Best clinical practice in the treatment of juvenile systemic sclerosis: expert panel guidance - the result of the International Hamburg Consensus Meeting December 2022.

Introduction: Juvenile systemic sclerosis (jSSc) is an orphan disease with a prevalence of 3 in 1,000,000 children. Currently there is only one consensus treatment guideline concerning skin, pulmonary and vascular involvement for jSSc, the jSSc SHARE (Single Hub and Access point for pediatric Rheumatology in Europe) initiative, which was based on data procured up to 2014. Therefore, an update of these guidelines, with a more recent literature and expert experience, and extension of the guidance to more aspects of the disease is needed.

Proposed Response Parameters for Twelve-Month Drug Trial in Juvenile Systemic Sclerosis: Results of the Hamburg International Consensus Meetings.

Objective: Juvenile systemic sclerosis (SSc) is an orphan disease, associated with high morbidity and mortality. New treatment strategies are much needed, but clearly defining appropriate outcomes is necessary if successful therapies are to be developed. Our objective here was to propose such outcomes.

Shotgun metagenomic sequencing in culture negative microbial keratitis.

Purpose: To evaluate the microbiota of culture negative Corneal Impression Membrane (CIM) microbial keratitis samples with the use of shotgun metagenomics analysis.

Methods: DNA of microbial keratitis samples were collected with CIM and extracted using the MasterPure™ Complete DNA and RNA Purification Kit (Epicentre). DNA was fragmented by sonication into fragments of 300 to 400 base pairs (bp) using Bioruptor® (Diagenode, Belgium) and then used as a template for library preparation.

Less is more: new one-step intracameral chemotherapy technique.

To describe the feasibility of a new one-step approach to aspirate the aqueous and apply melphalan in a single-go without repeated entries into the anterior chamber. This retrospective non-comparative study was conducted at a referral center and included 12 patients. The one-step approach is described in a step-wise manner.

Delayed Re-epithelialization After Epithelium-Off Crosslinking: Predictors and Impact on Keratoconus Progression.

To investigate the demographic and corneal factors associated with the occurrence of delayed reepithelialization (DRE) after epithelium-off crosslinking (epi-off CXL). Retrospective case series. A chart review was performed to identify patients treated with epi-off CXL.

A New Surgical Technique to Deliver Riboflavin Beneath Corneal Epithelium: The Corneal Cross-Linking Epi-Pocket.

Purpose: To describe a new technique to deliver riboflavin into the corneal stroma during Corneal Cross-Linking (CXL) without the removal of corneal epithelium.

Methods: Keratoconus patients underwent CXL for progressive keratoconus. Riboflavin was delivered by manually creating an epithelial pocket (CXL Epi-Pocket).

Tips, Tricks, and Guides in Descemet Membrane Endothelial Keratoplasty Learning Curve.

Lamellar keratoplasty is fast becoming the most popular form of corneal transplantation. The adoption of Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) in the management of Fuchs endothelial dystrophy and pseudophakic bullous keratopathy is partly responsible for this shift in the paradigm of management of corneal pathology. The learning curve of DMEK, however, has been proven to be much steeper than previous endothelial keratoplasty procedures.

Globe salvage treatment in group D and group E retinoblastoma.

Globe salvage marks the treatment success of retinoblastoma. To evaluate four treatment strategies in group D and group E retinoblastoma. Retrospective case series in a tertiary hospital.

Solar retinopathy: a new setting of red, green, and blue channels.

Purpose: To introduce a new color imaging technique using improved settings of red, green, and blue channels for improved delineation of retinal damage in patients with solar retinopathy.

Method: A retrospective case series of patients with poor vision secondary to solar retinopathy were analyzed. All patients underwent visual acuity, refraction, and dilated fundus examination.

CFSE: A New Method for Identifying Human Limbal Stem Cells and Following Their Migration in Human Cornea.

Aim: To develop a method capable of identifying human corneal limbal stem cells (LSCs) and follow their proliferation and migration in the epithelium.

Materials And Methods: Ten fresh matched pairs of cadaveric normal human corneas were obtained from donors. Carboxyfluorescein diacetate succinimidyl ester (CFSE) was used to target LSCs.