Short-term Safety Evaluation of Resident-performed Intravitreal Injection

Purpose: This study evaluated the short-term safety of resident-performed intravitreal injections.Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 503 patients (503 eyes) treated for the first time in our hospital from January 2018 to October 2020 via intravitreal bevacizumab, ranibizumab, aflibercept, or triamcinolone acetonide injections by residents or retina specialists. In terms of short-term ophthalmic complications, patients were followed-up 1 day, 1 week, and 1 month after injection.Results: A total of 503 eyes of 503 patients were included. Intravitreal injections were given to 211 and 292 eyes by residents (the resident group) and retina specialists (the retina specialist group), respectively. There were no between-group differences in baseline characteristics except in terms of the indications for injection. Intraocular pressure elevation >5 mmHg occurred in two eyes (0.95%) in the resident group and five (1.71%) in the retina specialist group, but the difference was not statistically significant. Subconjunctival hemorrhage occurred in 29 eyes (13.74%) of the resident group and 32 eyes (10.96%) of the retina specialist group; again, the difference was not statistically significant. No case of noninfectious endophthalmitis occurred in the resident group but two (0.68%) cases occurred in the retina specialist group; again, the difference was not significant. There were two (0.95%) cases of infectious endophthalmitis in the resident group and one (0.34%) case in the retina specialist group; again, the difference was not significant. No corneal erosion, traumatic lens damage, vitreous hemorrhage, or retinal tearing or detachment were noted in either group.Conclusions: Resident-performed intravitreal injections appear to be safe.

Short-Term Efficacy and Safety of Cataract Surgery Combined with Iris-Fixated Phakic Intraocular Lens Explantation: A Multicentre Study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term efficacy and safety of cataract surgery for patients with iris-fixated phakic intraocular lenses (pIOLs). This study included 96 eyes of 91 patients. The changes in the logMAR uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), subjective spherical equivalent (SE), astigmatism, and endothelial cell density (ECD) were collected retrospectively. The intraoperative and postoperative complications also were investigated to assess the surgical safety. The preoperative UCVA and BCVA improved significantly at month 1 postoperatively, respectively (p < 0.001 for both comparisons). The efficacy and safety index at month 1 postoperatively were 1.02 ± 0.56 and 1.31 ± 0.64, respectively. The SE at month 1 postoperatively was significantly (p < 0.001) higher compared to preoperatively, whereas the subjective astigmatism did not differ significantly (p = 0.078). The ECD significantly decreased at month 1 (p < 0.001). The most common postoperative complication was intraocular pressure elevation exceeding 25 mmHg in 10.4% of eyes, which was controlled with medications in all cases until month 1 postoperatively. No intraoperative complications developed. Cataract surgeries for patients with iris-fixated pIOLs were performed safely with good visual outcomes.

Regional variation of corneal stromal deformation measured by high-frequency ultrasound elastography

The cornea’s mechanical response to intraocular pressure elevations may alter in ectatic diseases such as keratoconus. Regional variations of mechanical deformation in normal and keratoconus eyes during intraocular pressure elevation have not been well-characterized. We applied a high-frequency ultrasound elastography technique to characterize the regional deformation of normal and keratoconus human corneas through the full thickness of corneal stroma. A cross-section centered at the corneal apex in 11 normal and 2 keratoconus human donor eyes was imaged with high-frequency ultrasound during whole globe inflation from 5 to 30 mmHg. An ultrasound speckle tracking algorithm was used to compute local tissue displacements. Radial, tangential, and shear strains were mapped across the imaged cross-section. Strains in the central (1 mm surrounding apex) and paracentral (1 to 4 mm from apex) regions were analyzed in both normal and keratoconus eyes. Additional regional analysis was performed in the eye with severe keratoconus presenting significant thinning and scarring. Our results showed that in normal corneas, the central region had significantly smaller tangential stretch than the paracentral region, and that within the central region, the magnitudes of radial and shear strains were significantly larger than that of tangential strain. The eye with mild keratoconus had similar shear strain but substantially larger radial strains than normal corneas, while the eye with severe keratoconus had similar overall strains as in normal eyes but marked regional heterogeneity and large strains in the cone region. These findings suggested regional variation of mechanical responses to intraocular pressure elevation in both normal and keratoconus corneas, and keratoconus appeared to be associated with mechanical weakening in the cone region, especially in resisting radial compression. Comprehensive characterization of radial, tangential, and shear strains through corneal stroma may provide new insights to understand the biomechanical alterations in keratoconus.

Surgical outcomes of modified capsular tension ring and intraocular lens implantation in Marfan syndrome with ectopia lentis

Objective: To evaluate surgical outcomes of modified capsular tension ring (MCTR) and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in eyes of Marfan syndrome (MFS). Methods: This retrospective case series included MFS patients receiving MCTR transscleral fixation and IOL in-the-bag implantation. The MCTR was sutured to the sclera through a sulcus by 9–0 polypropylene with the modified knotless Z-suture technique. Main outcomes were visual acuity and postoperative complications. Results: A total of 109 MFS patients (187 eyes) had the surgery. Patients were 15.47 ± 14.36 years old and followed up for 10.07 ± 8.99 months. MCTR and IOL implantations were performed in 174 eyes (93.05%). The postoperative BCVA (LogMAR) was 0.24 ± 0.24 (1 month), 0.26 ± 0.20 (3 months), 0.22 ± 0.20 (6 months), 0.20 ± 0.19 (12 months) and 0.25 ± 0.32 (over 12 months), which was significantly better than preoperatively (0.63 ± 0.35) ( p < 0.001). Major complications included posterior capsular opacification (PCO) in 41 eyes (23.56%) and decentered anterior capsular opacification (ACO) in 15 eyes (8.62%). The mean occurrence time was 9.44 ± 7.08 and 8.87 ± 15.08 months respectively. Other complications included transient intraocular pressure elevation in seven eyes (4.02%), retinal detachment in two eyes (1.15%), cystoid macula edema in one eye (0.57%), and endophthalmitis in one eye (0.57%). No eye had suture breakage or IOL dislocation. Conclusions: The visual improvement is significant in eyes of MFS undergoing MCTR transscleral fixation and IOL in-the-bag implantation. The long-term monitoring of complications is warranted, especially in the first-two years.

Anti-fibrotic activity of a rho-kinase inhibitor restores outflow function and intraocular pressure homeostasis

Glucocorticoids are widely used as an ophthalmic medication. A common, sight-threatening adverse event of glucocorticoid usage is ocular hypertension, caused by dysfunction of the conventional outflow pathway. We report that netarsudil, a rho-kinase inhibitor, decreased glucocorticoid-induced ocular hypertension in patients whose intraocular pressures were poorly controlled by standard medications. Mechanistic studies in our established mouse model of glucocorticoid-induced ocular hypertension show that netarsudil both prevented and reduced intraocular pressure elevation. Further, netarsudil attenuated characteristic steroid-induced pathologies as assessed by quantification of outflow function and tissue stiffness, and morphological and immunohistochemical indicators of tissue fibrosis. Thus, rho-kinase inhibitors act directly on conventional outflow cells to prevent or attenuate fibrotic disease processes in glucocorticoid-induced ocular hypertension in an immune-privileged environment. Moreover, these data motivate the need for a randomized prospective clinical study to determine whether netarsudil is indeed superior to first-line anti-glaucoma drugs in lowering steroid-induced ocular hypertension.