Prevalence of focal lamina cribrosa defects in eyes with pachychoroid disease spectrum

AIM: To determine the prevalence of focal lamina cribrosa (LC) defect among patients with pachychoroid disease spectrum (PDS) in the absence of peripapillary retinoschisis. METHODS: This retrospective, cross-sectional study comprised of 180 patients with PDS, including polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), central serous chorioretinopathy, and pachychoroidal neovasculopathy. Medical records and optic nerve head evaluations conducted using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography with enhanced depth imaging were reviewed. As a control group, 236 patients who underwent ophthalmologic evaluation for vitreous floaters, without obvious ocular disease, were also included. RESULTS: The mean age of the PDS group, which included 118 male patients (65.6%), was 57.4±11.1y. There was no significant difference between the two groups in age (P=0.710) or sex (P=0.248). Six patients (3.3%) in the PDS group and none in the control group showed focal LC defect (P=0.318). Among the six patients with focal LC defect in the PDS group, four eyes had PCV, one eye was the fellow eye of a PCV eye, and one eye had pachychoroidal neovasculopathy. CONCLUSION: Focal LC defect can be defected in patients with PDS in the absence of peripapillary retinoschisis. However, the prevalence of focal LC defect was not different significantly between PDS patients and those who did not have PDS.

Vascular and vegetative factors of glaucoma attack

Purpose. To study the involvement of vascular and vegetative factors in the pathogenesis of glaucoma attack. Material and methods. 12 patients (24 eyes) aged 49 to 82 — 5 men and 7 women, including 3 patients with acute glaucoma and 9 patients with subacute glaucoma were subjected to an ophthalmological examination that included visometry, tonometry, automated static perimetry, OCT and OCT angiography. They were also tested for heart rate variability (HRV) using a Polar heart rate monitor, and for plasminogen content and products of fibrin/fibrinogen degradation in the tear. For comparison, the contralateral eyes of these patients were examined. Results. In the eyes with an acute glaucoma attack, the vascular network was noticeably weakened, especially in the area of the deep peripapillary vascular plexus at the lamina cribrosa level, and focal capillary loss was observed. The peripapillary density of the deep vascular plexus in the eyes with an acute attack was 33.0 ± 5.6 % (М ± m), which was significantly (p < 0.01) lower as compared to 50.0 ± 4.7 % in the unaffected eyes. This indicator correlated with the thickness of the ganglion cell complex (GCC) (p < 0.01). In unaffected eyes, no correlations were found between these glaucoma-related parameters. A significant amount of fibrin/fibrinogen degradation products was found in the tear of glaucoma patients, which may point to a violation of blood circulation in the optic nerve vessels. It has been established that glaucoma attack occurs with increased activity of sympathetic regulation of blood flow. Conclusion. When monitoring this contingent of patients, it is essential to determine the sympathetic-parasympathetic status of the patient. Taking into account the vascular component of the condition, it is expedient to introduce the necessary additions into its treatment plans

Pathogenetic Justification of a New View on the Treatment of Angle-Closure Glaucoma

Purpose. To study the effectiveness of vascular, anti-inflammatory and fibrinolytic therapy, to conduct a comparative assessment with treatment without vascular therapy in patients with angle-closure (ACG) and mixed glaucoma.Methods. A total of 55 patients with angle-closure and mixed glaucoma, mainly with hypermetropic refraction of varying degrees, were examined: 7 people with acute glaucoma attack, 6 people with subacute glaucoma attack (group 1, with anti-inflammatory treatment), 7 people with acute glaucoma attack and 6 people with subacute glaucoma attack (group 2, with vascular treatment), 14 people with chronic angle-closure glaucoma (group 3) and 15 people with mixed glaucoma (group 4). All patients underwent an ophthalmological examination, which included visometry, refractometry, tonometry, computer perimetry, OCT and OCT angiography, and an ELISA analysis to determine cytokines.Results. The administration of the drug Pentoxifylline as a cytokine blocker and antiplatelet agent in ACG contributed, in our opinion, to an improvement in visual acuity, perimetry (MD), an increase in the density of capillaries of the deep vascular plexus at the level of lamina cribrosa in the peripapillary zone (%), i.e. improved blood circulation in the vessels of the optic nerve disc and also contributed to the blockade of cytokines, mainly in the 2-nd group of patients. In our opinion, a personalized approach to the treatment of ACG is to maintain the improvement of blood circulation in the peripapillary zone by prescribing a course of treatment with Pentoxifylline for 6 months after surgery. After phacoemulsification, there was a significant increase in the density of capillaries of the deep peripapillary vascular plexus at the level of lamina cribrosa (p ≤ 0.05) (51.0 ± 3.5 %), and after further treatment with Pentoxifylline, the capillary density continued to increase in 2–4 groups in the next 6 months of follow-up. The thickness of RNFL (Retinal nerve fiber layer, structural parameter) decreased due to a decrease in edema in 1–2 groups, slightly increased in 3–4 groups, in our opinion, due to improved blood circulation. Increased reperfusion in the capillaries of the deep plexus during normalization of IOP in glaucoma patients and further treatment with pentoxifylline indicates the effectiveness of the proposed treatment in addition to surgical treatment. The results obtained emphasize the advantages of the proposed therapy for the treatment of patients with angle-closure and mixed glaucoma.Conclusion. To date, there are no clear recommendations of vascular therapy for the treatment of patients with ACG and mixed glaucoma, which creates the need for its addition to treatment regimens, taking into account the vascular component of ACG and mixed glaucoma.

The Importance of Optical Coherence Tomography and Autofluorescence in the Documentation of Papillary Colobomatous Fossette

Aims: To describe the importance of optical coherence tomography and autofluorescence in the documentation of papillary colobomatous fossette. Presentation of Case: F.D.O. A 14-year-old male student is referred for evaluation of the fundus of the eye due to an alteration in the optic disc noticed by another professional who did not feel safe in the follow-up. The patient was completely asymptomatic at the time of the consultation and did not claim previous visual complaints. She denied systemic and ocular comorbidities and did not use any systemic and topical medication. Discussion: The congenital optic disc pit is a rare and typically unilateral congenital anomaly, consisting of a retinal herniation that extends into the subarachnoid space through a lamina cribrosa defect. 8,13,15,16 Although this condition, in most cases, does not present complications and remains asymptomatic, it can sometimes worsen with a significant decrease in visual acuity. This more serious condition can be characterized by important macular alterations, such as serous retinal detachment, cystic degenerations and degenerative pigmentary alterations. 14,16,17,18 The patient in the present report did not have any visual complaints and did not present severe structural and functional retinal damage, which highlights the importance of early diagnosis. Conclusions: The colobomatous papilla pit is characterized by the presence of isolated cavities in the optic disc head secondary to a developmental disorder of the primitive epithelial papilla. Its incidence is 1:10,000 people without sexual or racial predilection. It presents, in most cases, asymptomatic, unilateral in 85-95% of cases and rarely with more than one pit per disc.

Offset of openings in optic nerve head canal at level of Bruch’s membrane, anterior sclera, and lamina cribrosa

We compared the central retinal vascular trunk (CRVT) position, as a surrogate of lamina cribrosa (LC) offset, with the anterior scleral opening (ASCO) offset from the Bruch’s membrane opening (BMO). Based on the BMO-centered radial scans, the BMO and ASCO margins were demarcated, and each center was determined as the center of the best-fitted ellipse for each margin. The ASCO/BMO offset was defined as the offset between each center. Angular deviations and the extent of ASCO and CRVT offsets from the BMO center were compared directly. Incomplete demarcation of ASCO was found in 20%, which was associated with a larger BMO area and a larger ASCO offset from the BMO. The angular deviation of ASCO offset was associated with that of CRVT offset and that of the longest externally oblique border. The ASCO offset was smaller than the CRVT offset, and, unlike the CRVT offset, it was rarely deviated to the inferior side. The complete ASCO margin might not be demarcatable when determined on BMO-centered radial scans in the presence of an offset. Also, the ASCO, which reflects only the superficial scleral layer, might not reflect the LC position, because the LC might be shifted further from the ASCO.