Identification of Candidate miRNA Biomarkers for Glaucoma.

Purpose: Glaucoma, a leading cause of blindness worldwide, often remains undetected until irreversible vision loss has occurred. Treatments focus on lowering intraocular pressure (IOP), the only modifiable and readily measurable risk factor. However, IOP can vary and does not always predict disease progression.

Association between Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Exfoliation Syndrome: The Utah Project on Exfoliation Syndrome.

Purpose: Exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is associated with genetic variants of lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1), a key enzyme in the stabilization of extracellular matrix (ECM) and elastin, and in connective tissue repair. Because patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) have increased and altered elastin degradation, an association between XFS and COPD was hypothesized and analyzed. Impact of XFS on survival in patients with COPD was evaluated.

Non-Synonymous variants in premelanosome protein (PMEL) cause ocular pigment dispersion and pigmentary glaucoma.

Pigmentary glaucoma (PG) is a common glaucoma subtype that results from release of pigment from the iris, called pigment dispersion syndrome (PDS), and its deposition throughout the anterior chamber of the eye. Although PG has a substantial heritable component, no causative genes have yet been identified. We used whole exome sequencing of two independent pedigrees to identify two premelanosome protein (PMEL) variants associated with heritable PDS/PG.

The History of Exfoliation Syndrome.

The first description of exfoliation syndrome (XFS) was presented by John Gustaf Lindberg in his doctoral thesis 100 years ago. The syndrome is an age-related disorder in which abnormal fibrillar extracellular material is produced and accumulates in several ocular tissues. Once thought to be peculiar to Scandinavia, XFS is found in almost every race and ethnic group.

Association of Macular Visual Field Measurements With Glaucoma Staging Systems.

Importance: Macular function is important for daily activities but is underestimated when tested with 24-2 visual fields, which are often used to classify glaucoma severity.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that current glaucoma staging systems underestimate glaucoma severity by not detecting macular damage.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This cross-sectional study was carried out in a glaucoma referral practice.

Genetic Architecture of Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma in Individuals of African Descent: The African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study III.

Purpose: To find genetic contributions to glaucoma in African Americans.

Design: Cross-sectional, case-control study.

Participants: One thousand eight hundred seventy-five primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients and 1709 controls, self-identified as being of African descent (AD), from the African Descent and Glaucoma Evaluation Study (ADAGES) III and Wake Forest School of Medicine.

Changes in Iridocorneal Angle and Anterior Chamber Structure in Eyes With Anatomically Narrow Angles: Laser Iridotomy Versus Pilocarpine.

Purpose: To compare the effects of laser iridotomy (LI) and pilocarpine on iridocorneal angle and anterior chamber structure in anatomically narrow angles (ANAs).

Materials And Methods: Temporal LI was performed 90 minutes after 2% pilocarpine administration in patients with occludable ANA. Swept-source optical coherence tomography B-scans of the anterior segment were obtained at baseline, 60 minutes after 2% pilocarpine administration, and 1 week after LI.

Association of Exfoliation Syndrome With Risk of Indirect Inguinal Hernia: The Utah Project on Exfoliation Syndrome.

Importance: Exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is a systemic connective tissue disease, and abnormal connective tissue metabolism is implicated in inguinal hernias (IH). Associating XFS with comorbid conditions may illuminate their underlying pathophysiology and affect clinical screening and treatment. Exfoliation syndrome involves altered systemic extracellular matrix (ECM) homeostasis involving elastin metabolism.

Effects of Circumpapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Segmentation Error Correction on Glaucoma Diagnosis in Myopic Eyes.

Purpose: In a myopic population, we investigated the occurrence of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) segmentation errors that required manual correction in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and its effect on glaucoma diagnostic capability of OCT.

Materials And Methods: Myopic subjects (spherical equivalent refractive error <-3 D) with and without primary open-angle glaucoma were recruited. Three circumpapillary RNFL scans with diameters of 3.

Quantitative assessment of changes in anterior segment morphology after argon laser peripheral iridoplasty: findings from the EARL study group.

Importance: Argon laser peripheral iridoplasty (ALPI) could be effective in widening residual angle closure following laser peripheral iridotomy (LPI).

Background: We investigated changes in angle parameters following ALPI and its safety profile in this study.

Design: Retrospective, observational case series.

Racial Differences in the Effects of Hormone Therapy on Incident Open-Angle Glaucoma in a Randomized Trial.

Purpose: We conducted a secondary analysis of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial to test if hormone therapy (HT) altered the risk of open-angle glaucoma (OAG), and if the risk reduction varied by race.

Design: Secondary analysis of randomized controlled trial data.

Methods: We linked Medicare claims data to 25 535 women in the Women's Health Initiative.

Effectiveness of a Qualitative Approach Toward Evaluating OCT Imaging for Detecting Glaucomatous Damage.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine whether a qualitative approach toward evaluating optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging improves the ability to detect glaucomatous damage compared to a conventional metric of global circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness.

Methods: A total of 394 healthy eyes and 272 glaucoma eyes were evaluated. Glaucoma eyes were categorized as perimetric (156 eyes) based on a history of three or more consecutive abnormal 24-2 visual field tests or suspected glaucoma if they did not (116 eyes).

Factors associated with the presence of parafoveal scotoma in glaucomatous eyes with optic disc hemorrhages.

Purpose: Glaucomatous eyes with disc hemorrhage (DH) have a greater risk of paracentral visual field (VF) loss. However, not every DH eye presents with parafoveal scotoma (PFS), and contributing factors are still to be determined. In the present study, we investigated clinical and ocular factors associated with the presence of PFS in glaucomatous eyes with DH.

Comparison of Widefield and Circumpapillary Circle Scans for Detecting Glaucomatous Neuroretinal Thinning on Optical Coherence Tomography.

Purpose: Our purpose was to compare the effectiveness of detecting progressive retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness changes using widefield scans compared to circumpapillary circle scans derived from optic disc volume scans when using a manual region-of-interest (ROI) approach

Methods: In a prospective observational study, a total of 125 eyes diagnosed clinically with glaucoma or suspected glaucoma that had both widefield (12 × 9 mm) and optic disc (6 × 6 mm) scans obtained at least one year apart were included. Changes in the RNFL thickness between the two visits were evaluated within region(s) of observed or suspected glaucomatous damage, which were manually outlined after reviewing key features from each scan on the second visit (described as a manual ROI approach). Within ROI(s), changes in the widefield and circumpapillary RNFL thickness (wfRNFL and cpRNFL), as well as in the global circumpapillary RNFL thickness (cpRNFL), were determined.

Factors Influencing Central Lamina Cribrosa Depth: A Multicenter Study.

Purpose: To quantify the influence of ocular and demographic factors on central laminar depth (LD) in healthy participants.

Methods: A total of 362 normal subjects underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT) enhanced depth imaging of the optic nerve head (ONH) with a 24 radial B-scan pattern aligned to the fovea-to-Bruch's membrane opening (BMO) axis. BMO, anterior lamina, anterior scleral canal opening (ASCO), Bruch's membrane (BM), and the peripapillary scleral surface were manually segmented.

Association Between 24-Hour Intraocular Pressure Monitored With Contact Lens Sensor and Visual Field Progression in Older Adults With Glaucoma.

Importance: Twenty-four-hour intraocular pressure (IOP) patterns may provide more information regarding rates of visual field progression than office-hour measurements. However, little is known about the added value of 24-hour monitoring when stratifying glaucoma risk based on rates of progression.

Objective: To test the hypothesis that 24-hour IOP-related patterns recorded with a contact lens sensor (CLS) correlate with prior rates of visual field progression.

Optic nerve head cupping in glaucomatous and non-glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Background: Enlargement of optic disc cupping is seen both in glaucoma and in neurological disorders. We used enhanced depth imaging with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography to differentiate glaucoma from non-glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

Methods: The optic discs were scanned in this prospective comparative study, and the lamina cribrosa (LC) thickness and anterior laminar depth (ALD) in the central, superior and inferior optic nerve head, and peripapillary choroidal thicknesses, were measured.

Noninvasive Detection of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Ocular Hypertension and Primary Open-angle Glaucoma.

Purpose: To assess mitochondrial dysfunction in vivo in ocular hypertension (OHT) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) using retinal metabolic analysis.

Patients And Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study performed from November 2015 to October 2016 at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary of Mount Sinai. Thirty-eight eyes with varying stages of POAG, 16 eyes with OHT, and 32 control eyes were imaged on a custom fundus camera modified to measure full retinal thickness fluorescence at a wavelength optimized to detect flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF).

Evaluation of a Qualitative Approach for Detecting Glaucomatous Progression Using Wide-Field Optical Coherence Tomography Scans.

Purpose: To determine the effectiveness of detecting glaucomatous progression by a qualitative evaluation of wide-field (12 × 9 mm) scans on optical coherence tomography imaging. This method was compared to a conventional quantitative analysis of the global circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) thickness.

Methods: A total of 409 eyes with a clinical diagnosis of glaucoma or suspected glaucoma for which two wide-field scans were obtained at least 1 year apart ( = 125) and within one session ( = 284) were included to determine the sensitivity of detecting progression at 95% specificity.

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Optic Disc Swelling.

Purpose: To compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) of peripapillary total vasculature and capillaries in patients with optic disc swelling.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Twenty nine eyes with acute nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), 44 eyes with papilledema, 8 eyes with acute optic neuritis, and 48 eyes of normal subjects were imaged using OCT-A.

Resting nailfold capillary blood flow in primary open-angle glaucoma.

Background/aims: An altered haemodynamic profile for various ocular posterior segment capillary beds has been documented in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). POAG may also involve abnormal non-ocular blood flow, and the nailfold capillaries, which are not affected by elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), are readily assessable.

Methods: We measured resting nailfold capillary blood flow in 67 POAG and 63 control subjects using video capillaroscopy.

Evaluation of a Region-of-Interest Approach for Detecting Progressive Glaucomatous Macular Damage on Optical Coherence Tomography.

Purpose: To evaluate a manual region-of-interest (ROI) approach for detecting progressive macular ganglion cell complex (GCC) changes on optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

Methods: One hundred forty-six eyes with a clinical diagnosis of glaucoma or suspected glaucoma with macular OCT scans obtained at least 1 year apart were evaluated. Changes in the GCC thickness were identified using a manual ROI approach (ROI), whereby region(s) of observed or suspected glaucomatous damage were manually identified when using key features from the macular OCT scan on the second visit.

Interindividual Variations in Foveal Anatomy and Artifacts Seen on Inner Retinal Probability Maps from Spectral Domain OCT Scans of the Macula.

Purpose: We tested the hypothesis that variations in foveal morphology can account for artifacts seen on optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal ganglion cell (RGC) layer probability maps.

Methods: A total of 126 healthy subjects were tested with spectral domain (sd) OCT. Thickness and probability maps of the macular RGC plus inner plexiform layer (RGC+) were obtained with customized software.

Exfoliation Syndrome: A Disease of Autophagy and LOXL1 Proteopathy.

Exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is an age-related disease involving the deposition of aggregated fibrillar material (exfoliation material) at extracellular matrices in tissues that synthesize elastic fibers. Its main morbidity is in the eye, where exfoliation material accumulations form on the surface of the ciliary body, iris, and lens. Exfoliation glaucoma (XFG) occurs in a high proportion of persons with XFS and can be a rapidly progressing disease.

Detecting Glaucomatous Progression With a Region-of-Interest Approach on Optical Coherence Tomography: A Signal-to-Noise Evaluation.

Purpose: To compare two region-of-interest (ROI) approaches and a global thickness approach for capturing progressive circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (cpRNFL) changes on optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging.

Methods: Progressive cpRNFL thickness changes were evaluated in 164 eyes with a clinical diagnosis of glaucoma or suspected glaucoma; all eyes underwent optic disc OCT imaging on two visits at least 1 year apart. Such changes were evaluated with a manual ROI approach (ROI), which involved manual identification of region(s) of observed or suspected glaucomatous damage.