Endophthalmitis Caused by : Clinical Characteristics, Outcomes and Antibiotic Susceptibility.

endophthalmitis is a severe vision-threatening disease. This study aimed to analyze the clinical characteristics, antibiotic susceptibility, and risk factors for poor final visual acuity (VA) and enucleation or evisceration (ENEV) outcomes of endophthalmitis patients. We retrospectively reviewed 52 cases (52 eyes) of culture-proven endophthalmitis at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center from January 2013 to December 2023.

A glaucoma micro-stent with diverging channel and stepped shaft structure based on microfluidic template processing technology.

Background: Minimally invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS) has experienced a surge in popularity in recent years. Glaucoma micro-stents serve as the foundation for these minimally invasive procedures. Nevertheless, the utilization of these stents still presents certain short-term and long-term complications.

Association of vision and hearing impairment and dietary diversity among the oldest old in China: findings from the Chinese longitudinal healthy longevity survey.

Background: The presence of sensory impairment among older age cohorts exerts a significant impact on both individuals and society generally. Although the impact of dietary patterns on health is vital across all stages of life, there still a paucity of comprehensive research on the association between dietary variety and sensory impairments.

Objective: To investigate the potential relationship between dietary diversity and the prevalence of visual and hearing impairment or dual sensory impairments (visual and hearing impairment) among the oldest old population.

Characteristics of myopic maculopathy in Chinese children and adolescents with high myopia.

Aims: To investigate the characteristics of myopic maculopathy among highly myopic Chinese children and adolescents and explore its associated risk factors.

Methods: Children and adolescents aged 7-17 years with spherical equivalent (SE) ≤ -6.00 dioptres (D) were recruited.

NATURAL COURSE OF AGE-RELATED RETENTIONAL AVASCULAR PIGMENT EPITHELIAL DETACHMENT: Support For The Lipid Barrier Hypothesis.

Purpose: Retentional pigment epithelial detachment (PED) associated with age-related scattered hypofluorescent spots on late-phase indocyanine green angiography (ASHS-LIA) is hypothesized to be caused by Bruch membrane's lipid barrier. This study aimed to report the natural course of retentional PED and evaluate the relationship between retentional PED evolution and ASHS-LIA.

Methods: Patients with treatment-naïve retentional PED were enrolled and observed every 3 months for at least 12 months.

Targeted metabolomic analysis of serum free fatty acids: Lipidomics disturbance in patients with superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis.

This study aimed to identify and quantify free fatty acids (FFAs), secretory phospholipase A2 group IIa (sPLA2-IIa) and cytosolic phospholipase A2 (cPLA2) in serum of superior limbic keratoconjunctivitis (SLK) patients and explored the association between FFAs, sPLA2-IIa and cPLA2 variations and SLK. Targeted metabolomic analysis of FFAs in serum was performed by gas chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) analysis on 16 SLK patients (43.88 ± 7.

Engineered Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Exosomes-Loaded Microneedles Improve Corneal Healing after Chemical Injury.

Corneal alkali burns represent a prevalent ophthalmic emergency with the potential to induce blindness. The main contributing mechanisms include excessive inflammation and delayed wound healing. Existing clinical therapies have limitations, promoting the exploration of alternative methods that offer improved efficacy and reduced side effects.

Enhancement of the Performance of Large Language Models in Diabetes Education through Retrieval-Augmented Generation: Comparative Study.

Background: Large language models (LLMs) demonstrated advanced performance in processing clinical information. However, commercially available LLMs lack specialized medical knowledge and remain susceptible to generating inaccurate information. Given the need for self-management in diabetes, patients commonly seek information online.

Circular RNA-based therapy provides sustained and robust neuroprotection for retinal ganglion cells.

Ocular neurodegenerative diseases like glaucoma lead to progressive retinal ganglion cell (RGC) loss, causing irreversible vision impairment. Neuroprotection is needed to preserve RGCs across debilitating conditions. Nerve growth factor (NGF) protein therapy shows efficacy, but struggles with limited bioavailability and a short half-life.

OCTA quantitative assessment of exercise-induced variations and recovery in retinal microvasculature of healthy subjects with or without masks.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of exercise and mask-wearing on retinal microvasculature using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods: A total of 30 healthy volunteers were enrolled and tasked with physical exercise to reach 75-80 % maximum heart rates. Swept-source OCTA was performed on the macular region and optic nerve head (ONH) in participants with no mask, surgical mask, or N95 mask at quiescent conditions (Step 1) and 0 min, 10 min, 20 min, and 30 min post-exercise (Steps 2-5, respectively).

Eyesi direct ophthalmoscope simulator: an effective training tool for medical undergraduates.

Introduction: Non-ophthalmologists often lack sufficient operational training to use a direct ophthalmoscope proficiently, resulting in a global deficit of basic ophthalmological skills among general practitioners. This deficiency hampers the timely diagnosis, referral, and intervention of patients. Consequently, the optimization of teaching tools and methods to enhance teaching efficiency is imperative.

Changes in visual performance after implantation of different intraocular lenses.

Aim: To evaluate the trending visual performance of different intraocular lenses (IOLs) over time after implantation.

Methods: Ninety-one patients received cataract surgery with implantations of monofocal (Mon) IOLs, segmental refractive (SegRef) IOLs, diffractive (Dif) IOLs, and extended-depth-of-focus (EDoF) IOLs were included. The aberrations and optical quality collected with iTrace and OQAS within postoperative 6mo were followed and compared.

Deciphering the impact of aging on splenic endothelial cell heterogeneity and immunosenescence through single-cell RNA sequencing analysis.

Background: Aging is associated with significant structural and functional changes in the spleen, leading to immunosenescence, yet the detailed effects on splenic vascular endothelial cells (ECs) and their immunomodulatory roles are not fully understood. In this study, a single-cell RNA (scRNA) atlas of EC transcriptomes from young and aged mouse spleens was constructed to reveal age-related molecular changes, including increased inflammation and reduced vascular development and also the potential interaction between splenic endothelial cells and immune cells.

Results: Ten clusters of splenic endothelial cells were identified.

Development and Evaluation of a Retrieval-Augmented Large Language Model Framework for Ophthalmology.

Importance: Although augmenting large language models (LLMs) with knowledge bases may improve medical domain-specific performance, practical methods are needed for local implementation of LLMs that address privacy concerns and enhance accessibility for health care professionals.

Objective: To develop an accurate, cost-effective local implementation of an LLM to mitigate privacy concerns and support their practical deployment in health care settings.

Design, Setting, And Participants: ChatZOC (Sun Yat-Sen University Zhongshan Ophthalmology Center), a retrieval-augmented LLM framework, was developed by enhancing a baseline LLM with a comprehensive ophthalmic dataset and evaluation framework (CODE), which includes over 30 000 pieces of ophthalmic knowledge.

Visualization enhancement by PCA-based image fusion for skin burns assessment in polarization-sensitive OCT.

Polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) is a functional imaging tool for measuring tissue birefringence characteristics. It has been proposed as a potentially non-invasive technique for evaluating skin burns. However, the PS-OCT modality usually suffers from high system complexity and relatively low tissue-specific contrast, which makes assessing the extent of burns in skin tissue difficult.

Minocycline prevents photoreceptor degeneration in Retinitis pigmentosa through modulating mitochondrial homeostasis.

Minocycline, a broad-spectrum tetracycline antibiotic, has been shown to possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects in various neurodegenerative diseases. However, its specific effects on retinitis pigmentosa (RP) have not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, the objective of this study was to explore the potential role of minocycline in treating RP.

Association between three-dimensional morphological features and functional indicators of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

Purpose: To investigate the correlation between morphological lesions and functional indicators in eyes with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).

Methods: This was a prospective observational study of treatment-naïve nAMD eyes. Various morphological lesions and impaired retinal structures were manually measured at baseline and month-3 in three-dimensional optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images, including the volumes (mm) of macular neovascularization (MNV), avascular subretinal hyperreflective material (avascular SHRM), subretinal fluid (SRF), intraretinal fluid (IRF), serous pigment epithelial detachment (sPED) and the impaired area (mm) of ellipsoid zone (EZ), external limiting membrane (ELM) and outer nuclear layer (ONL).

PHLDA1-PRDM1 mediates the effect of lentiviral vectors on fate-determination of human retinal progenitor cells.

Lentiviral vectors have markedly enhanced gene therapy efficiency in treating congenital diseases, but their long-term safety remains controversial. Most gene therapies for congenital eye diseases need to be carried out at early ages, yet the assessment of related risks to ocular development posed by lentiviral vectors is challenging. Utilizing single-cell transcriptomic profiling on human retinal organoids, this study explored the impact of lentiviral vectors on the retinal development and found that lentiviral vectors can cause retinal precursor cells to shift toward photoreceptor fate through the up-regulation of key fate-determining genes such as PRDM1.

Comprehensive and deep evaluation of structural variation detection pipelines with third-generation sequencing data.

Background: Structural variation (SV) detection methods using third-generation sequencing data are widely employed, yet accurately detecting SVs remains challenging. Different methods often yield inconsistent results for certain SV types, complicating tool selection and revealing biases in detection.

Results: This study comprehensively evaluates 53 SV detection pipelines using simulated and real data from PacBio (CLR: Continuous Long Read, CCS: Circular Consensus Sequencing) and Nanopore (ONT) platforms.

Comprehensive identification of pathogenic variants in retinoblastoma by long- and short-read sequencing.

Retinoblastoma (RB) is the most common intraocular malignancy in childhood. The causal variants in RB are mostly characterized by previously used short-read sequencing (SRS) analysis, which has technical limitations in identifying structural variants (SVs) and phasing information. Long-read sequencing (LRS) technology has advantages over SRS in detecting SVs, phased genetic variants, and methylation.

Outcomes of astigmatic correction with and without two different cyclotorsion compensation methods in small incision lenticule extraction surgery.

Purpose: To compare the astigmatic correction outcomes of small incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery with or without two different cyclotorsion compensation methods.

Methods: This is a prospective randomized clinical trial. Patients with myopic astigmatism that underwent SMILE surgery were randomly divided into static cyclotorsion compensated group (SCC group), slit-lamp group and control group.