Poor Initial Visual Acuity Research Articles

Fungal Keratitis: Clinical Features, Risk Factors, Treatment, and Outcomes.

Fungal keratitis (FK) can be challenging to diagnose and treat. In this retrospective case series, FK cases presenting at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pennsylvania, USA, from 2015 to 2021 were reviewed for ocular risk factors, clinical presentation, management, and outcomes. Twenty-eight cases of FK were included. The median presenting age was 58.5 (18.5) years, and the median symptom duration prior to presentation was 10 (35.8) days. Predisposing ocular risk factors included contact lens use (67.9%), recent ocular trauma/abrasion (42.9%), and history of ocular surgery (42.9%). The median presenting visual acuity (VA) was 1.35 (1.72) LogMAR. About half presented with a central ulcer (42.9%), large infiltrate (6.7 (6.3) mm2), corneal thinning (50.0%), and hypopyon (32.1%). The majority of isolated fungal species were filamentous (75.0%). Most common antifungal medications included topical voriconazole (71.4%) and natamycin (53.6%) drops and oral voriconazole (64.3%). Surgical management was necessary in 32.1% of cases and enucleation in one case. Defect resolution occurred in 42.5 (47.0) days, and median final VA was 0.5 (1.84) LogMAR. Features associated with poor final visual outcomes included poor initial VA (p < 0.001) and larger defect size (p = 0.002). In conclusion, unlike prior studies in the northeast region of the USA, FK was commonly caused by filamentous fungi, and antifungal management most often consisted of topical and oral voriconazole.

Clinical characteristics of endogenous Klebsiella pneumoniae endophthalmitis: a 13-year experience

This study aimed to investigate the clinical features and risk factors for poor visual outcomes in patients with endogenous Klebsiella pneumoniae endophthalmitis (EKE). This retrospective interventional case series reviewed the medical records of 17 patients (21 eyes) with EKE from January 2007 to December 2019. Clinical findings, treatments, visual outcomes, and potential prognostic factors were evaluated. The mean age of the patients was 55.9years and 13 patients (76.5%) were males. Diabetes (23.5%) was the most commonly associated systemic disease and liver abscess (70.6%) was the major infection source. Poor initial visual acuity worse than counting fingers was significantly associated with poor final visual outcome (p = 0.003). In this study, adjunctive intravitreal dexamethasone injection and primary vitrectomy were not associated with final visual outcome. Secondary enucleation/evisceration was performed in 14.3%. EKE usually has a poor visual prognosis, and early diagnosis with fair initial visual acuity would be crucial in saving vision.

Therapeutic Efficacy of Spironolactone for Central Serous Chorioretinopathy

PurposeTo evaluate the therapeutic effects and safety of oral spironolactone (SPRL) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).Materials and MethodsThe medical records and imaging data of patients diagnosed with CSC and treated with SPRL were retrospectively reviewed. Central macular thickness (CMT), subretinal fluid (SRF) height, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at baseline, at 1, 3, and 6 months, and at the last visit after the treatment were analyzed.ResultsIn total, 103 patients with 107 eyes were included. The mean age of the patients was 51.5±9.3 years, and 77 (72.0%) were male. The mean follow-up duration was 48.6±40.2 weeks. The mean duration of oral SPRL therapy was 15.5±13.4 weeks. CMT, SRF height, and SFCT improved significantly at 1, 3, and 6 months after SPRL therapy and at the last follow-up. BCVA, however, showed no significant change at any time point. The rate of complete resolution of SRF at 1 month was higher in those with chronic CSC than in those with acute CSC (21.1% vs. 6.0%, respectively). Recurrence occurred in 14 (13.1%) eyes after the complete resolution of SRF. Older age (p=0.001), a greater number of previous intravitreal bevacizumab injections (p=0.006), and poor initial visual acuity (p=0.048) were associated with recurrence. No permanent adverse effects were observed.ConclusionOral SPRL showed therapeutic benefits in patients with CSC in terms of SRF resolution, but relatively frequent recurrence was observed, especially in older patients.

The study of simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma in Northern India: clinical presentation, epidemiology and patterns of injury.

This study isaimed to determine the frequency, sociodemographic profile, clinical presentation, patterns of injury, treatment and outcomes of cases of simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma treated in a teaching hospital of Northern India. This retrospective study was conducted from May 2015 to April 2019. The medical records of patients presenting with bilateral ocular injuries were reviewed. Among the 402 patients presenting with ocular injuries, 34 (8.5%) had simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma. The majority were male (70.6%), and the mean age was 26.82 ± 15.86years (range: 2-70years). The most frequently affected age group has been 16-25years (35.3%). Most injuries occurred away from home (64.7%), mainly on roads (32.4%) or playgrounds (14.7%), and the vast majority (91.2%) were non-occupational in nature. Mechanical injuries were most frequent (47.1%), followed by cracker (17.7%), chemical (17.7%) and thermal (11.8%) injuries. Most cases occurred due to assault (26.5%), road traffic injury (20.6%) or sports/recreational activities (17.7%). The majority of victims were not using protective devices at the time of injury (82.4%) and had associated polytrauma (58.8%). Closed and open globe injuries accounted for 29.4% and 14.7% of cases, respectively, mostly involving zones I (55.0%) and II (40.0%). Orbital fractures occurred in 27.9% of eyes. Category I and II ocular trauma scores were noted in 5.9% and 7.4% of eyes, respectively. Overall, 13.2% were blinded as a result of the trauma. Simultaneous bilateral ocular trauma is rare and occurs mostly following roadtraffic accidents, assault or recreational activities. In particular, young-adult males are more prone to bilateral ocular injuries, the majority of which are severe and associated with poor outcomes. The study also highlights that poor initial visual acuity, multiple ocular structure involvement, large open globe injury, presence of intraocular hemorrhage, posterior segment injury, multiple orbital fractures and lower OTS were the poor prognostic factors.

FOVEAL DISPLACEMENT IN EYES WITH EPIRETINAL MEMBRANE AFTER VITRECTOMY AND MEMBRANE PEELING.

To investigate the foveal movement in eyes with epiretinal membrane after vitrectomy and membrane peeling. A retrospective review of 85 eyes with epiretinal membrane treated with vitrectomy, membrane peeling, and internal limiting membrane removal. Using a self-designed computer program to compare the preoperative and postoperative images of optical coherence tomography to measure the amount of foveal movement. Analyze the relationships between foveal displacement, preoperative and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity, central foveal thickness, and the stage of epiretinal membrane. Most of the fovea were nasally shifted. More movement happened in the first month and almost finished in the first year. The greater degree of foveal displacement was correlated with poorer initial visual acuity and thicker central foveal thickness. In considering with the ectopic inner foveal layer staging of epiretinal membrane by structural optical coherence tomography, the foveal realignment is greatest in Stage 4 (394.47 ± 171.44 µm), followed by Stage 1 (251.21 ± 135.40 µm), Stage 2 (235.70 ± 147.51 µm), and Stage 3 (219.86 ± 117.91 µm) at the postoperative 1 month. Most eyes of epiretinal membrane had the foveal moved nasally after membrane peeling and internal limiting membrane peeling. The larger amount of foveal movement was correlated with poorer initial best-corrected visual acuity. Dystopia fovea may be another factor affecting visual acuity in addition to other biomarkers in optical coherence tomography.

A case of ocular neurosyphilis in a patient with HIV

A case of ocular neurosyphilis in a patient with HIV

Electronically monitored occlusion therapy in amblyopia with eccentric fixation

PurposeAmblyopia with eccentric fixation, especially when not diagnosed early, is a therapeutic challenge, as visual outcome is known to be poorer than in amblyopia with central fixation. Consequently, treatment after late diagnosis is often denied. Electronic monitoring of occlusion provides us the chance to gain first focussed insight into age-dependent dose response and treatment efficiency, as well as the shift of fixation in this rare group of paediatric patients.MethodsIn our prospective pilot study, we examined amblyopes with eccentric fixation during 12 months of occlusion treatment. We evaluated their visual acuity, recorded patching duration using a TheraMon®-microsensor, and determined their fixation with a direct ophthalmoscope. Dose-response relationship and treatment efficiency were calculated.ResultsThe study included 12 participants with strabismic and combined amblyopia aged 2.9–12.4 years (mean 6.5). Median prescription of occlusion was 7.7 h/day (range 6.6–9.9) and median daily received occlusion was 5.2 h/day (range 0.7–9.7). At study end, median acuity gain was 0.6 log units (range 0–1.6) and residual interocular visual acuity difference (IOVAD) 0.3 log units (range 0–1.8). There was neither significant acuity gain nor reduction in IOVAD after the 6th month of treatment. Children younger than 4 years showed best response with lowest residual IOVAD at study end. Efficiency calculation showed an acuity gain of approximately one line from 100 h of patching in the first 2 months and half a line after 6 months. There was a significant decline of treatment efficiency with age (p = 0.01). Foveolar fixation was achieved after median 3 months (range 1–6). Three patients (> 6 years) did not gain central fixation.ConclusionEccentric fixation is a challenge to therapy success. Based on electronic monitoring, our study quantified for the first time the reduction of treatment efficiency with increasing age in amblyopes with eccentric fixation. Despite some improvement in patients up to 8 years, older patients showed significantly lower treatment efficiency. In younger patients with good adherence, despite poor initial acuity, central fixation and low residual IOVAD could be attained after median 3 months. Hence, the necessity of early diagnosis and intensive occlusion should be emphasized.

Is initial training with blurry images beneficial for the development of object recognition systems?

A recent study claimed that the initially poor visual acuity of infants might be critical for the visual system to learn to integrate information over larger spatial scales. Specifically, when convolutional neural networks (CNNs) were initially trained on blurry face images, followed by progressively clearer images, the CNN acquired robustness to variations in spatial resolution (Vogelsang et al., 2018). Here, we asked whether initial training with blurry images would confer a similar benefit to general object recognition, possibly offering a clue to the robust nature of human vision. To evaluate this question, we trained AlexNet with 1,000 ImageNet object categories in which the resolution of inputs was gradually increased over training epochs. Although training with blurry objects initially led to good performance on blurry test images, such robustness to blur soon disappeared after training with clear images. These findings deviated from the robustness to blur that occurred for a CNN trained with face images. Curiously however, we found that a CNN trained concurrently on faces and objects, progressing from blurry to clear, lost the ability to recognize both blurry faces or objects. This problem of catastrophic forgetting can be attributed to the fact that proportionally greater discriminating information resides in the higher spatial frequencies of objects as compared to faces. As the CNN learns to leverage this finer scale information, it tends to lose the ability to leverage information at coarser spatial scales for both objects and faces. While our findings do not rule out the possibility that poor initial acuity might lead to important developmental benefits in face recognition ability, they do bring into question whether people’s ability to recognize blurry faces and objects in adulthood can be explained by these early experiences alone.

Pediatric ocular trauma with pars plana vitrectomy in Southwest of China: clinical characteristics and outcomes.

To investigate the clinical characteristics and predictive factors of pediatric ocular trauma patients with vitrectomy. Pediatric ocular trauma patients (aged 14y or younger) who received vitrectomy in Southwest Hospital between January 2007 and December 2017 were reviewed retrospectively. Age, gender, mechanism of injury, final visual acuity (VA), and prognostic factors were analyzed. A total of 139 eyes in 139 pediatric patients were included in the study. The mean age was 7.4±3.7 years old and the male-to-female ratio was 5:1. There were 104 (74.8%) open globe injuries and 35 (25.2%) closed globe injuries. The top one traumatic eye injuries were penetrating injuries occur through sharp metal objects (43.9%). After vitrectomy, 116 patients had favorable anatomic outcome at the last follow-up, and 30 eyes (21.6%) achieved VA of 20/200 or better. Following univariate analysis, we found zone III injuries (P=0.021), poor initial VA (P=0.005), endophthalmitis (P=0.024), and recurrent retinal detachment (P<0.001) were poor prognostic factors for pediatric ocular trauma. After Logistic regression analysis, the poor initial VA (odds ratio: 8.276, 95%CI: 1.597-42.897, P=0.012) and recurrent retinal detachment (odds ratio: 6.455, 95%CI: 2.372-17.562, P<0.001) were significantly correlated with unfavorable vision outcome in pediatric ocular trauma. The treatment of vitrectomy for severe ocular trauma results in favorable anatomic outcomes, but VA improvement is not as good as anatomic outcomes. Initial VA and recurrent retinal detachment are the independent prognostic indicators for unfavorable visual outcome of severe pediatric ocular trauma.

Ocular Trauma Trends in Indonesia: Poor Initial Uncorrected Visual Acuity Associated with Mechanism of Injury

Objectives: To identify ocular trauma trends and to analyze how initial uncorrected visual acuity (VA) is associated with mechanism of injury (MOI) in a referral hospital in Indonesia.&#x0D; Methods: A five-year medical chart review at the Ophthalmology Emergency Department (OED) Dr. Soetomo General Academic Hospital (DSGAH). The information retrieved included sex, age, laterality involvement, initial uncorrected VA, MOI and management. Sex- and age- adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the relationship between poor initial uncorrected VA and MOI, using multivariate logistic regression analysis.&#x0D; Results: A total of 953 patients consisted of 80.3% males and 19.9% females. Ocular trauma predominantly occurred in 21–30 years age group (20.9%). May and November were found to have the highest average number of monthly patients. Closed globe injuries (80.3%) were more prevalent than open globe injuries (17.7%). The most frequent MOIs were sharp objects (311; 32.6%), followed by blunt objects (236; 24.8%). Most cases (89.2%) displayed unilateral involvement and 54.3% cases showed an initial uncorrected VA of better than 6/18. Compared to road dust, blunt object, sharp object and traffic accident were significantly associated with poor initial VA, with adjusted ORs (95% CIs) of 5.24 (2.27-12.10), 4.03 (1.76-9.25) and 8.17 (3.31-20.15), respectively.&#x0D; Conclusions: Initial uncorrected VA and MOI provide earlier information regarding the prognosis. Traffic accident showed a greater tendency to cause a poor initial uncorrected VA. Most ocular trauma is preventable by educating people at risk to avoid common MOIs and to use protection.

MICROCYSTIC MACULAR EDEMA AND CYSTOID MACULAR EDEMA BEFORE AND AFTER EPIRETINAL MEMBRANE SURGERY.

To investigate the types of intraretinal cysts that are associated with epiretinal membranes and to evaluate the effects of each type of intraretinal cyst on postoperative outcomes. Retrospective, cross-sectional study design. Patients who underwent preoperative fluorescent angiography and epiretinal membrane surgery from February 2014 to May 2019 were included. Intraretinal cysts were subdivided into cystoid macular edema with angiographic leakage and microcystic macular edema (MME) without angiographic leakage. A total of 100 eyes from 100 patients were enrolled. Intraretinal cysts were present in 54 (54.0%) eyes before surgery, of which 27 (27.0%) eyes showed MME, 18 (18.0%) eyes showed cystoid macular edema, and 9 (9.0%) eyes showed cystoid macular edema and MME. After surgery, the number of eyes with cystoid macular edema decreased significantly (P < 0.001), whereas the number of eyes with MME did not (P = 0.302). Absence of preoperative MME, poorer initial visual acuity, increased central foveal thickness, and intact ellipsoidal zone were associated with favorable visual recovery (P = 0.035, 0.033, 0.018, and 0.035, respectively). Microcystic macular edema associated with epiretinal membranes was a poor prognostic factor for epiretinal membrane surgery. The persistent existence of MME after surgery affirms related chronic structural changes. Further studies should investigate whether earlier surgical intervention (possibly before the development of MME) benefits visual outcomes.

Visual outcome of endogenous endophthalmitis in Thailand

To evaluate a 10-year visual outcome of endogenous endophthalmitis (EE) patients. A 10-year retrospective chart review of EE patients. Thirty-eight patients (40 eyes) were diagnosed with EE at the mean age of 42. Among the identifiable pathogens (71.1% culture positive), the causative agents were predominantly gram-negative bacteria (48.1%). The most common specie was Klebsiella pneumoniae (25.9%). About a quarter of the patients required surgical eye removal, and the remaining 45.7% had visual acuity (VA) worse than hand motion at one month after the infectious episode. The most common complication was ocular hypertension (52.5%). Poor initial VA was significantly associated with a worse visual outcome in the early post-treatment period (p 0.12, adjusted OR 10.20, 95% CI 1.65–62.96). Five patients continued to visit the clinic for at least ten years. One patient had gained his vision from hand motion to 6/7.5. Two patients had visual deterioration, one from corneal decompensation, and the other from chronic retinal re-detachment. Two patients developed phthisis bulbi, with either some VA perception of light or no light perception. Poor initial VA is the only prognostic factor of a poor early post-treatment visual outcome of EE.

Clinical outcomes of posterior segment intraocular foreign bodies: The volume effect

To assess the effect of foreign body volume on visual and anatomic outcomes in patients with a posterior segment intraocular foreign body (IOFB). Patients were divided into three groups according to the volume of the IOFB; group 1 (n=18 eyes) with IOFBs<2mm3, group 2 (n=15 eyes) with 2mm3≤IOFBs<6mm3, group 3 (n=18 eyes) with IOFBs≥6mm3. All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for removal of the IOFB. Demographic characteristics, features of the injury and IOFB, findings of the initial and final ophthalmological examinations, and timing of IOFB removal were studied. The mean age was 38.8±12.0years, and the median follow-up period was 12.0 (range: 6-98) months. Initial visual acuity (VA) was significantly lower in group 3 (P=0.005), while final VA was similar between the three subgroups. Frequencies of primary globe repair, initial vitreous hemorrhage (VH), corneoscleral entry, and IOFB removal through the cornea were significantly higher in eyes with large volume IOFBs (P<0.05). Siderosis was only seen in 4 patients in group 1 (22.2%). No patients developed postoperative endophthalmitis. Large volume posterior segment IOFBs are associated with poor initial VA, initial VH and corneoscleral injury. Nevertheless, PPV and IOFB extraction under favorable conditions may provide significant visual improvement in eyes with large volume IOFBs.

Factors Associated with Visual Outcome after Primary Repair of Open-Globe Injury by Ophthalmology Residents in Training in a Tertiary Eye Center

PurposeTo assess factors associated with visual outcome after open-globe injury (OGI) repair by trainees.MethodsIn this observational study, charts of OGIs repaired by trainees at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok were retrospectively reviewed. Preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative outcomes (day 1, month 1, and month 6 postoperation) were analyzed.ResultsA total of 78 OGIs presented in a 10-year period. A biphasic pattern was found among the young and the elderly. Approximately 73.6% of the cases had had surgical repair outside office hours. A majority of cases had been caused by machinery and hammers, and had visual acuity (VA) <20/200. Three cases were reported as having been unsuccessful intraoperatively for globe repair. A fifth of the cases required evisceration/enucleation within 2 weeks of presentation. Presenting VA worse than hand motion was associated with the risk of evisceration/enucleation (OR 14.5, P=0.013). VA improved at 6 months postoperation to the range of counting fingers and 20/200 (OR 15.6, P<0.01). High ocular trauma scores (OTSs) was associated with lower risk of evisceration/enucleation, and 12% retinal detachment (RD) was discovered, of which 90% occurred within 1 month after OGI repair.ConclusionMost OGIs were efficiently managed by the trainees, seldomly requiring assistance from subspecialists. Poor initial VA was associated with high risk of visual loss, whereas higher OTSs were inversely related to lower risk of evisceration or enucleation. There was a higher percentage of participants with final VA of 20/100–20/20 than the preoperative period. Precaution and careful evaluation of RD in the early postoperative period is recommended.

Ocular spectrum of kite injury: A six-year trend at a tertiary eye care center.

Purpose:To assess ocular morbidity attributable to kites (patang) with emphasis on the cause, type and severity of the injury, complications, and final visual outcome.Methods:All the patients with a history of kite injury during months of Makar Sankranti for consecutive 6 years (2014–2019) were included in this study. A B-scan, orbital X-ray, and CT scan were performed for extensive ocular evaluation.Results:Out of 68 patients with kite-related injury, 58 were male and 10 were female. Globe rupture (20), lid laceration (18), penetrating injury (9), wooden foreign body in the anterior or posterior chamber (7), superficial foreign body (4), hyphema (7), and vitreous hemorrhage (3) due to falling from height were noted. Factors associated with a poor final visual outcome in our study were poor initial visual acuity, globe rupture, intraocular foreign body, and development of endophthalmitis.Conclusion:Kites can cause serious preventable injuries mostly among pediatric males. The use of protective eyewear and public awareness can decrease ocular injury significantly.

Predictors for Visual Outcomes in Eye Injuries with Intraocular Foreign Body.

ObjectiveTo study the visual outcomes and identify the predictive factors for visual outcomes in patients with eye injuries and retained intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs).Patients and MethodsThe medical records of 359 consecutive patients with eye injuries and retained IOFBs were retrospectively reviewed during 2009–2018. Demographic data, clinical findings, treatment and visual outcomes were studied. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify the predictive factors.ResultsMost of the patients were male and the average age was 36.4 years old. The three most common causes of eye injuries were grass trimming (25.07%), chiseling (23.12%) and hammering (13.93%). Most of the patients (79.39%) presented with poor initial best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) (<3/60). Pars plana vitrectomy with IOFB removal was done in 273 eyes (76.04%). After treatment, eyes with poor BCVA (<3/60) decreased from 79.39% to 62.95% and eyes with good BCVA (≥3/60) increased from 20.61% to 37.05%. Poor initial best-corrected visual acuity (odds ratio 23.39, P<0.001), rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (odds ratio 9.91, P<0.001) and the presence of infectious endophthalmitis (odds ratio 2.06, P=0.02) were statistically significant predictive factors for poor visual outcome.ConclusionMost patients with eye injuries and IOFBs usually have poor final BCVA. Poor presenting BCVA, retinal detachment and endophthalmitis are significant predictive factors for poor visual outcomes. These factors can be used to inform the visual prognosis and plan prompt surgical intervention for the patients. Causes of IOFBs were mostly work-related and could be preventable. Education and activation of using appropriate protective safety glasses during work are necessary to avoid serious eye injuries and blindness.

Outcomes in Retinal Vein Occlusions Presenting with Poor Visual Acuity Treated with Anti–Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Therapy: Prognosis and Predictive Factors

To present visual acuity and OCT outcomes in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO) treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agents demonstrating poor initial visual acuity. We aimed to identify relevant factors that may portend differential outcomes in this important patient population. Retrospective chart review. Fifty-two patients with recent RVO treated with anti-VEGF therapy and demonstrating habitual corrected visual acuity of worse than 20/320 before any ocular therapy, with at least 6 months of follow-up. Visual acuity, spectral-domain (SD) OCT findings, injection details, and the development of neovascular sequelae or need for adjunct therapies were recorded for consecutive visits after meeting vision criteria (maximum of 16 visits). In the central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) cohort, univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify factors predictive of outcomes, and the incidence of sequelae was studied with survival analysis. Change in approximate Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letter score at 6 and 12 months. The CRVO patients (n= 39) gained a median of 20 letters relative to baseline at both 6 and 12 months and showed a change in central subfield thickness (CST) of -504.1 μm and -552.3 μm, respectively. Branch RVO and hemiretinal vein occlusion patients (n= 13) gained a median of+45 and+57.5 letters at 6 and 12 months, respectively, and showed reductions of 299.6 μm and 355.2 μm of CST on SD OCT. For CRVO patients, more time from symptom onset to first injection predicted less optimistic letter gains in unadjusted and adjusted models (P < 0.0001 for all measures). A delay from symptom onset to first injection of 30 days or more predicted higher incidence of both neovascular (hazard ratio, 11.036; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.807-67.393) and total (hazard ratio, 11.425, 95% CI, 1.940-67.300) events. Patients with RVO demonstrating poor initial visual acuity showed visual and anatomic benefit with anti-VEGF therapy, most often observed shortly after initiation of treatment. In CRVO patients, even minor delays between symptom onset and first injection led to less optimistic vision gains and were associated with higher incidence of negative sequelae.

Globe rupture: a single-center retrospective study of demographic patterns and outcomes

Globe rupture is one of the severe mechanisms of eye injury. This study aimed to describe an epidemiologic patterns and visual outcomes of the open globe injury from globe rupture at a tertiary referral centre. Medical records of 167 patients (173 eyes) were retrospectively reviewed. Overall, males were predominant (82%). Road traffic- (26.3%) and work- (23.4%) were the major contributors. However, falling was the main mechanism in the elderly aged over 60 years. At presentation, 91.4% of eyes had initial visual acuity (VA) of worse than 20/200. The mean (SD) VA in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR) unit at final [1.8 (1.1)] was significantly improved from presenting VA [2.4 (0.6)] (p ˂ 0.001). Predictors for final VA of worse than 20/400 included poor initial VA, presence of relative afferent pupillary defect, and endophthalmitis. In conclusion, this study observed the peak incidence of globe rupture in young teen to early adult patients, with unique characteristics in each age group. Even with significant visual improvement following the treatments, profound visual loss was still a common consequence. Thus, the role of effective prevention along with a multidisciplinary team together with timely and prompt ophthalmic management should be emphasised.

Clinical and Imaging Factors Associated With the Outcomes of Tubercular Serpiginous-like Choroiditis

To analyze baseline clinical and imaging risk factors associated with poor outcome in patients with tubercular serpiginous-like choroiditis (TB SLC). Retrospective clinical study. Charts and fundus photographs of consecutive patients with active TB SLC seen at a single tertiary referral center with 6months follow-up after initiation of treatment were reviewed. Logistic mixed models were performed to determine the clinical and imaging factors associated with the response to therapy, including the opacity of choroiditis graded according to a 3-point scale. This study included 203 eyes of 183 patients with active TB SLC. Poor initial best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and foveal and optic disc involvement were associated with poor response to therapy at 6months (odds ratio [OR] 4.489, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.92-10.47; P = .001; OR 2.892, 95% CI: 1.23-6.81; P= .015; OR 11.633, 95% CI: 3.17-42.71; P < .001, respectively). The high opacity grades (2 and 3) were also associated with poor outcomes OR 9.541; 95% CI: 2.94-30.91; P= .001). Poor baseline BCVA and high grade of opacity of the lesions were the composite risk factors for paradoxical worsening of TB SLC (OR 7.555, 95% CI: 1.78-32.02; P= 0.006; OR 7.434, 95% CI: 1.34-41.18; P =0.021, respectively). TB SLC with higher grades of lesion opacity at baseline may be associated with greater risk of poor therapeutic response and paradoxical worsening. Grading of baseline lesion opacity may be used in future prospective studies to predict the biological behavior of the lesions and may serve as a guide to therapeutic interventions.

Long-term follow-up of an amblyopia treatment study: change in visual acuity 15 years after occlusion therapy.

PurposeTo determine change in visual acuity (VA) in the population of a previous amblyopia treatment study (Loudon 2006) and assess risk factors for VA decrease.MethodsSubjects treated between 2001 and 2003 were contacted between December 2015 and July 2017. Orthoptic examination was conducted under controlled circumstances and included subjective refraction, best corrected VA, reading acuity, binocular vision, retinal fixation, cover‐uncover and alternating cover test. As a measure for degree of amblyopia, InterOcular VA Difference (IOD) at the end of occlusion therapy was compared with IOD at the follow‐up examination using Wilcoxon’s signed‐rank test. Regression analysis was conducted to determine the influence of clinical and socio‐economic factors on changes in IOD.ResultsOut of 303 subjects from the original study, 208 were contacted successfully, 59 refused and 15 were excluded because of non‐amblyopic cause of visual impairment. Mean IOD at end of therapy (mean age 6.4 years) was 0.11 ± 0.16 logMAR, and IOD at follow‐up examination (mean age 18.3 years) was 0.09 ± 0.21 logMAR; this difference was not significant (p = 0.054). Degree of anisometropia (p = 0.008; univariable analysis), increasing anisometropia (p = 0.009; multivariable), eccentric fixation (p < 0.001; univariable and multivariable); large IOD (p < 0.001; univariable and multivariable) and non‐compliance during therapy (p = 0.028; univariable) were associated with IOD increase.ConclusionLong‐term results of occlusion therapy were good. High or increasing anisometropia, eccentric fixation and non‐compliance during occlusion therapy were associated with long‐term VA decrease. Subjects with poor initial VA had a larger increase despite little patching, but often showed long‐term VA decrease.