, characterized by bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, with or without vestibular dysfunction and retinitis pigmentosa.

Etiology of optic atrophy: a prospective observational study from Saudi Arabia.

Background: Optic atrophy (OA) represents permanent retinal ganglion cell loss warranting study to establish etiology.

Objectives: To describe neurogenic causes of OA.

Design: Prospective, observational.

Expanding the clinical, allelic, and locus heterogeneity of retinal dystrophies.

Purpose: Retinal dystrophies (RD) are heterogeneous hereditary disorders of the retina that are usually progressive in nature. The aim of this study was to clinically and molecularly characterize a large cohort of RD patients.

Methods: We have developed a next-generation sequencing assay that allows known RD genes to be sequenced simultaneously.

An siRNA-based functional genomics screen for the identification of regulators of ciliogenesis and ciliopathy genes.

Defects in primary cilium biogenesis underlie the ciliopathies, a growing group of genetic disorders. We describe a whole-genome siRNA-based reverse genetics screen for defects in biogenesis and/or maintenance of the primary cilium, obtaining a global resource. We identify 112 candidate ciliogenesis and ciliopathy genes, including 44 components of the ubiquitin-proteasome system, 12 G-protein-coupled receptors, and 3 pre-mRNA processing factors (PRPF6, PRPF8 and PRPF31) mutated in autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa.

Signet ring cell adenocarcinoma and bilateral leptomeningeal involvement of optic nerve sheaths.

Signet ring cell adenocarcinoma has a propensity for leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, and although bilateral optic nerve involvement is rare, this may occur with or without obvious signs of diffuse leptomeningeal involvement. We describe a 41-year-old woman who presented with a brief history of simultaneous bilateral visual deterioration and a distended abdomen. Examination revealed bilateral no light perception vision and bilateral optic disc edema.

LOXL3, encoding lysyl oxidase-like 3, is mutated in a family with autosomal recessive Stickler syndrome.

Stickler syndrome (SS) is a collagenopathy characterized by arthropathy and vitreoretinopathy with high myopia and cleft palate as common features. In a family with an autosomal recessive SS that does not map to genes known to cause autosomal recessive forms of SS, we combined autozygome and exome analysis to identify a novel missense variant in LOXL3 as the likely candidate cause. LOXL3 cross-links collagen II and its morphants phenocopy the craniofacial defects characteristic of collagen XI deficiency.

ILDR1: Novel mutation and a rare cause of congenital deafness in the Saudi Arabian population.

Hearing impairment is the common human sensorineural disorder and is a genetically heterogeneous phenotype for which more than 100 genomic loci have been mapped so far. ILDR1 located on chromosome 3q13.33, encodes a putative transmembrane receptor containing an immunoglobulin-like domain.

IFT27, encoding a small GTPase component of IFT particles, is mutated in a consanguineous family with Bardet-Biedl syndrome.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is an autosomal recessive ciliopathy with multisystem involvement. So far, 18 BBS genes have been identified and the majority of them are essential for the function of BBSome, a protein complex involved in transporting membrane proteins into and from cilia. Yet defects in the identified genes cannot account for all the BBS cases.

COL4A4-related nephropathy caused by a novel mutation in a large consanguineous Saudi family.

Introduction: Collagen type IV related nephropathies are due to the defects in collagen IV genes COL4A3, COL4A4, or COL4A5 and comprise a spectrum of phenotypes ranging from Alport Syndrome (AS) to its mild variants, termed as familial haematuria or thin basement membrane nephropathy. Classical AS is a progressive renal disease presenting with a triad of progressive hematuric nephritis and typical extra-renal complications, such as sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and variable ocular anomalies. The mode of inheritance in AS is X-linked in 85%, autosomal recessive in 15%, and autosomal dominant in rare cases.

Mutations in c12orf57 cause a syndromic form of colobomatous microphthalmia.

Microphthalmia is an important developmental eye disorder. Although mutations in several genes have been linked to this condition, they only account for a minority of cases. We performed autozygome analysis and exome sequencing on a multiplex consanguineous family in which colobomatous microphthalmia is associated with profound global developmental delay, intractable seizures, and corpus callosum abnormalities, and we identified a homozygous truncating mutation in C12orf57 [c.

Autozygome-guided exome sequencing in retinal dystrophy patients reveals pathogenetic mutations and novel candidate disease genes.

Retinal dystrophy (RD) is a heterogeneous group of hereditary diseases caused by loss of photoreceptor function and contributes significantly to the etiology of blindness globally but especially in the industrialized world. The extreme locus and allelic heterogeneity of these disorders poses a major diagnostic challenge and often impedes the ability to provide a molecular diagnosis that can inform counseling and gene-specific treatment strategies. In a large cohort of nearly 150 RD families, we used genomic approaches in the form of autozygome-guided mutation analysis and exome sequencing to identify the likely causative genetic lesion in the majority of cases.

Homozygous null mutation in ODZ3 causes microphthalmia in humans.

Purpose: Microphthalmia is a condition in which eyes are small in size, often associated with coloboma, as a result of aberrant eye development. Isolated microphthalmia is a model disease for studying early development of the human eye, and mutations in several key genes related to eye development have been linked to this phenotype.

Methods: In our search for novel genes that cause autosomal recessive microphthalmia when mutated, we enrolled a family that consists of third-cousin parents and two children with isolated colobomatous microphthalmia.

In search of triallelism in Bardet-Biedl syndrome.

Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a model disease for ciliopathy in humans. The remarkable genetic heterogeneity that characterizes this disease is consistent with accumulating data on the interaction between the proteins encoded by the 14 BBS genes identified to date. Previous reports suggested that such interaction may also extend to instances of oligogenic inheritance in the form of triallelism which defies the long held view of BBS as an autosomal recessive disease.

RP1 and retinitis pigmentosa: report of novel mutations and insight into mutational mechanism.

Background/aim: Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is the commonest form of retinal dystrophy and is usually inherited as a monogenic trait but with remarkable genetic heterogeneity. RP1 is one of the earliest identified disease genes in RP with mutations in this gene known to act both recessively and dominantly although the mutational mechanism remains unclear. This study is part of our ongoing effort to characterise RP in Saudi Arabia at the molecular level.

Progression of age-related macular degeneration after cataract surgery.

Objective: To document age-related macular degeneration (AMD) progression after cataract surgery.

Methods: Surgeons prospectively enrolled patients with nonneovascular AMD who were awaiting cataract surgery. Fluorescein angiography was performed preoperatively and at the postoperative week 1, month 3, and month 12 visits.