Search

Background: To investigate functional and anatomical outcomes after pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for lamellar macular hole (LMH) with a long-term follow-up., Methods: An interventional study on 14 patients (16 eyes) with LMH was conducted. The inclusion criteria included a minimum 36-month follow-up after PPV. The preoperative and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography parameters were examined., Results: Preoperatively, the mean BCVA was 0.46 ± 0.22 LogMAR. Epiretinal proliferation (ERP) was visible in 81.25% of eyes. Outer retinal disruption was present in 31.25% of LMH cases. The average central foveal thickness (CFT) measured 183.68 ± 61.73 microns. The mean BCVA improved at each follow-up time point: it was 0.24 ± 0.16 LogMAR at 1 month, 0.18 ± 0.15 LogMAR at 6 months, and 0.09 ± 0.11 LogMAR at the last follow-up. There was a statistically significant improvement between BCVA at 1 month and BCVA at 6 months and between BCVA at 6 months and BCVA at the last follow-up ( p < 0.001). BCVA improved in all eyes, with 87.5% achieving at least 0.3 LogMAR improvement. The mean CFT at the 1-month follow-up was 211.45 ± 43.55 microns, increased to 248.81 ± 48.51 microns at 6 months, and further increased to 278.37 ± 45.50 microns at the last follow-up. Foveal contour restoration was achieved in all eyes, and those with preoperative ellipsoid zone alterations demonstrated a complete repair of the external retinal layers. No intra or postoperative complications were recorded., Conclusions: In our series, PPV had a high success rate and was associated with a substantial functional improvement in LMH treatment, and this result was maintained and kept increasing until the last follow-up. Long-term follow-up is crucial for a comprehensive evaluation of the healing process and to assess the benefits of the surgical intervention.

Purpose: We evaluated the clinical features and retinal and disk perfusion characteristics by using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in a subset of giant cell arteritis (GCA) patients who manifested anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (AION), in a subset of GCA patients without ocular involvement, and in a control group composed of healthy controls., Methods: We performed an observational study on the eyes of GCA patients affected by arteritic AION both in acute and chronic phases, unaffected eyes of AION, eyes of GCA patients without ocular involvement, and in a control group of healthy eyes of healthy individuals. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination and an OCT and OCTA of the macula and the disk., Results: The study evaluated 10 eyes of GCA patients with AION (AION group), 8 unaffected eyes of GCA patients with AION in another eye (unaffected eyes of AION group), 16 eyes of GCA patients without ocular involvement (non-ocular group), and 22 eyes of healthy patients (healthy group). The ganglion cell complex (GCC) superior and inferior thicknesses were significantly lower in the AION group compared to the unaffected eyes of the AION group ( p  = 0.045 and p  = 0.034, respectively). All OCTA vascular density parameters of the optic disk analyzed in this study (optic nerve head (ONH) whole, superior, inferior, radial peripapillary capillary plexus (RPCP) whole, superior, inferior, lamina cribrosa (LC) whole, superior, inferior) resulted significantly lower in the AION group compared to the unaffected eyes group ( p  < 0.05 for all the comparisons). The ONH whole and inferior were statistically higher in the healthy group in comparison to the group of GCA patients without ocular involvement ( p  = 0.008 and p  = 0.006, respectively). The ONH inferior was also statistically higher in the unaffected eyes of the AION group in comparison to the non-ocular group ( p  = 0.045). Regarding the OCTA macular vessel density parameters, the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), whole and inner, were statistically lower in the AION group compared with the unaffected eyes of the AION group., Conclusion: We found a profound vascular impairment in eyes affected by AION and areas of hypoperfusion in the eyes of patients with GCA without ocular involvement, good BCVA, and no clinically significant features. We hypothesized that these areas of lower vessel density might represent areas of subclinical hypoperfusion that cannot be detected ophthalmoscopically., Competing Interests: The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest. The author(s) declared that they were an editorial board member of Frontiers, at the time of submission. This had no impact on the peer review process and the final decision., (Copyright © 2024 Vannozzi, Nicolosi, Vicini, Bacherini, Giattini, Urban, Palermo, Malandrino, Bello, Virgili and Giansanti.)

Purpose : We report the successful surgical treatment of a case of spontaneous complete anterior crystalline lens luxation in a patient affected by retinitis pigmentosa (RP), associated with elevated intraocular pressure and pupillary block. Additionally, we review the current literature regarding the association between ectopia lentis and RP. Case description : A 44-year-old female RP patient presented to our emergency department reporting severe ocular pain in her left eye (LE) and sickness. She had no history of ocular trauma and did not report systemic disorders. The best corrected visual acuity at presentation was 1/20 in her LE, the intraocular pressure was 60 mmHg, and slit lamp examination showed in her LE a complete dislocation of the lens in the anterior chamber, with mydriasis, atalamia, and a pupillary block. The patient had been administered intravenous mannitol 18% solution and dorzolamide-timolol eye drops and was hospitalized for urgent lens extraction. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography and ultrasound biomicroscopy were performed before surgery. Decompressive 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy and phacoemulsification were performed, and the capsular bag was removed due to marked zonular weakness, with deferred intraocular lens implant. Conclusions : Acute angle closure glaucoma in patients with RP may be rarely caused by spontaneous anterior lens dislocation. To our knowledge, this is the first report of spontaneous anterior lens dislocation in an RP patient, documented through photographs, anterior segment optical coherence tomography, and ultrasound biomicroscopy.

Sports-related concussions (SRC) have been a topic of interest for decades and are a prevalent risk of sports participation. The definition of SRC continues to evolve but includes a plausible mechanism and associated symptoms of injury. Rates of concussion vary among sports, and many sports have adopted rule changes to limit this risk for its athletes. There has been a considerable effort to prevent the occurrence of SRC, as well as a focus on safe return to learn and sport alike. There is growing concern about the ramifications of concussions, which will continue to warrant further investigation., Competing Interests: Disclosure S.R. Laker, C. Nicolosi: Nothing to disclose., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Purpose: To report a case of macular hole and detachment occurring after the subretinal injection of Voretigene Neparvovec (VN) in a patient affected by atypical RPE65 retinal dystrophy with high myopia and its successful surgical management., Case Description: We report a case of a 70-year-old man treated with VN in both eyes. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.7 LogMar in the right eye (RE) and 0.92 LogMar in the left eye (LE). Axial length was 29.60 mm in the RE and 30.28 mm in the LE. Both eyes were pseudophakic. In both eyes, fundus examination revealed high myopia, posterior staphyloma, and extended retinal atrophy areas at the posterior pole, circumscribing a central island of surviving retina. Both eyes were treated with VN subretinal injection, but a full-thickness macular hole and retinal detachment occurred in the LE three weeks after surgery. The patient underwent 23-gauge vitrectomy with internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling and the inverted flap technique with sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) 20% tamponade. Postoperative follow-up showed that the macular hole was closed and the BCVA was maintained., Conclusions: Our experience suggests that patients with atypical RPE65 retinal dystrophy and high myopia undergoing VN subretinal injection require careful management to minimize the risk of macular hole and detachment occurrence and promptly detect and address these potential complications.

Background: The aim of this research was to see if a refractive enhanced monofocal IOL (Eyhance IOL, IOL Abbott Medical Optics, Inc., Santa Ana, CA, USA) can provide better intermediate vision in patients undergoing phaco-vitrectomy due to cataract and epiretinal macular membrane (ERM)., Methods: A nonrandomized prospective observational comparative study enrolled patients affected by cataract and ERM undergoing phaco-vitrectomy. A follow up of 6 months was established. Corrected and uncorrected visual acuity of both monocular and binocular types were assessed regarding intermediate and far distances. The CATQUEST 9-SF questionnaire was administered preoperatively and at the last follow-up., Results: Twenty-three eyes of twenty-three patients were enrolled, with 11 in the enhanced monofocal group. The uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity after 6 months was not statistically different. Both monocular and binocular uncorrected intermediate visual acuity after 6 months were higher in the enhanced monofocal group ( p < 0.001). The corrected intermediate visual acuity after 6 months was higher in the enhanced monofocal group ( p = 0.01). The CATQUEST-9SF questionnaire showed significant differences in the variation between the preoperative condition and six-month postoperative results ( p < 0.001)., Conclusions: This refractive enhanced monofocal IOL can provide better intermediate vision compared to a standard monofocal IOL in patients undergoing phaco-vitrectomy due to cataracts and ERM. Further studies are necessary to confirm these results.

Purpose: To describe the experience of our centre (Careggi University Hospital, Florence, Italy) in using a heads-up three-dimensional (3D) surgical viewing system in vitreoretinal surgery, making a comparison with the conventional microscope surgery., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed data taken from 240 patients (240 eyes) with surgical macular diseases (macular hole and epiretinal membrane), retinal detachment or vitreous hemorrhage who underwent vitreoretinal surgeries, by means of the NGENUITY 3D Visualization System (Alcon Laboratories Inc., Fort Worth, TX, USA), in comparison with 210 patients (210 eyes) who underwent vitreoretinal surgeries performed using a conventional microscope. All surgeries were performed with standardized procedures by the same surgeons. We analyzed data over a follow-up period of 6 months, comparing the surgical outcomes (best-corrected visual acuity, anatomical success rate and postoperative complication rate) between the two groups., Results: the 3D group included 74 patients with retinal detachment, 78 with epiretinal membrane, 64 with macular hole and 24 with vitreous hemorrhage. There were no significant differences in the demographic and clinical characteristics between the 3D group and the conventional group. We found no significant differences in outcome measures at three and six months follow-up between the two groups ( p -value ≥ 0.05 for all comparisons). Surgery durations were similar between the two groups., Conclusions: In our experience, a heads-up 3D surgical viewing system provided comparable functional and anatomical outcomes in comparison with conventional microscope surgery, proving to be a valuable tool for vitreoretinal surgery in the treatment of different retinal diseases.

In this review, we will focus on different non-invasive retinal imaging techniques that can be used to evaluate morphological and functional features in full-thickness macular holes with a prognostic purpose. Technological innovations and developments in recent years have increased the knowledge of vitreoretinal interface pathologies by identifying potential biomarkers useful for surgical outcomes prediction. Despite a successful surgery of full-thickness macular holes, the visual outcomes are often puzzling, so the study and the identification of prognostic factors is a current topic of interest. Our review aims to provide an overview of the current knowledge on prognostic biomarkers identified in full-thickness macular holes by means of different retinal imaging tools, such as optical coherence tomography, optical coherence tomography angiography, microperimetry, fundus autofluorescence, and adaptive optics.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected the mental health of healthcare workers, who have taken on the major problems triggered by the emergency. The mental consequences concern high levels of insomnia, anxiety, depression and burnout, which inevitably affect their professional quality of life too., Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the relationship between psychopathological symptoms (tested with the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale, DASS-21) and professional quality of life (measured with the Professional Quality of Life Scale, ProQol) in a hospital of southern Italy., Methods: 204 healthcare workers were recruited by non-probabilistic sampling and divided by age, gender, work roles (physicians, nurses and intermediate care technicians) and clinical departments (Cardio-medicine, Infectious Diseases, Emergency Medicine, First Aid, Obstetrics and Pneumology)., Results: The results showed higher levels of Secondary Traumatic Stress, Depression, Anxiety and Stress in women than in men. Physicians and nurses experienced lower levels of Compassion Satisfaction but higher Burnout than intermediate care technicians; likewise, nurses were more anxious than physicians. The Emergency Medicine had higher scores in Compassion Satisfaction than Infectious Disease, Pneumology, Obstetrics and Cardio-Medicine., Conclusion: In light of what has been said so far, it appears essential to intervene on the first mild signs of Burnout and Secondary Traumatic Stress, because they precede the onset of Depression, Stress and Anxiety in healthcare workers.

Introduction: Piggyback IntraOcular Lenses (IOLs), or supplementary secondary implant lenses, have been developed to provide a sufficient dioptric power in eyes with high refractive defects, which are not fully correctable after cataract surgery with single IOL in the range of powers available. These lenses can also be used for the correction of refractive errors that occurred for a wrong choice of the IOL power after cataract surgery., Case Description: We report the case of a complete refractive success obtained in a patient with an abnormal cornea, with a central stable ectasia, with thinning, high myopic astigmatism and cataract, obtained with the implant of a primary posterior chamber IOL at the time of cataract surgery and a subsequent implant of a secondary piggyback, sulcus-based customized toric IOL (Camellens FIL 622-2 Toric Monofocal IOL, Soleko, Rome, Italy)., Conclusions: This brief report demonstrates the utility of combining primary and piggyback IOLs implant for the correction of a complex spherical-cylindrical refractive defect in a case of abnormal cornea and cataract.

Purpose: To compare the refractive results between sutureless scleral fixation intraocular lens (IOLs) (Carlevale, Soleko) and suture-free scleral fixation three-piece IOLs (Sensar AR40, Johnson & Johnson) for secondary implantation in patients with IOL dislocation or aphakia. Methods: This is a monocentric retrospective study on 28 patients (28 eyes) with sutureless scleral fixation Carlevale IOL and 25 patients (25 eyes) with suture-free scleral fixation three-piece IOL. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) evaluation, refractive measures and IOL tilt evaluation with anterior segment optical coherence tomography were conducted at one, three, six and twelve months after surgery. Point Spread Function (PSF) was measured using a total ocular aberrometer. Results: BCVA in both groups improved since the postoperative visit at 1 month and reached a stable value at 3 months At month 12, mean BCVA was 0.23 logMAR in group one and 0.32 logMAR in group two. Mean IOL tilt angle at 12 months was 2.76° ± 1.87 in group one and 2.51° ± 1.80 in group two. PSF at 12 months was 0.18 ± 0.09 in group one and 0.15 ± 0.05 in group two. There were no statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) for all comparisons. The post-operative complications were similar within the two groups. Conclusions: Our results show that secondary IOL implantation has similar visual and surgical outcomes when a sutureless Carlevale lens scleral fixation and a suture-free scleral fixation three-piece IOL are used., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to report our experience in the management of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) or aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (APROP) in premature infants, who received intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injections either as first-line monotherapy or as rescue therapy following laser therapy., Methods: Single-center retrospective study on 37 patients (74 eyes) affected by sight-threatening ROP that underwent treatment either with IVB alone or laser photocoagulation followed by IVB at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Careggi University Hospital of Florence, between 2008 and 2015., Results: Seventeen patients were males (45.9%) and 20 were females (54.1%). The mean gestational age was 24 weeks and the mean birth weight was 610 g. Fifty-six eyes (75.7%) of 28 patients were diagnosed as type 1 ROP and 18 eyes (24.3%) of nine patients as APROP. Sixty-six eyes of 33 patients received IVB as first-line monotherapy, eight eyes of four patients were treated with IVB after laser photocoagulation treatment, as rescue therapy. The mean postmenstrual age at treatment was 33.9 weeks. All the patients received bilateral injections. None of the infants required repeat injections. The mean follow-up time was 59.6 months. All the patients achieved a good response to treatment, showing the regression of the proliferative phase and a complete peripheral retinal vascularization within 2 months from the injection of bevacizumab. One patient with a bilateral ROP had only a partial resolution of a vitreous hemorrhage in the left eye. The procedures were well tolerated without local or systemic adverse events during the follow-up. No infants showed recurrences. Ocular motility alterations appeared in four patients (10.8%), with the absence of stereopsis in six cases (16.20%). After treatment, spherical equivalent values in cycloplegic refraction ranged from -4.0 D to +5.0 D, with a mean value of +1.75 D. All the patients showed a normal neuropsychomotor development., Conclusion: Our study confirms the effectiveness and safety of IVB in the treatment of ROP, both as monotherapy and rescue therapy after laser photocoagulation, according to the published literature.