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This study investigated the impact of retinal fluid tolerance on retinal thickness and visual acuity in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration after 18 months of treatment using intravitreal aflibercept. This retrospective study was based on the medical records of 90 eyes presenting persistent or recurrent retinal fluid retention after 3 months of aflibercept loading injections. We defined the fluid tolerance ratio as the sum of fluid-tolerance duration divided by the total duration of retinal fluid observed throughout the follow-up period. Eyes were categorized into strict, intermediate, and relaxed group based on their fluid tolerance ratio (= 0, = 30%, respectively). The mean total follow-up time was 556 days. The relaxed group required fewer injections than the strict group (4.92 vs 7.50 injections, P < 0.01) and presented a similar reduction in retinal thickness (-57.50 vs -71.65 μm, P = 0.83). Nonetheless, the two groups were similar in terms of final visual acuity (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution 0.72 vs 0.70, P = 0.95) and visual gains (4.21 vs -1.12 letters, P = 0.56). These results indicate that in the setting of limited medical resources, a fluid-tolerant approach provides comparable gains in visual acuity. Reducing the number of injections may also improve adherence to therapy.

The aim of this study is to describe factors that influence the measured intraocular pressure (IOP) change and to develop a predictive model after myopic laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) with a femtosecond (FS) laser or a microkeratome (MK). We retrospectively reviewed preoperative, intraoperative, and 12-month postoperative medical records in 2485 eyes of 1309 patients who underwent LASIK with an FS laser or an MK for myopia and myopic astigmatism. Data were extracted, such as preoperative age, sex, IOP, manifest spherical equivalent (MSE), central corneal keratometry (CCK), central corneal thickness (CCT), and intended flap thickness and postoperative IOP (postIOP) at 1, 6 and 12 months. Linear mixed model (LMM) and multivariate linear regression (MLR) method were used for data analysis. In both models, the preoperative CCT and ablation depth had significant effects on predicting IOP changes in the FS and MK groups. The intended flap thickness was a significant predictor only in the FS laser group (P < .0001 in both models). In the FS group, LMM and MLR could respectively explain 47.00% and 18.91% of the variation of postoperative IOP underestimation (R2 = 0.47 and R(2) = 0.1891). In the MK group, LMM and MLR could explain 37.79% and 19.13% of the variation of IOP underestimation (R(2) = 0.3779 and 0.1913 respectively). The best-fit model for prediction of IOP changes was the LMM in LASIK with an FS laser.

OBJECTIVE: The incidence and prevalence of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) vary widely across the world but data in East Asia is lacking. Uveitis is a serious cause of morbidity in JIA. This study aimed to analyze the incidence and prevalence of JIA, and the characteristics of JIA-associated uveitis in Taiwan. METHODS: A population-based cohort study was conducted using the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Each patient was individually tracked from 1999 to 2009 to identify the diagnosis of JIA and uveitis using the International Classification of Diseases diagnostic codes. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the risk factors and complications of uveitis in patients with JIA. RESULTS: The study cohort had 2636 cases of JIA and included juvenile rheumatoid arthritis (57.7%), enthesitis-related arthritis (ERA) (39.2%), and psoriatic arthritis (3.1%). The average annual incidence of JIA and JIA-associated uveitis were 4.93 (range, 3.93-6.23) and 0.25 (range, 0.12-0.37) cases per 100,000 population, respectively. The average period prevalence of JIA was 33.8 cases per 100,000 population. Uveitis occurred in 4.7% of patients with JIA, while JIA-associated uveitis was complicated by cataract (11.2%) and glaucoma (24.8%). Enthesitis-related arthritis was significantly associated with uveitis (OR: 3.47; 95% CI: 2.24-5.37) (p