Diabetic Retinopathy Disease Burden in Patients With Lower Household Incomes vs Higher Household Incomes.

To assess the differences in measures of diabetic retinopathy (DR) disease burden between patients in high-income vs low-income ZIP codes when presenting to retina specialists. This retrospective cohort study comprised patients who presented to a retina specialist at Duke Eye Center between 2014 and 2023 for the management of DR. The quartile of patients with the highest income was compared with the quartile with the lowest income.

Comparative Evaluation of the Corneal Sensitivity Thresholds between the Novel Non-Contact and Cochet-Bonnet Esthesiometers.

Purpose: Primarily, to evaluate the repeatability and reproducibility of the new noncontact esthesiometer (NCE) in healthy subjects. Secondarily, the corneal sensitivity threshold measurements of the NCE were compared with those of the Cochet-Bonnet esthesiometer (CBE).

Design: Assessment reliability study.

Correction: Angioarchitectural alterations in the retina and choroid in frontotemporal dementia.

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

An ADaptivE PrenaTal (ADEPT) intervention to increase childhood vaccinations: Protocol for a cluster randomized trial and nested mixed methods evaluation.

Background: There is limited evidence to assess if interventions implemented during pregnancy proactively mitigate parental vaccine hesitancy and promote timely vaccination among children after birth. This study protocol describes the evaluation of an ADaptivE PrenaTal (ADEPT) intervention to increase childhood vaccinations that is implemented with first-time pregnant individuals (PIs).

Methods: Within the framework of a type 1 effectiveness-implementation hybrid study design, a cluster-randomized trial (CRT) will determine the effectiveness of ADEPT at increasing childhood vaccinations, and a nested explanatory mixed methods (NMM) study will assess changes in parental vaccine hesitancy.

Hypoxia-mediated rescue of retinal ganglion cells deficient in mitochondrial complex I is independent of the hypoxia-inducible factor pathway.

Continuous exposure to environmental hypoxia (11% O) has been shown to markedly slow the progressive degeneration of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in a mouse model of mitochondrial optic neuropathy with RGC-specific deletion of the key mitochondrial complex I accessory subunit ndufs4. As a first step toward identifying the therapeutic mechanism of hypoxia in this model, we conducted a series of experiments to investigate the role of the hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) regulatory pathway in RGC neuroprotection. Vglut2-Cre; ndufs4 mice were crossed with strains bearing floxed alleles of the negative HIF regulatory vhl or of the two major HIF α-subunit isoforms, Hif1α and Hif2α.

Glaucoma Surgery SOS: Emergency Department Utilization Greater among Younger and First-Time Surgical Patients with Glaucoma.

Purpose: To describe the frequency, findings, and interventions of patients' emergency department (ED) visits after all types of glaucoma surgery DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study SUBJECTS: All surgical patients with glaucoma between 2013 and 2021 METHODS: This single institution study collected demographics, surgery type, and surgical parameters for each patient. Subsequently, for those visiting the ED within 50 days of surgery, data were collected on reason for visit, findings, and ophthalmic intervention. Logistic regression models were used to determine the odds of ED visits based on multiple risk factors.

Deep-learning based analysis of in-vivo confocal microscopy images of the subbasal corneal nerve plexus' inferior whorl in patients with neuropathic corneal pain and dry eye disease.

Purpose: To evaluate and compare subbasal corneal nerve parameters of the inferior whorl in patients with dry eye disease (DED), neuropathic corneal pain (NCP), and controls using a novel deep-learning-based algorithm to analyze in-vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) images.

Methods: Subbasal nerve plexus (SNP) images of the inferior whorl of patients with DED (n = 49, 77 eyes), NCP (n = 14, 24 eyes), and controls (n = 41, 59 eyes) were taken with IVCM and further analyzed using an open-source artificial intelligence (AI)-based algorithm previously developed by our group. This algorithm automatically segments nerves, immune cells, and neuromas in the SNP.

Impact of Bariatric Surgery on Treatment Burden and Progression of Diabetic Retinopathy.

To assess the severity, progression, and treatment burden of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in patients after bariatric surgery compared with controls. A retrospective cohort study was performed of patients with type 2 diabetes and DR seen at the Duke Eye Center between 2014 and 2023. Clinical data included hemoglobin A (HbA), diagnostic stage of DR, diabetic macular edema (DME) or vitreous hemorrhage (VH), visual acuity (VA), and treatment burden at baseline and follow-up.

Spiral scanning improves subject fixation in widefield retinal imaging.

Point scanning retinal imaging modalities, including confocal scanning light ophthalmoscopy (cSLO) and optical coherence tomography, suffer from fixational motion artifacts. Fixation targets, though effective at reducing eye motion, are infeasible in some applications (e.g.

Peripapillary Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Alzheimer's Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Normal Cognition.

Objective: This study aimed to identify peripapillary microvascular changes in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Patients And Methods: In this prospective study, 66 eyes of 36 subjects with AD, 119 eyes of 63 with MCI, and 513 eyes of 265 controls with normal cognition were enrolled. Peripapillary capillary perfusion density (CPD), capillary flux index (CFI), and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness were determined.

Acute, Treatment-Naïve Branch Retinal Vein Occlusion in Younger Individuals: Risk Factors and Clinical Outcomes.

To compare the risk factors and clinical outcomes in patients younger than 50 years with acute, treatment-naïve branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) with outcomes in patients 50 years or older. Patients diagnosed with acute, treatment-naïve BRVO at Duke Eye Center over a 9.5-year period who had BRVO with onset 3 months or less before presentation, BRVO with macular involvement, and 12 months or more of follow-up were included.

Differences in Retinal and Choroidal Microvasculature and Structure in Dementia With Lewy Bodies Compared With Normal Cognition.

To evaluate the retinal and choroidal microvasculature and structure in individuals with dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB) compared with controls with normal cognition using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA). An institutional review board-approved cross-sectional comparison of patients with DLB and cognitively normal controls was performed. The Cirrus HD-OCT 5000 with AngioPlex (Carl Zeiss Meditec) was used to obtain OCT and OCTA images.

Gradeability and Reproducibility of Geographic Atrophy Measurement in GATHER-1, a Phase II/III Randomized Interventional Trial.

Objective: To validate GATHER-1 inclusion criteria and the study's primary anatomic end point by assessing the reproducibility of geographic atrophy (GA) measurements and factors that affect reproducibility.

Design: Post hoc analysis of phase II/III clinical trial.

Subjects: All 286 participants included in the GATHER-1 study.

The effect of sex on retinopathy of prematurity severity among premature mixed-sex multiple gestation infants.

This retrospective study of 68 premature infants examined whether there was a difference between male and female mixed-sex multiple gestation infants with regard to stage of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) developed or need for ROP treatment. We found that among mixed-sex twin infants there was no statistically significant difference between sexes in most severe ROP stage developed or need for ROP treatment, but males were treated at an earlier postmenstrual age (PMA) than females, despite females having a lower mean birthweight and slower mean growth velocity compared to males.

Systematic analysis of levels of evidence supporting American Academy of Ophthalmology Preferred Practice Pattern guidelines, 2012-2021.

Background: Despite the increased emphasis on evidence-based medicine, the current state of evidence behind ophthalmology clinical practice guidelines is unknown. The purpose of this systematic analysis was to understand the levels of evidence (LOE) supporting American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) Preferred Practice Pattern (PPP) guidelines, assess changes over time, and compare LOE across ophthalmology subspecialties.

Methods: All current PPP guidelines and their immediate predecessors were comprehensively reviewed to identify all recommendations with LOE provided (I [randomized controlled trials], II [case-control or cohort studies], and III [nonanalytic studies]).

Continuous Hypoxia Reduces Retinal Ganglion Cell Degeneration in a Mouse Model of Mitochondrial Optic Neuropathy.

Purpose: To test whether continuous hypoxia is neuroprotective to retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) in a mouse model of mitochondrial optic neuropathy.

Methods: RGC degeneration was assessed in genetically modified mice in which the floxed gene for the complex I subunit NDUFS4 is deleted from RGCs using Vlgut2-driven Cre recombinase. Beginning at postnatal day 25 (P25), Vglut2-Cre;ndufs4loxP/loxP mice and control littermates were housed under hypoxia (11% oxygen) or kept under normoxia (21% oxygen).

Pregnant individuals' information needs and intention to vaccinate their children with routine and COVID-19 vaccines: Findings from a cross-sectional survey.

Objective: The current study assessed pregnant individuals' intention to accept routine and COVID-19 vaccines for their baby after birth, and to identify key demographic (e.g., age) and nondemographic characteristics (e.