[A rare cause of optic neuropathy: Cassava].

Introduction: Cassava root is a staple food for almost 500 million people worldwide. Excessive consumption of it is a rare cause of optic neuropathy.

Method: Ten patients diagnosed with cassava root related optic neuropathy were included in this retrospective study.

Increased functional connectivity between language and visually deprived areas in late and partial blindness.

In the congenitally blind, language processing involves visual areas. In the case of normal visual development however, it remains unclear whether later visual loss induces interactions between the language and visual areas. This study compared the resting-state functional connectivity (FC) of retinotopic and language areas in two unique groups of late visually deprived subjects: (1) blind individuals suffering from retinitis pigmentosa (RP), (2) RP subjects without a visual periphery but with preserved central "tunnel vision", both of whom were contrasted with sighted controls.

Ocular Toxocariasis: Clinical Features and Long-term Visual Outcomes in Adult Patients.

Purpose: To investigate clinical characteristics and treatment outcomes of proven ocular toxocariasis (OT) in adult patients.

Design: Retrospective, consecutive, interventional case series.

Methods: setting: Institutional.

Biallelic Mutations in GNB3 Cause a Unique Form of Autosomal-Recessive Congenital Stationary Night Blindness.

Congenital stationary night blindness (CSNB) is a heterogeneous group of non-progressive inherited retinal disorders with characteristic electroretinogram (ERG) abnormalities. Riggs and Schubert-Bornschein are subtypes of CSNB and demonstrate distinct ERG features. Riggs CSNB demonstrates selective rod photoreceptor dysfunction and occurs due to mutations in genes encoding proteins involved in rod phototransduction cascade; night blindness is the only symptom and eye examination is otherwise normal.

Quality control outcomes analysis of small-incision lenticule extraction for myopia by a novice surgeon at the first refractive surgery unit in Nepal during the first 2 years of operation.

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of small-incision lenticule extraction for myopia using the Visumax femtosecond laser at the first refractive surgery unit in Nepal during the first 30 months of operation.

Setting: Tilganga Institute of Ophthalmology, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Design: Retrospective noncomparative case series.

Annular Lesions and Catenary Forms in Chronic Central Serous Chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: To describe a series of patients exhibiting annular retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) lesions in the context of chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

Design: Retrospective comparative case series.

Methods: Consecutive patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy were identified from the clinical practices of 3 retina specialists.

mRNA trans-splicing in gene therapy for genetic diseases.

Spliceosome-mediated RNA trans-splicing, or SMaRT, is a promising strategy to design innovative gene therapy solutions for currently intractable genetic diseases. SMaRT relies on the correction of mutations at the post-transcriptional level by modifying the mRNA sequence. To achieve this, an exogenous RNA is introduced into the target cell, usually by means of gene transfer, to induce a splice event in trans between the exogenous RNA and the target endogenous pre-mRNA.

[Topical cyclosporine in ophthalmology: Pharmacology and clinical indications].

Cyclosporine A (CsA) is a cyclic undecapeptide, which is an immunosuppressive drug in the calcineurin inhibitor class. CsA was initially used as a systemic immunosuppressant to minimize rejection of solid organ transplants. In ophthalmology, topically applied CsA was first used to inhibit corneal allograft rejection in the 1980s and later in various inflammatory ocular surface disorders (OSD).

Comparison of very-high-frequency ultrasound and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography corneal and epithelial thickness maps.

Purpose: To compare corneal thickness and epithelial thickness measurements in maps obtained using the RTVue spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) system and the Artemis 2 immersion arc-scanning very-high-frequency ultrasound (VHF-US) system.

Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, New York, USA.

Design: Comparative study.

[A new classification for meibomian gland diseases with in vivo confocal microscopy].

Introduction: Meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD) is a frequent disorder often associated with dry eye disease. Slit-lamp examination with digital expression of the tarsal Meibomian glands allows examination of the contents of the distal Meibomian gland and the meatus. However, the Meibomian epithelium, interglandular space and proximal secretions cannot be clinically assessed.

Management of giant cell arteritis: Recommendations of the French Study Group for Large Vessel Vasculitis (GEFA).

Purpose: Management of giant cell arteritis (GCA, Horton's disease) involves many uncertainties. This work was undertaken to establish French recommendations for GCA management.

Methods: Recommendations were developed by a multidisciplinary panel of 33 physicians, members of the French Study Group for Large Vessel Vasculitis (Groupe d'étude français des artérites des gros vaisseaux [GEFA]).

An analysis of observer-rated functional vision in patients implanted with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System at three years.

Objective: The purpose of this analysis was to compare observer-rated tasks in patients implanted with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System, when the device is ON versus OFF.

Methods: The Functional Low-Vision Observer Rated Assessment (FLORA) instrument was administered to 26 blind patients implanted with the Argus II Retinal Prosthesis System at a mean follow-up of 36 months. FLORA is a multi-component instrument that consists in part of observer-rated assessment of 35 tasks completed with the device ON versus OFF.

The Natural History of the Progression of Atrophy Secondary to Stargardt Disease (ProgStar) Studies: Design and Baseline Characteristics: ProgStar Report No. 1.

Purpose: To describe the design and baseline characteristics of patients enrolled into 2 natural history studies of Stargardt disease (STGD1).

Design: Multicenter retrospective and prospective cohort studies.

Participants: Three hundred sixty-five unique patients aged 6 years and older at baseline harboring disease-causing variants in the ABCA4 gene and with specified ocular lesions were enrolled from 9 centers in the United States and Europe.

Let There Be Light: Gene and Cell Therapy for Blindness.

Retinal degenerative diseases are a leading cause of irreversible blindness. Retinal cell death is the main cause of vision loss in genetic disorders such as retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease, and Leber congenital amaurosis, as well as in complex age-related diseases such as age-related macular degeneration. For these blinding conditions, gene and cell therapy approaches offer therapeutic intervention at various disease stages.

Ocular inflammation induces trigeminal pain, peripheral and central neuroinflammatory mechanisms.

Ocular surface diseases are among the most frequent ocular pathologies, with prevalence ranging from 20% of the general population. In addition, ocular pain following corneal injury is frequently observed in clinic. The aim of the study was to characterize the peripheral and central neuroinflammatory process in the trigeminal pathways in response to cornea alteration induced by chronic topical instillations of 0.

Altered astrocyte morphology and vascular development in dystrophin-Dp71-null mice.

Understanding retinal vascular development is crucial because many retinal vascular diseases such as diabetic retinopathy (in adults) or retinopathy of prematurity (in children) are among the leading causes of blindness. Given the localization of the protein Dp71 around the retinal vessels in adult mice and its role in maintaining retinal homeostasis, the aim of this study was to determine if Dp71 was involved in astrocyte and vascular development regulation. An experimental study in mouse retinas was conducted.

Ophthalmic epidemiology in Europe: the "European Eye Epidemiology" (E3) consortium.

The European Eye Epidemiology (E3) consortium is a recently formed consortium of 29 groups from 12 European countries. It already comprises 21 population-based studies and 20 other studies (case-control, cases only, randomized trials), providing ophthalmological data on approximately 170,000 European participants. The aim of the consortium is to promote and sustain collaboration and sharing of data and knowledge in the field of ophthalmic epidemiology in Europe, with particular focus on the harmonization of methods for future research, estimation and projection of frequency and impact of visual outcomes in European populations (including temporal trends and European subregions), identification of risk factors and pathways for eye diseases (lifestyle, vascular and metabolic factors, genetics, epigenetics and biomarkers) and development and validation of prediction models for eye diseases.

Novel grading system for quantification of cystic macular lesions in Usher syndrome.

Background: To evaluate novel grading system used to quantify optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans for cystic macular lesions (CML) in Usher syndrome (USH) patients, focusing on CML associated alterations in MOY7A and USH2A mutations.

Methods: Two readers evaluated 76 patients' (mean age 42 ± 14 years) data prospectively uploaded on Eurush database. OCT was used to obtain high quality cross-sectional images through the fovea.

[Spontaneous separation of epiretinal membrane: Reports of 3 cases].

Purpose: Idiopathic epiretinal membranes most commonly develop in patients over 50 years of age. Posterior vitreous detachment seems to play a role in their formation. Epiretinal membranes are uncommon in young subjects.