OBJECTIVE: To identify factors that contribute to missed cataract surgery follow-up visits, with an emphasis on socioeconomic and demographic factors. METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, patients who underwent cataract extraction by phacoemulsification at Massachusetts Eye and Ear between 1 January and 31 December 2014 were reviewed. Second eye cases, remote and international patients, patients with foreign insurance and combined cataract cases were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 1931 cases were reviewed and 1089 cases, corresponding to 3267 scheduled postoperative visits, were included. Of these visits, 157 (4.8%) were missed. Three (0.3%) postoperative day 1, 40 (3.7%) postoperative week 1 and 114 (10.5%) postoperative month 1 visits were missed. Age<30 years (adjusted OR (aOR)=8.2, 95% CI 1.9 to 35.2) and ≥90 years (aOR=5.7, 95% CI 2.0 to 15.6) compared with patients aged 70-79 years, estimated travel time of >2 hours (aOR=3.2, 95% CI 1.4 to 7.4), smokers (aOR=2.7, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.8) and complications identified up to the postoperative visit (aOR=1.4, 95% CI 1.0 to 2.1) predicted a higher rate of missed visits. Ocular comorbidities (aOR=0.7, 95% CI 0.5 to 1.0) and previous visit best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of 20/50-20/80 (aOR=0.4, 95% CI 0.3 to 0.7) and 20/90-20/200 (aOR=0.4, 95% CI 0.2 to 0.9), compared with BCVA at the previous visit of 20/40 or better, predicted a lower rate of missed visits. Gender, race/ethnicity, language, education, income, insurance, alcohol use and season of the year were not associated with missed visits. CONCLUSIONS: Medical factors and demographic characteristics, including patient age and distance from the hospital, are associated with missed follow-up visits in cataract surgery. Additional studies are needed to identify disparities in cataract postoperative care that are population-specific. This information can contribute to the implementation of policies and interventions for addressing them.

PURPOSE: To characterize diphtheroid corneal infections in eyes in the chronic phase of Stevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN). METHODS: Observational case series. RESULTS: Four eyes of 3 patients were included in this review. Each eye presented with persistent corneal epithelial defect with corneal thinning in the chronic phase of SJS/TEN. None of the epithelial defects were associated with stromal infiltration. The corneas were cultured at the time of workup of persistent epithelial defect (3 eyes) or at time of tectonic penetrating keratoplasty after perforation (1 eye). Cultures yielded abundant growth of Corynebacterium spp., including Corynebacterium jeikeium (n = 2), Corynebacterium glucuronolyticum (n = 1), and a multidrug-resistant Corynebacterium striatum isolate (n = 1). The ocular surface was stabilized with surgical intervention (1 eye) or with introduction of fortified topical antibiotic based on laboratory identification and susceptibility testing of the isolated organisms (3 eyes). Numerous risk factors for microbial keratitis were present in all 4 eyes. CONCLUSIONS: In eyes with a persistent corneal epithelial defect in the chronic phase of SJS/TEN, even in the absence of an infiltrate, corneal culture should be undertaken. Recognition and treatment of Corynebacterium spp. as opportunistic pathogens may lead to favorable outcomes in cases of clinically sterile ulceration during the chronic phase of SJS/TEN.

Spurred by the coronavirus disease pandemic and shortage of eye care providers, telemedicine is transforming the way ophthalmologists care for their patients. Video conferencing, ophthalmic imaging, hybrid visits, intraocular inflammation quantification, and portable technology are evolving areas that may allow more uveitis patients to be evaluated via telemedicine. Despite these promising disruptive technologies, there remain significant technological limitations, legal barriers, variable insurance coverage for virtual visits, and lack of clinical trials for uveitis specialists to embrace telemedicine.

Nicotinamide mononucleotide adenylyltransferase 1 (NMNAT1) is required for nuclear nicotinamide adenine mononucleotide (NAD+) biosynthesis in all nucleated cells, and despite its functional ubiquity, mutations in this gene lead to an isolated retinal degeneration. The mechanisms underlying how mutant NMNAT1 causes disease are not well understood, nor is the reason why the pathology is confined to the retina. Using a mouse model of NMNAT1-associated retinal degeneration that harbors the p.Val9Met mutation, we tested the hypothesis that decreased function of mutant NMNAT1 has a greater effect on the levels of NAD+ in the retina than elsewhere in the body. Measurements by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry showed an early and sustained decrease of NAD+ in mutant retinas that was not observed in other tissues. To understand how consumers of nuclear NAD+ are affected by the reduced availability of NAD+ in mutant retinas, poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and nuclear sirtuin activity were evaluated. PARP activity was elevated during disease progression, as evidenced by overproduction of poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) in photoreceptors, whereas histone deacetylation activity of nuclear sirtuins was not altered. We hypothesized that PARP could be activated because of elevated levels of oxidative stress; however, we did not observe oxidative DNA damage, lipid peroxidation, or a low glutathione to oxidized glutathione ratio. Terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling staining revealed that photoreceptors appear to ultimately die by apoptosis, although the low NAD+ levels and overproduction of PAR suggest that cell death may include aspects of the parthanatos cell death pathway.

Retinal imaging remains the mainstay for monitoring and grading diabetic retinopathy. The gold standard for detecting proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) requiring treatment has long been the seven-field stereoscopic fundus photography and fluorescein angiography. In the past decade, ultra-wide field fluorescein angiography (UWF-FA) has become more commonly used in clinical practice for the evaluation of more advanced diabetic retinopathy. Since its invention, optical coherence tomography (OCT) has been an important tool for the assessment of diabetic macular edema; however, OCT offered little in the assessment of neovascular changes associated with PDR until OCT-A became available. More recently, swept source OCT allowed larger field of view scans to assess a variety of DR lesions with wide field swept source optical coherence tomography (WF-SS-OCTA). This paper reviews the role of WF-SS-OCTA in detecting neovascularization of the disc (NVD), and elsewhere (NVE), microaneurysms, changes of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMA), and capillary non-perfusion, as well as limitations of this evolving technology.

The goal of personalized diabetes eye care is to accurately predict in real-time the risk of diabetic retinopathy (DR) progression and visual loss. The use of electronic health records (EHR) provides a platform for artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms that predict DR progression to be incorporated into clinical decision-making. By implementing an algorithm on data points from each patient, their risk for retinopathy progression and visual loss can be modeled, allowing them to receive timely treatment. Data can guide algorithms to create models for disease and treatment that may pave the way for more personalized care. Currently, there exist numerous challenges that need to be addressed before reliably building and deploying AI algorithms, including issues with data quality, privacy, intellectual property, and informed consent.

BACKGROUND: Strabismus is the leading risk factor for amblyopia, which should be early detected for minimized visual impairment. However, traditional school screening for strabismus can be challenged due to several factors, most notably training, mobility and cost. The purpose of our study is to evaluate the feasibility of using a smartphone application in school vision screening for detection of strabismus. METHODS: The beta smartphone application, EyeTurn, can measure ocular misalignment by computerized Hirschberg test. The application was used by a school nurse in a routine vision screening for 133 elementary school children. All app measurements were reviewed by an ophthalmologist to assess the rate of successful measurement and were flagged for in-person verification with prism alternating cover test (PACT) using a 2.4Δ threshold (root mean squared error of the app). A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to determine the best sensitivity and specificity for an 8Δ threshold (recommended by AAPOS) with the PACT measurement as ground truth. RESULTS: The nurse obtained at least one successful app measurement for 93% of children (125/133). 40 were flagged for PACT, of which 6 were confirmed to have strabismus, including 4 exotropia (10△, 10△, 14△ and 18△), 1 constant esotropia (25△) and 1 accommodative esotropia (14△). Based on the ROC curve, the optimum threshold for the app to detect strabismus was determined to be 3.0△, with the best sensitivity (83.0%), specificity (76.5%). With this threshold the app would have missed one child with accommodative esotriopia, whereas conventional screening missed 3 cases of intermittent extropia. CONCLUSIONS: Results support feasibility of use of the app by personnel without professional training in routine school screenings to improve detection of strabismus.

Ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) is a leading therapeutic candidate for several ocular diseases and induces optic nerve regeneration in animal models. Paradoxically, however, although CNTF gene therapy promotes extensive regeneration, recombinant CNTF (rCNTF) has little effect. Because intraocular viral vectors induce inflammation, and because CNTF is an immune modulator, we investigated whether CNTF gene therapy acts indirectly through other immune mediators. The beneficial effects of CNTF gene therapy remained unchanged after deleting CNTF receptor alpha (CNTFRα) in retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), the projection neurons of the retina, but were diminished by depleting neutrophils or by genetically suppressing monocyte infiltration. CNTF gene therapy increased expression of C-C motif chemokine ligand 5 (CCL5) in immune cells and retinal glia, and recombinant CCL5 induced extensive axon regeneration. Conversely, CRISPR-mediated knockdown of the cognate receptor (CCR5) in RGCs or treating wild-type mice with a CCR5 antagonist repressed the effects of CNTF gene therapy. Thus, CCL5 is a previously unrecognized, potent activator of optic nerve regeneration and mediates many of the effects of CNTF gene therapy.