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Aim: To compare the usefulness of gonioscopy performed by general ophthalmologists (GO) and anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) in detecting angle closure in patients with a shallow anterior chamber., Methods: Forty-four patients with a shallow anterior chamber (defined by a ratio of peripheral anterior chamber depth to peripheral corneal thickness lower than 1/2) were included in this cross-sectional study. Gonioscopy was performed in all subjects by two glaucoma experts (GE1 and GE2) and one GO. Anterior segment imaging was performed using Visante® OCT (Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc.). Agreement between examiners was assessed with first-order agreement coefficients (AC1). Diagnostic accuracies of GO gonioscopy and AS-OCT were evaluated using sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (AROC) curves., Results: For static gonioscopy, the agreement between GE1 and GE2 was substantial (AC1 = 0.65), and that between GE1 and GO was moderate (AC1 = 0.50). For indentation gonioscopy, the agreement between GE1 and GE2 was slightly lower (AC1 = 0.55); however, the agreement between GE1 and GO showed a larger reduction (AC1 = 0.12). GO's gonioscopy presented a low specificity (25%) and the AROC to angle closure detection was lower than AS-OCT (0.56-0.73). Combined information of GO gonioscopy and AS-OCT improved specificity (85.7%) and AROC (0.77) of angle closure evaluation., Conclusion: Agreement between GO and glaucoma experts was moderate for static gonioscopy and slight for indentation gonioscopy. AS-OCT performed better than GO gonioscopy in detecting angle closure in patients with a shallow anterior chamber. The addition of AS-OCT to clinical information in patients with GO positive gonioscopy improved the specificity and AROC of gonioscopy test., How to Cite This Article: Esporcatte BLB, Vessani RM, Melo Jr LAS, et al. Diagnostic Performance of Optical Coherence Tomography and Nonspecialist Gonioscopy to Detect Angle Closure. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2022;16(1):53-58., Competing Interests: Source of support: Nil Conflict of interest: None, (Copyright © 2022; The Author(s).)

Normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) is a progressive optic neuropathy with intraocular pressure (IOP) within the statistically normal range (≤21 mmHg). The prevalence of NTG varies widely among different population studies, being the most prevalent open-angle glaucoma subtype in some reports. The etiology of NTG possibly is multifactorial and still not well defined. Alternative treatments have been proposed based on pathogenesis details. However, in clinical practice, adequate reduction of IOP remains the keystone of managing patients with NTG. We review the pathogenesis of NTG and the available therapies for this optic neuropathy.

Here we report a case of childhood glaucoma refractory to angle and trabeculectomy surgery. The patient was treated with an Ahmed™ drainage implant that was subsequently complicated by rapid-onset panophthalmitis and orbital cellulitis. Intravenous and intravitreal antibiotic therapy was initiated and the drainage tube was removed. The infectious process resolved within 3 weeks; however, phthisis bulbi developed subsequently.

Purpose: High intraocular pressure (IOP) is an important risk factor for a variety of pediatric ophthalmic conditions. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, length of examination, and corneal epithelial damage induced by rebound tonometry (RBT) versus Goldmann applanation tonometry (GAT) in school children., Methods: Healthy children (n=57) participated in a randomized, transversal study with IOP measurement by GAT followed by RBT (study arm 1) or RBT followed by GAT (study arm 2). The number of attempts to acquire a reliable IOP measurement and the length of the examination were quantified. Corneal epithelial damage induced by tonometry was evaluated. Bland-Altman analysis was performed to establish the level of agreement between the two techniques., Results: The IOP was measured in all children with at least one of the devices. In both study arms, more children failed to be examined with GAT than with RBT (26% vs. 4%, and 16% vs. 6%, p<0.001, in study arm 1 and 2, respectively). The length of examination was shorter for RBT than for GAT (67.81 s ± 35.20 s vs. 126.70 s ± 56.60 s; p<0.0001); IOP measurements with RBT in both study arms were higher than those with GAT (15.20 ± 2.74 mmHg vs. 13.25 ± 2.47 mmHg, p=0.0247 and 16.76 ± 3.99 mmHg vs. 13.92 ± 2.08 mmHg, p=0.003, respectively). No difference was observed between RBT and GAT regarding the corneal epithelial damage caused by tonometry., Conclusion: IOP measurement is feasible in a greater number of children with RBT, and the examination was faster than that for GAT. Compared with GAT, RBT tended to overestimate the IOP. None of the methods induced marked corneal epithelial defects.

Although bone marrow-derived mononuclear cells (BMNC) have been extensively used in cell therapy for cardiac diseases, little mechanistic information is available to support reports of their efficacy. To address this shortcoming, we compared structural and functional recovery and associated global gene expression profiles in post-ischaemic myocardium treated with BMNC transplantation. BMNC suspensions were injected into cardiac scar tissue 10 days after experimental myocardial infarction. Six weeks later, mice undergoing BMNC therapy were found to have normalized antibody repertoire and improved cardiac performance measured by ECG, treadmill exercise time and echocardiography. After functional testing, gene expression profiles in cardiac tissue were evaluated using high-density oligonucleotide arrays. Expression of more than 18% of the 11981 quantified unigenes was significantly altered in the infarcted hearts. BMNC therapy restored expression of 2099 (96.2%) of the genes that were altered by infarction but led to altered expression of 286 other genes, considered to be a side effect of the treatment. Transcriptional therapeutic efficacy, a metric calculated using a formula that incorporates both recovery and side effect of treatment, was 73%. In conclusion, our results confirm a beneficial role for bone marrow-derived cell therapy and provide new information on molecular mechanisms operating after BMNC transplantation on post ischemic heart failure in mice.

After myocardial infarction (MI), activation of the immune system and inflammatory mechanisms, among others, can lead to ventricular remodeling and heart failure (HF). The interaction between these systemic alterations and corresponding changes in the heart has not been extensively examined in the setting of chronic ischemia. The main purpose of this study was to investigate alterations in cardiac gene and systemic cytokine profile in mice with post-ischemic HF. Plasma was tested for IgM and IgG anti-heart reactive repertoire and inflammatory cytokines. Heart samples were assayed for gene expression by analyzing hybridization to AECOM 32k mouse microarrays. Ischemic HF significantly increased the levels of total serum IgM (by 5.2-fold) and total IgG (by 3.6-fold) associated with a relatively high content of anti-heart specificity. A comparable increase was observed in the levels of circulating pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1beta (3.8X) and TNF-alpha (6.0X). IFN-gamma was also increased by 3.1-fold in the MI group. However, IL-4 and IL-10 were not significantly different between the MI and sham-operated groups. Chemokines such as MCP-1 and IL-8 were 1.4- and 13-fold increased, respectively, in the plasma of infarcted mice. We identified 2079 well annotated unigenes that were significantly regulated by post-ischemic HF. Complement activation and immune response were among the most up-regulated processes. Interestingly, 21 of the 101 quantified unigenes involved in the inflammatory response were significantly up-regulated and none were down-regulated. These data indicate that post-ischemic heart remodeling is accompanied by immune-mediated mechanisms that act both systemically and locally.