To report the ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) and surgical findings in a subject with a syndrome of ectopia lentis, spontaneous filtering blebs, and craniofacial dysmorphism (Traboulsi syndrome).

Case report, using a 40-MHz UBM wide-field anterior segment scan and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT).

A 16-year-old orphan girl presented with visual loss to the level of 6/60 (20/200) bilaterally. She had a central corneal opacification with retrocorneal fibrosis. The anterior chamber was flat with a very poorly dilating pupil. The lens was central in location. Perilimbal conjunctival blebs were bilateral with an intraocular pressure of 8 mm Hg. UBM and anterior segment OCT revealed chronic apposition of the iris to the cornea with angle closure, delineation of the bleb tract and rarefaction of the zonules. The girl had abnormal facial features (a beaked nose and long face) with normal chromosomal studies, negative fluorescent in situ hybridization study for velocardiofacial syndrome and an absence of signs suggesting Marfan syndrome. Under general anesthesia, attempts at deepening the anterior chamber with sodium hyaluronate 3% led to a spontaneous dislocation of the lens into the anterior chamber, facilitating its aspiration. Deepening of the angle was found after lens removal. Retrocorneal fibrosis persisted after surgery, but the bleb height decreased. Best corrected visual acuity did not improve from the preoperative level beyond 6/60 (20/200) because of central retrocorneal fibrosis.

Early surgical removal of the lens is necessary in this syndrome to avoid irreversible corneal and trabecular meshwork damage in chronic apposition of the iris to the cornea. UBM can help in the delineation of the bleb tract and document resolution of angle closure after surgery.

To record ocular vascular events following injections of vascular endothelium growth factor (VEGF) antagonists.

Collaborative multicenter case series (48 cases), literature reviews (32 cases), and reports to the FDA (64 cases) of patients that had vascular occlusions during anti-VEGF therapy were collected and analyzed.

A total of 144 cases of ocular vascular events were identified, with these diagnosed a median of 15 days after anti-VEGF injection. The majority of patients had pre-existing risk factors for cardiovascular events and nine patients had a prior history of glaucoma. Mean visual acuity dropped by 6.4 lines with severe visual loss after injection to NLP (five eyes), LP (six eyes), and HM (two eyes). The overall risk of ocular vascular events following a VEGF antagonist injection was 0.108% in the general population and 2.61% in the diabetic population. Mean retinal arterial constriction after intravitreal bevacizumab in 13 eyes was 21% (standard deviation = 27%), and mean retinal venous constriction was 8% (standard deviation = 30%).

Ocular vascular events are rare during anti-VEGF therapy, but can lead to severe visual loss and may be caused by a number of factors including the vasoconstrictor effect of the drug, a post-injection rise of intraocular pressure, patient stress as a result of the procedure, and the patient's natural history of underlying ocular or systemic diseases. The diabetic population appears to have a tendency towards ocular vascular occlusions.

We treated 26 eyes of 25 young patients having a mean age of 30 years with intravitreal vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitor for choroidal new vessel (CNV) formation overlying choroidal osteoma over a mean follow-up of 26 months. Mean number of injections was 2.4 at 6 months, 3.2 at 12 months, and 5.5 at 24 months. CNV was subfoveal in 14 eyes, juxtafoveal in 5, extrafoveal in 5, and peripapillary in 2. By paired comparison, mean decrease from baseline was 119.7 microns at 6 months (n = 15; P = 0.001), 105.3 microns at 1 year (n = 10; P = 0.03), and 157.6 microns at 2 years (n = 7; P = 0.08). BCVA improved by 3.3 lines at 6 months after therapy (n = 26; P < 0.001), 2.8 lines (n = 20; P = 0.01) at 1 year, and 3.1 lines (n = 13; P = 0.049) at 2 years. We conclude that intravitreal anti-VEGF injections improve vision in majority of eyes with CNV from choroidal osteoma.

To track citation patterns in ophthalmic journals and contrast them with major medical and surgical journals from 1997 to 2009. In addition, we want to familiarize the ophthalmic community with bibliometrics indices.

Data retrieved from Institute for Scientific Information and related websites include 2-year journal impact factor JIF, 5-year impact, Eigenfactor score, H-factor, Article Influence score, and SCImago factor.

JIF rose steadily around 10% annually in ophthalmic journals, and likewise for major medical and surgical journals. JIF correlated with recent bibliometric indicators like 5-year impact, H index, and SCImago factor but not with Eigenfactor. Ophthalmic journals publishing reviews, basic science, or large volume on broad range of topics ranked at the top for JIF, while subspecialty journals tended to have low JIF. JIF of subspecialty journal Retina rose from 0.740 (rank 23) in 2000 to 3.088 in 2007 (rank 6).

JIF tends to rise annually by 10% in medical, surgical, and ophthalmic fields. Journals publishing reviews, basic science, or large volume on broad range of topics rank at the top for JIF. The rapid rise of JIF for Retina unlike other subspecialties that stayed status quo is multifactorial: Change in editorial policies (introduction of review articles and omission of case reports) and technological advances in the retinal field.

The BrightOcular® implants are the newest model of cosmetic iris devices that are currently advertised as safe. The previous generation known as NewColorIris® have had severe ocular side effects and were subsequently withdrawn from the market. There is little literature on the safety profile of BrightOcular® implants.

Herein we describe two cases with varying degrees of ocular tolerability. The first case had a normal ocular exam 1 year after implantation, whereas the second case had unilateral severe corneal edema requiring explantation of the iris device and Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty 9 months after bilateral implantation.

These two cases attest to the unpredictability of the results of these cosmetic surgeries. Patients should be counseled about the vision-threatening complications of iris implants.

High-resolution ocular coherence computed tomography enables unprecedented visualization of the retinal microarchitecture. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of high-resolution ocular coherence tomography findings in the healed form of photic post-cataract retinopathy.

A 76-year-old Caucasian man complained of paracentral scotoma, persisting for six weeks after cataract surgery.

Ocular coherence tomography demonstrated a localized juxta-foveal area of retinal atrophy involving the photoreceptor layer, and the retinal pigment epithelium layer.

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and histopathology features of commotio retinae (CR) have been established, but alterations of the microvascular macular capillary plexus on OCT angiography (OCTA) has not been previously studied. We present a 46-year-old man who sustained a tennis ball injury to the right eye with visual acuity reduction to 20/30 and grey-white deep macular discoloration, suggestive of CR. Spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) showed increased reflectivity and thickness of the ellipsoid zone (junction of photoreceptor inner and outer segments). OCTA revealed no apparent microvascular alterations (right versus left eye) in the foveal avascular zone superficial (0.42 vs. 0.43 mm2) and deep (0.45 vs. 0.44 mm2), superficial foveal capillary density (34.1 vs. 32.6%), and superficial parafoveal capillary density (55.2 vs. 52.2%). Deep macular capillary plexus and choriocapillaris were qualitatively comparable between the two eyes. At 2 months' follow-up, SD-OCT had normalized. CR is characterized by disruption of the ellipsoid zone without detectable alteration of the capillary plexuses.

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) is a monogenic autoinflammatory disease presenting as sporadic paroxysmal attacks of fever and abdominal pain. The inflammation of serosal spaces, joints, and skin is caused by the production of an abnormal protein called pyrin. Ocular pathology is scarce in FMF.

Herein we describe a case of FMF presenting with painful loss of vision in the left eye. Serous macular detachment assessed by OCT, leaky pinpoint subretinal foci temporal to the fovea examined by fluorescein angiography, scleral and choroidal thickening seen on ultrasonography, and a negative systemic workup for vasculitis established the diagnosis of FMF-related posterior scleritis. The posterior scleritis responded promptly to moderate-dose oral corticosteroids with return of vision to baseline and resolution of the subretinal fluid.

FMF rarely involves the posterior pole. Visual loss in FMF results from either posterior scleritis or posterior uveitis. A high degree of suspicion of posterior scleritis is warranted in female patients with known FMF presenting with cloudy serous macular detachment.

This 75-year-old woman had phacomorphic angle closure, dense nuclear sclerosis, deep set eye, miotic pupil and tight corneal wound during phacoemulsification. Phacoemulsification wound burn was noted at the end of surgery. Tenon was harvested from the inferior conjunctiva, placed over the gape and anchored by two radial corneoscleral 10-0 nylon. Ten days later, anterior optical coherence tomography showed good wound apposition and sutures were removed with visual recovery to 20/25 (6/7.5) without astigmatism.

Reactive arthritis is associated with conjunctivitis or iritis. Rarely reactive arthritis is accompanied by permanent visual loss from macular infarction or foveal scarring. We present the case of a rheumatologist who had a sudden onset of skin lesions, arthritis of several joints and bilateral visual loss. Most of these manifestations resolved after a course of oral corticosteroids. However he was left with decreased vision in the left eye and multiple lesions in the fovea over a follow-up of 2 years.

To study the anatomic outcome of leaving vitreous cortex remnants (VCR) during pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

The study comprised patients with RRD who had PPV by a single surgeon between January 2019 and December 2020 and followed for 6 months. After intravitreal injection of triamcinolone acetonide, the topographic pattern of VCR at the periphery (p) and macula (m) was divided into 2 types by extent: complete or 4 quadrants (pVCR4Q), and between 2 and 4 quadrants ≥2 quadrants (pVCR>2Q), or by location >1 inferior retinal quadrant (pVCR>1InfQ), and at the macula (mVCR). Anatomical failure or retinal re-detachment within 6 months after surgery was the primary outcome measures. The occurrence of grade C proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) and epiretinal membrane (ERM) were used as secondary outcome indicators.

A 6-month prospective follow-up was performed on 103 patients. pVCR4Q was detected in 31 eyes, pVCR>2Q in 40 eyes, pVCR>1InfQ in 40 eyes and mVCR in 54 eyes. Recurrent RRD developed in 9 (8.7%) eyes, PVR grade C in 6 (5.8%) eyes and ERM in 11 (10.7%) eyes. According to multivariate regression analysis, the existence of any type of VCR did not correlate with anatomical failure, PVR or ERM.

The initial success rate of PPV and the growth of PVR or ERM do not appear to be impacted by keeping VCR.

To present a case series on the use of dexmedetomidine (Precedex) sedation in painful posterior segment surgery performed under topical anesthesia, similar to its use in cataract surgery.

A prospective review of cases that had posterior segment surgery under topical anesthesia and that needed sedation. Dexmedetomidine-loading infusion was 1 mcg/kg over 10 minutes, followed by a maintenance infusion (0.5 mcg/kg/h).

NINE PATIENTS WERE OPERATED ON UNDER TOPICAL ANESTHESIA: two scleral buckle, five cryopexy, one scleral laceration, and one pars plana vitrectomy with very dense laser therapy in an albinotic fundus; six patients had retinal detachment. General or local anesthesia were not possible due to medical or ocular morbidities, use of anticoagulants, or the surgery plan changed intraoperatively when new pathologies were discovered. The surgeon achieved good surgical control in eight of nine cases, with one patient having ocular and bodily movements that were disturbing. Six patients had no pain, while three patients reported mild pain. No adverse effects were noted and all patients had successful surgical outcomes. Heart rate, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation were well controlled throughout the procedures. The most frequent adverse reactions of dexmedetomidine reported in the literature in less than 5% (hypotension, bradycardia, and dry mouth) were not recorded in the present study.

When a surgeon has planned to do a pars plana vitrectomy under topical anesthesia and the surgical situation dictates the addition of cryopexy, scleral buckle, or intense laser retinopexy, then sedation with dexmedetomidine can help in the control of ocular pain in the majority of cases, with good intraoperative and immediate postoperative hemodynamic control with the possibility of supplemental rescue analgesia. Dexmedetomidine, a sedative analgesic, is devoid of respiratory depressant effects, and its use in posterior segment surgery under topical anesthesia is reported here for the first time.

We present the case of a 46-year-old woman with sympathetic ophthalmia occurring 27 years after complicated juvenile cataract surgeries. The patient declined systemic immunosuppressive therapy. Dexamethasone implant in the sympathizing eye allowed good visual recovery up to 18 months of follow-up with a total of 6 implants. Intraocular pressure rise was controlled medically. This is a unique report of sympathetic ophthalmia treated solely with slow-release dexamethasone implant without systemic therapies.

Hemorrhagic retinal macrocysts are extremely rare retinal lesions that can be mistaken for malignancy with subsequent enucleation. Such a case was diagnosed, by a retina specialist based on ultrasonography, as a choroidal melanoma with exudative retinal detachment and the patient was advised to have brachytherapy.

A 15-year-old Caucasian boy suffered sudden visual loss in the left eye and exam revealed vitreous hemorrhage. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed the mass as hyperintense on T1-weighted images and isointense on T2-weighted images with no enhancement after gadolinium dye. Following scleral buckle, the hemorrhagic retinal macrocyst collapsed gradually over a period of 5 weeks. The patient recovered visual acuity of 6/7.5 at the 1-year follow up.

A hemorrhagic retinal macrocyst can be erroneously diagnosed as choroidal melanoma. Hints for the presence of retinal macrocysts include: egg shape; cyst wall configuration; no attachment to the choroid; and presence of retinal detachment.

The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of decreasing the number of intravitreal anti-VEGF by peripheral pan-retinal photocoagulation (PPRP) in managing diabetic macular edema (DME) in a subcategory of patients who cannot comply to strict anti-VEGF follow-up protocols.

This is a pilot prospective study. Consecutive patients with naïve DME were offered the choice of treatment and extend intravitreal ziv-aflibercept if they showed willingness for good compliance or PPRP with modified pro re nata intravitreal injections.

Six eyes of 3 patients had PPRP versus 4 eyes of 4 patients had injections only. The number of anti-VEGF injections was markedly decreased when PPRP was administered from a mean number of injections of 16.8 (range 13-21; mean follow-up 24.3 months) to a mean number of 4.5 (range 0-8; mean follow-up 33.7 months). Mean initial central macular thickness (CMT) was 462.0 mm in the injection only group vs 457.3 mm in the PPRP group. Mean final CMT was 462.0 in the injection only group vs 350.0 in the PPRP group. Baseline and final mean logMAR (Snellen equivalent) best-corrected visual acuity was initially and finally 0.84 (20/137) and 0.60 (20/80) in the injection only group and 0.70 (20/100) and 0.69 (20/98) in the PPRP group, respectively. The monthly cost for the PPRP group was one-third of the monthly cost for the injection only group.

PPRP allowed for a decrease in the number of intravitreal anti-VEGF injections in selected DME patients (sick, difficult to ambulate, financial burden, and fear of injections).

To present a new concept of self-optical coherence tomography (OCT) and self-OCT angiography.

The operator sits in the patient seat and manipulates the instrument body via the joystick with the dominant hand, while the dominant index is ready to press the capture button and while focusing on the fixation target. One senior ophthalmologist judged various OCT machines for ease of self-scan during a major ophthalmic convention. Separately, self-scans were also captured using a single OCT machine by one senior ophthalmologist and 5 junior optometrists and the scans were analyzed for both centration and image quality value (IQV), and compared to regular scans done by an operator.

Ten available OCT machines were tested for their ability to allow self-OCT. Machines that had one or more features of auto-alignment, auto-focus, and auto-shoot were ideal for self-OCT or self-OCT angiography. Self-scans done by the ophthalmologist (total 27 scans of right eye, mean IQV = 32.6, and 24 left eyes, mean IQV = 37.3, done over 9 months) and 5 optometrists (total 24 scans, mean 34.8 done in one session) were comparable to scans (total 11, mean IQV = 38.1) done by an operator for image quality. Decentration was very common in self-scans of the macula (37% right eye and 46% left eye) versus 0% for scans of the right eye done by an operator.

Self-OCT scans of the macular region can be done with good image quality but are often decentered. Advantages include privacy, potential use by ophthalmic health professionals, airspace station officers, and possible future home self-imaging of macula.

We present 2 cases of anterior chamber ointment with evidence of progressive endothelial cell loss. In both cases, an anterior segment optical coherence tomography (OCT) was similar to an OCT of a tobramycin-dexamethasone ointment placed on a pen tip. An anterior segment OCT also demonstrated the direct contact of the globule with the corneal endothelium. A gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis documented the similarity to tobramycin-dexamethasone ointment in 1 case. Anterior segment OCT can help in confirming the diagnosis. Corneal endothelial injury is a continuous process, and its clinical manifestation is related to the size of the globule, the initial endothelium count, and the duration of ointment contact, which is related to supine positioning. It is advisable to avoid ointments in the immediate postoperative period, especially in corneal wounds larger than 3 mm.

A 20-year-old woman, a registered nurse, presented with best-corrected visual acuity of 6/15 (20/50) due to bilateral extensive persistent pupillary membrane. Sequential argon laser photocoagulation of the iris strands at the pupillary membrane iris collarette followed by neodymium:YAG laser lysis resulted in partial clearing of the central visual axis without bleeding. Best-corrected visual acuity improved to 6/9 (20/30) bilaterally without complications noted 1 year after combined laser therapy.

To determine the patient-related factors that contribute to surgeon stress during phacoemulsification cataract extraction (PCE) performed under unassisted topical anesthesia.

This is a prospective study of perceived surgeon stress during phacoemulsification by a single surgeon of consecutive patients undergoing PCE. At the conclusion of each procedure, the surgeon recorded the perceived stress according to the following three indices: surgeon score, qualitative score (yes or no), and total score (sum of itemized causes of stress). Patient variables included in the analysis included gender, age, diabetes mellitus, morbid obesity, intake of oral alpha blockers, floppy iris, laterality, pseudo-exfoliation, intraocular lens power, and initial visual acuity.

During the 10-year study, 1097 eyes underwent surgery. The following patient variables were seen frequently: floppy iris syndrome (92), pseudo-exfoliation (72), and morbid obesity (36). Surgeon identified stress was reported after 250 procedures. On multivariable analysis, the following patient characteristics were associated with surgeon stress: age >80 years; morbid obesity; floppy iris syndrome; severe nuclear sclerosis; and poor baseline distance corrected visual acuity.

Several ocular and systemic patient-related characteristics contribute to surgeon stress during PCE.

A middle-aged poorly controlled diabetic man developed left-sided orbital and facial swelling several days after extraction of a left upper wisdom tooth. The clinical impression was that of acute dacryocystitis. Opening the skin above the lacrimal sac failed to reveal an inflamed sac establishing the diagnosis of deep facial cellulitis. Complete resolution occurred few weeks after systemic antibiotics and repeated dental drainage of the tooth abscess.

Newer generation ophthalmologists practicing in the developed world are not very familiar with some tropical ocular diseases due to the absence of reports in the ophthalmic literature over the past thirty years. Because of world globalization or due to influx of immigrants from sub-Saharan Africa, exotic retinal diseases are being encountered more often in ophthalmology clinics.

A multicenter case series of chorioretinitis or optic neuritis with obscure etiology that used serial multimodal imaging.

Four cases qualified with the diagnosis of presumed ocular onchocerciasis based on their residence near fast rivers in endemic areas, multimodal imaging, long term follow-up showing progressive disease and negative workup for other diseases. Characteristic findings include peripapillary choroiditis with optic neuritis or atrophy, subretinal tracts of the microfilaria, progressive RPE atrophy around heavily pigmented multifocal chorioretinal lesions of varying shapes, subretinal white or crystalline dots, and response to ivermectin. Typical skin findings are often absent in such patients with chorioretinitis rendering the diagnosis more challenging.

Familiarity with the myriad ocular findings of onchocerciasis, and a high-degree of suspicion in subjects residing in endemic areas can help in the correct diagnosis and implementation of appropriate therapy. Onchocercal chorioretinitis is a slow, insidious, progressive, and prolonged polymorphous disease.

When branch retinal artery occlusion is linked to prepapillary artery loop, is a systemic work-up necessary?

Case Report and literature review. The databases searched were MEDLINE OVID, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase. The search was for all relevant articles published from inception until October 31, 2024.

A total of 33 cases of prepapillary artery loop with retinal artery occlusion were reviewed. Median age at diagnosis was 24 years (range 10-64). Twenty five cases had no systemic disease while 9 had unrelated systemic disorder. Systemic workup was carried in 17 cases and was negative. The location of the branch retinal artery occlusion was inferior in 21 cases, superior in 6 cases, and combined superior and inferior in 2 cases. Paracentral acute middle maculopathy was noted in 2 cases. Precipitating factors included exercise in 4 cases, head trauma in 2 cases, blunt ocular trauma, severe sneezing, ocular rubbing and sun exposure in 1 case each.

A branch retinal artery occlusion linked to a prepapillary loop appears as a distinct ocular condition in young healthy individuals. There is no definite need for additional diagnostic testing in such patients with a negative systemic history.

Our purpose is to review the closure time and optical coherence tomography (OCT) biomarkers that result in the non-surgical repair of idiopathic full-thickness macular holes (IFTMH). Our methodology consisted of a comprehensive literature review of the nonsurgical resolution of IFTMH followed by the calculation of the estimated closure time using the structural equation model. Forty-nine studies were found eligible yielding 181 eyes with IFTMH: 81.1% being small holes (< 250 µm) with a median diameter of 166 µm. Final vision (mean 20/41) was related to initial vision (mean 20/65) and mean age (67 years). The hole diameter was correlated with initial vision and closure time (mean 3.9 months). Closure time was related to hole diameter and initial vision in the following algorithm: Closure time (month)= - 0.057 + 0.008 diameter (µm) + 0.021 age (year) + 2.153 initial vision (logMAR). Biomarkers by OCT for self-closure included in decreasing frequency: pointed edge, de-turgescence of cystic macular edema (CME) with reversal of bascule bridge, and vitreomacular traction (VMT) release. The crucial function of Muller cell bridging in sealing the hole attests to its exceptional capacity for regeneration. After the hole has begun to close; however in less than 5%, a delayed restoration of the ellipsoid layer or a persistent outer foveal defect may prevent visual recovery and reopening of the hole is possible. In conclusion, eyes with small-size IFTMH and good baseline vision can have the additional option of close OCT monitoring for biomarkers of self-sealing biomarkers. When rehabilitative activity seems to be lacking, surgery is therefore mandatory.