Mitochondrial Fragmentation in a High Homocysteine Environment in Diabetic Retinopathy.

Diabetic patients routinely have elevated homocysteine levels, and due to increase in oxidative stress, hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with increased mitochondrial damage. Mitochondrial homeostasis is directly related to the balance between their fission and fusion, and in diabetes this balance is disturbed. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of homocysteine in mitochondrial fission in diabetic retinopathy.

Thinning of the Skull Base and Calvarial Thickness in Patients With Idiopathic Intracranial Hypertension.

Background: Idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) is a disorder characterized by elevated intracranial pressure without secondary causes on neuroimaging. IIH typically occurs in young, obese female patients and, when severe, can cause permanent and irreversible vision loss. The association between skull base thinning in patients with intracranial hypertension and obesity has been previously reported; however, no study has reported these findings in IIH.

Conjunctival changes following Muller's muscle conjunctival resection.

Purpose: To analyze the conjunctival changes, especially goblet cell populations, following Muller's muscle conjunctival resection (MMCR) by histologically evaluating pre and post-MMCR specimens.

Methods: This is a retrospective analysis of conjunctival samples sent for histologic evaluation from two patient populations: those who had previously undergone a MMCR and required repeat surgery and controls who underwent a MMCR surgery in a previously unoperated eyelid. Specimens underwent hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining to accentuate goblet cell identification and were evaluated by two ocular pathologists to quantify goblet cell populations and note other anatomical changes.

Geographic Atrophy Progression Is Associated With Choriocapillaris Flow Deficits Measured With Optical Coherence Tomographic Angiography.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the associations between baseline choriocapillaris (CC) flow deficits and geographic atrophy (GA) progression.

Methods: In this prospective cohort study, patients with GA underwent 3 × 3-mm macular spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic angiography (OCTA) at baseline and follow-up visits. Annual GA enlargement rate was defined as change of square root of GA area in 12 months.

Comparison between Medical Student Educators and Program Directors in 2010 and 2019.

 Over the last decade, prominence of the Directors of Medical Student Education in Ophthalmology (DMSEs) within the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) has increased. With increased recognition of this important leadership position, an examination of the trending demographic differences between DMSEs and the Ophthalmology Program Directors (PDs) may be helpful, especially in regard to the potential for academic promotion from each track.  Present study is a database study.

Nuclear Genome-Encoded Long Noncoding RNAs and Mitochondrial Damage in Diabetic Retinopathy.

Retinal mitochondria are damaged in diabetes-accelerating apoptosis of capillary cells, and ultimately, leading to degenerative capillaries. Diabetes also upregulates many long noncoding RNAs (LncRNAs), including Lnc and Lnc. These RNAs have more than 200 nucleotides and no open reading frame for translation.

Association Between Fluid Volume in Inner Nuclear Layer and Visual Acuity in Diabetic Macular Edema.

Purpose: In diabetic macular edema (DME), the correlation between visual acuity (VA) and central subfield thickness (CST) is weak. We hypothesize that fluid volume (FV) in the inner nuclear layer (INL) may correlate more strongly with VA.

Design: Retrospective, cross-sectional study.

Bacterial Burden Declines But Neutrophil Infiltration and Ocular Tissue Damage Persist in Experimental Endophthalmitis.

Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS), including , are responsible for ~70% of all post-surgical endophthalmitis, a potentially blinding eye infection. However, the pathobiology of CoNS endophthalmitis is limited to epidemiological and clinical case studies with few experimental studies. Here, we report both and models to study the pathobiology of endophthalmitis in mice.

Current Scope of Online Ophthalmology Education and Curriculum Impact Due to COVID-19.

 Abrupt changes in ophthalmology education caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have resulted in novel online curriculum development. The aims of this study were to identify (1) the scope of online curricula implemented both prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) perception of educators on these online modalities; and (3) early lessons from online implementation that may guide future curricular planning.  Implementation of online curricula was evaluated by using a national online survey of Ophthalmology Directors of Medical Student Education (DMSE) via Qualtrics software.

Recurrent Unprovoked Deep Vein Thromboses in the Setting of Sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is described as a state of immune-mediated chronic systemic inflammatory disease that is typically characterized by non-caseating granulomas. It involves multiple organs like the lungs, lymph nodes, eyes, skin, and liver. Besides the solid organ involvement, it is also known to be associated with various pro-thrombotic states leading to pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis.

Persistent opioid use in cataract surgery pain management and the role of nonopioid alternatives.

Cataracts are a leading cause of preventable blindness globally. Although care varies between developing and industrialized countries, surgery is the single effective approach to treating cataracts. From the earliest documented primitive cataract removals to today's advanced techniques, cataract surgery has evolved dramatically.

Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Personality Types of Ophthalmology Residents.

 This study attempts to use the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to analyze personality types among current and recent ophthalmology residents. We aimed to evaluate the prevalence rates of each specific personality type in ophthalmology, and whether these changed by level of training, training program, or fellowship selection. The study aimed to evaluate whether certain personality types are more prevalent in ophthalmology as a unique medical specialty.

Measurements From Ears With Endolymphatic Hydrops and 2-Hydroxypropyl-Beta-Cyclodextrin Provide Evidence That Loudness Recruitment Can Have a Cochlear Origin.

Loudness recruitment is commonly experienced by patients with putative endolymphatic hydrops. Loudness recruitment is abnormal loudness growth with high-level sounds being perceived as having normal loudness even though hearing thresholds are elevated. The traditional interpretation of recruitment is that cochlear amplification has been reduced.

SARS-CoV-2 and its beta variant of concern infect human conjunctival epithelial cells and induce differential antiviral innate immune response.

Purpose: SARS-CoV-2 RNA has been detected in ocular tissues, but their susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection is unclear. Here, we tested whether SARS-CoV-2 can infect human conjunctival epithelial cells (hCECs) and induce innate immune response.

Methods: Conjunctival tissue from COVID-19 donors was used to detect SARS-CoV-2 spike and envelope proteins.

Surgical outcomes for esotropia in children with high accommodative convergence/accommodation ratio.

Purpose: To assess if high accommodative convergence/accommodation (AC/A) ratio impacts surgical outcomes in children with esotropia (ET), and evaluate the appropriate target angle in surgical dosing in the presence of high AC/A ratio.

Methods: A retrospective chart review identified patients who underwent primary bilateral medial rectus (BMR) recessions for ET. Patients were excluded if follow-up was ≤2 months.

Case Report: Phototherapeutic Keratectomy for Band Keratopathy Secondary to Chemo-Laser-Cryotherapy for Retinoblastoma.

To report the clinical outcomes of phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) for pediatric band keratopathy after treatment for retinoblastoma. A 5-year-old boy presented with a 2-year history of poor visual acuity and a horizontal gray-white band across the central cornea in the right eye. He was diagnosed with band keratopathy after chemo-laser-cryotherapy for retinoblastoma.

Pleiotropy of a Stickler syndrome genotype.

Purpose: To report a case of pleiotropy in the gene typically associated with Stickler Syndrome Type 1.

Observations: A patient with a confirmed mutation of the gene presented with an isolated retinitis pigmentosa phenotype.

Conclusions: The mutated gene in Stickler Syndrome Type 1 represents a site of pleiotropy, highlighting a change in phenotype across the same genotype potentially due to tissue alternative splicing.

Regulation of Rac1 transcription by histone and DNA methylation in diabetic retinopathy.

Cytosolic ROS, generated by NADPH oxidase 2 (Nox2) in diabetes, damage retinal mitochondria, which leads to the development of retinopathy. A small molecular weight G-protein essential for Nox2 activation, Rac1, is also transcriptionally activated via active DNA methylation-hydroxymethylation. DNA methylation is a dynamic process, and can also be regulated by histone modifications; diabetes alters retinal histone methylation machinery.

Integrative metabolomics and transcriptomics identifies itaconate as an adjunct therapy to treat ocular bacterial infection.

The eye is highly susceptible to inflammation-mediated tissue damage evoked during bacterial infection. However, mechanisms regulating inflammation to protect the eye remain elusive. Here, we used integrated metabolomics and transcriptomics to show that the immunomodulatory metabolite itaconate and immune-responsive gene 1 () are induced in bacterial ()-infected mouse eyes, bone-marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs), and Müller glia.

Comparison of Povidone-Iodine and Gentamicin Soak as Scleral Buckle Infection Prophylaxis.

Objective: To determine the best method of antimicrobial prophylaxis against implanted material-associated infections in the setting of scleral buckle surgery.

Design: Experimental study.

Participants: Scleral buckle elements were soaked in either gram-positive or polymicrobial broth, while control buckle elements were soaked in PBS only.

Povidone-Iodine Attenuates Viral Replication in Ocular Cells: Implications for Ocular Transmission of RNA Viruses.

Several RNA viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, can infect or use the eye as an entry portal to cause ocular or systemic diseases. Povidone-Iodine (PVP-I) is routinely used during ocular surgeries and eye banking as a cost-effective disinfectant due to its broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity, including against viruses. However, whether PVP-I can exert antiviral activities in virus-infected cells remains elusive.

Diabetic Retinopathy and NADPH Oxidase-2: A Sweet Slippery Road.

Diabetic retinopathy remains the leading cause of vision loss in working-age adults. The multi-factorial nature of the disease, along with the complex structure of the retina, have hindered in elucidating the exact molecular mechanism(s) of this blinding disease. Oxidative stress appears to play a significant role in its development and experimental models have shown that an increase in cytosolic Reacttive Oxygen Speies (ROS) due to the activation of NADPH oxidase 2 (Nox2), is an early event, which damages the mitochondria, accelerating loss of capillary cells.