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Purpose: To analyze the outcomes following conventional internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling versus perfluoro octane-assisted inverted flap technique for large macular holes (MH)., Methods: A consecutive 99 eyes of 99 patients were enrolled {45 - conventional group and 54 - inverted flap (InFlap) group}. The primary outcome was a difference in closure rate. Secondary outcomes were differences in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), restoration of external limiting membrane (ELM) and ellipsoid zone (EZ) between groups at 3 (primary endpoint), 6 and 12 (secondary endpoints) months. Additionally, the effect of different gas tamponades on closure rates, ILM flap disintegration in InFlap group, and subfoveal thickness (SFT) between groups in closed., Results: At 3 months, there was no difference in the closure rate and BCVA between groups. At six months, closure rate was significantly better in the InFlap group. However, this difference was not maintained at 12 months. There was no difference in BCVA between groups at any visit. The ELM recovery was significantly higher in the conventional group at three months; however, there was no difference in ELM/EZ recovery between groups at other visits. The closure rate in the InFlap group was the same irrespective of gas tamponade. The ILM flap was identifiable in one-third of patients at 12 months. In closed MH, SFT was significantly more in InFlap group., Conclusion: The closure rate and visual outcomes remained similar in both groups in the immediate and long term. Conventional ILM peeling technique seems to have early ELM recovery when compared to inverted flap technique., (Copyright © 2023 Copyright: © 2023 Indian Journal of Ophthalmology.)

Purpose: To report the incidence, outcomes, and risk of surgical failure after early postoperative hypotony following Aurolab Aqueous Drainage Implant (AADI) surgery for adult and pediatric refractory glaucoma., Methods: Medical records of patients who underwent AADI between January 2013 and March 2017 with a minimum of 2-years follow-up were retrospectively reviewed. Early postoperative hypotony was defined as IOP ≤5 mmHg within the first 3 months after AADI. Surgical failure of AADI was defined as IOP >21 mmHg or reduced <20% below baseline on two consecutive follow-up visits after 3 months, IOP ≤5 mmHg on two consecutive follow-up visits after 3 months, reoperation for glaucoma or a complication, or loss of light perception vision., Results: Early postoperative hypotony was seen in 15/213 eyes (7%) in the adult group and in 6/101 eyes (6%) in the pediatric group. The onset of hypotony was significantly earlier in the pediatric group (median = 39 days post AADI, IQR = 20-58 days) compared with adult eyes (median = 51 days post AADI, IQR = 30-72 days) (P = 0.02). Eyes with early postoperative hypotony did not have an increased risk of cumulative surgical failure as compared with eyes without hypotony in both adult (33.3% vs. 23.7%; P = 0.48) and pediatric (33.3% vs. 13.7%; P = 0.16) refractory glaucoma. All eyes recovered from hypotony, though one adult eye developed retinal detachment and one pediatric eye developed corneal decompensation and lost vision., Conclusion: Early postoperative hypotony was an infrequent complication post AADI and occurred earlier in pediatric eyes. Early postoperative hypotony did not increase risk of surgical failure up to 2 years., Competing Interests: None

Purpose: To correlate and analyze the pattern of the visual field (VF) defects by perimetry and anterior chamber angle parameters by AS-OCT in primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) across varied severity levels on presentation to a tertiary eye care center., Methods: This was a cross-sectional study, which included 323 eyes of clinically diagnosed cases of PACG. Glaucoma severity was categorized according to mean deviation (MD) as mild (-6.00 dB or more), moderate (-6.01 to -12.00 dB), and severe (-12.01 to -30.00 dB). AS-OCT measured the nasal (N) and temporal (T) angle opening distance at 500 μm (AOD 500) and 750 μm (AOD 750), anterior chamber angle (ACA), lens vault (LV), and anterior chamber width (ACW). The VF severity was then correlated with the AS-OCT parameters using statistical analysis., Results: The mean age ± standard deviation (SD) of the patients included in the study was 56.03 ± 8.6 years, with a 1:1.2 gender ratio. The number of eyes with mild, moderate, and severe VFs were 140 (43.3%), 88 (27.24%), and 95 (29.41%), respectively. There was no statistically significant correlation in the mean anterior chamber angle parameters (AOD 500, AOD 750, ACA 500, ACA 750, LV, ACW, and axial length (AL)) among the groups. However, the correlation between AOD 500 and LV thickness was found to be significant (P = 0.0000) with a negative Spearman's rank correlation coefficient (r = -0.3329)., Conclusion: The ACA parameters obtained by AS-OCT along the horizontal axis after elimination of pupillary block by laser peripheral iridotomy do not correlate and cannot be used to assess the disease severity of PACG., Competing Interests: None

Purpose: : To analyze the ocular biometric parameters of eyes with acute primary angle closure (APAC) as compared to fellow eyes., Methods: : A cross-sectional study was conducted on 27 patients presenting with recent onset APAC to a tertiary eye institute in India. Anterior and posterior ocular biometric parameters were measured simultaneously by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT), A-scan, ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM), and B-mode ultrasonogram (USG). The parameters measured were anterior chamber depth (ACD), anterior chamber angle (ACA), angle opening distance (AOD500, AOD750), lens vault (LV), axial length (AL), ciliary body thickness maximum (CBTmax) and at the point of scleral spur (CBT0), anterior placement of the ciliary body (APCB), and retinochoroidal thickness (RCS)., Results: Mean age ± SD of patients with APAC was 55.66 ± 7.2 years with female preponderance (21:6 patients). Mean presenting IOP ± SD of the affected eye and fellow eye were 54.74 ± 11.67 mm Hg and 18.7 ± 11.67 mm Hg, respectively. Eyes with APAC had statistically significant narrower anterior ocular biometric parameters, higher LV, decreased ciliary body thickness, more APCB, and longer AL than the fellow eyes. CBTmax is the only variable that had significance (β = -0.421,95% CI: -0.806 to - 0.035, P = 0.034) in the univariate analysis with RCS thickness in APAC eyes. Further, there was a correlation between CBT0 and APCB with CBTmax both in univariate (β = 0.894, P < 0.0001 and β = -0.351, P = 0.039) and multivariable analysis (β = 0.911, P < 0.0001 and β = -0.416, P = 0.016)., Conclusion: Compared to the fellow eyes, APAC eyes had different ocular biometric parameters. In addition to known biometric parameters associated with pupillary block (narrower anterior biometric parameters-ACA, ACD, and AOD), our study found multiple nonpupillary block factors such as higher lens vault and thinner and more anteriorly placed ciliary body to be associated with APAC., Competing Interests: None

Purpose: There is an exponential rise in the prevalence of diabetes mellitus (DM) in India. Ideally all people with DM should be periodically screening for diabetic retinopathy (DR) but is not practical with current infrastructure. An alternate strategy is to identify high-risk individuals with vision-threatening diabetic retinopathy (VTDR) for priority screening and treatment., Methods: We reanalyzed four population-based studies, conducted in South India between 2001 and 2010, and reclassified individuals above 40 years into known and newly diagnosed diabetes. Multiple regression analysis was done to identify risk factors in people with known and new DM., Results: The prevalence of DR in 44,599 subjects aged ≥40 years was 14.8% (18.4 and 4.7% in known and new DM, respectively), and the prevalence of VTDR was 5.1%. Higher risk factors of VTDR were older age >50 years, diabetes duration >5 years, and systolic blood pressure >140 mm Hg. Targeted screening of people with diabetes using high-risk criteria obtained from this study was able to detect 93.5% of all individuals with VTDR., Conclusion: In a limited resource country like India, a high-risk group-based targeted screening of individuals with DM could be prioritized while continuing the current opportunistic screening till India adopts universal screening of all people with DM., Competing Interests: None

Purpose: To describe the demographic profiles, clinical characteristics, and clinical outcomes of patients presenting with glaucoma emergencies during the COVID-19 lockdown in India., Methods: This retrospective, cross-sectional, observational case series involved review of medical records of all patients presenting to the glaucoma service during the COVID-19 lockdown period and comparison with the previous year (March 23 to June 23, 2020 Vs 2019) in a tertiary center in India., Results: We found a 78.9% reduction in overall outpatient visits (54,345 vs. 257,339; P < 0.001) and 80.9% reduction in the number of glaucoma outpatient visits (4,788 vs. 25,083; P < 0.001). Additionally, the proportion of true glaucoma emergency visits significantly increased by 62.4% in 2020 Vs 2019 (1,408/4,788 (29.4%) vs. 4,542/25,083 (18.1%); P < 0.001). Lens-induced glaucomas were the most common glaucoma surgical emergency (13.4%) in 2020. Moreover, comparison of procedures demonstrated a proportionate decrease in incisional glaucoma surgeries (70/115 (60.86%) vs. 806/939 (85.83%); P < 0.001) and an increase in the proportion of emergency cataract surgeries (129/475 (27.15%) vs. 170/2715 (6.26%); P < 0.001) and transscleral cyclophotocoagulation (45/115 (39.13%) vs. 133/939 (14.16%); P = 0.0001) during 2020 vs. 2019., Conclusion: Our study demonstrated a 62% increase in the proportion of visits that were true glaucoma emergencies. Additionally, the proportions of emergency cataract surgeries increased by 4.3 times and the proportion of transscleral cyclophotocoagulation increased by 2.8 times during the pandemic. More nonincisional procedures and less diagnostic testing were performed to minimize postoperative visits and virus transmission. Further understanding of the profile of emergencies may help in developing novel strategies to anticipate future challenges in managing glaucoma care during subsequent waves of the pandemic., Competing Interests: None

Purpose: COVID-19 pandemic has affected the healthcare system worldwide hindering the continuum of treatment of chronic disease patients. The objective of the study is to analyze the barriers encountered by the glaucoma patients for the follow-up visit and medication adherence during the pandemic., Methods: This cross-sectional study included glaucoma patients who did not attend the scheduled appointment from April 1, 2020 to July 31, 2020 in a tertiary eye care center (88.21%). Eligible patients of age >18 years and advised antiglaucoma medication in Madurai Zone were interviewed with validated questionnaire through telephonic call., Results: 363 patients answered the questionnaire through telephonic interview. 57.3% of the patients were found to be non-adherent to medication. The main barriers for glaucoma follow-up visit during the pandemic were lockdown restriction, transport problem, and financial difficulties. The top barriers for medication adherence were non availability of medication (54.81%), financial difficulties (30.29%), did not feel much improvement with eye drops (20.19%). On multiple regression analysis, longer distance to hospital, low socioeconomic status, more than one antiglaucoma medication use, lack of awareness of glaucoma, non-complaint before COVID-19 and stress due to the pandemic were found to be significant factors for medication non adherence., Conclusion: COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the need for reformation in health care system for accessibility of medical care to patients in rural areas. Decentralization of health system to primary care level and utilization of teleophthalmology should be considered by health care planners in future., Competing Interests: None