Ophthalmology

The MD Magazine editors rounded up the 10 best stories from December—did you read them all?

Some cases of tubulointerstitial nephritis and uveitis syndrome, or TINU, have a poor visual prognosis, so early diagnosis and treatment are recommended. Diagnosis requires detailed history taking, whole-body imaging studies, and examination of renal function.

During follow-up periods ranging from six months to 10 years, no increase in IOP over time was found in AMD or DME patients who received intravitreal injection of an anti-VEGF agent, no matter how many injections they received.

In the SAKURA study, a greater proportion of those in the intravitreal sirolimus treatment groups than those in the active control group met the primary endpoint, a vitreous haze score of zero at Month 5 without the use of rescue therapy.

In a new study, stroke occurred in 6.6% of the ranibizumab-treated group, compared with 7.0% of the controls matched by sociodemographic factors and comorbidities and 6.7% of the controls matched by sociodemographic factors only. These differences were not statistically significant.

A retrospective review of patients with bilateral uveitic glaucoma who had filtration surgery in both eyes at different times found that the second surgically treated eye showed greater glaucomatous disc progression than the first.

A Spanish research team found an association between testing positive for antibodies to adalimumab (Humira) and a worse outcome of uveitis, but only in those who tested positive permanently. They also found that this association correlated with undetectable trough levels of Humira.

The billion-dollar combination of pegpleranib and ranibizumab failed to meet primary endpoints in studies for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.

Most patients with severe refractory juvenile ideiopathic arthritis-associated uveitis may get complete remission after six months of treatment with tocilizumab (Actemra/Roche.)

Despite the fact that two thirds of stroke survivors could suffer from a visual impairment, nearly half of stroke units do not even assess vision. A recent report suggests that more must be done to assess the outlook for vision in stroke survivors.

Age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in the developed world, has long been linked to diet and obesity. Recently, we came closer to understanding just exactly why that is.

A recent study joins an ever-deepening well of data about the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, including its risk-reduction potential for age-related macular degeneration. AMD is the leading cause of blindness in the developed world.

Eyeball tattoos require "injecting some type of pigment directly under the bulbar conjunctiva with a needle." Obviously, ophthalmologists do not endorse such behavior.

Monthly Avastin injections and quarterly Ozurdex injections produced equivalent improvements in best-corrected visual acuity after 7 months. However, Ozurdex reduced central subfield thickness nine times more than Avastin did, though it was associated with elevated intraocular pressure.

The MD Magazine editors rounded up the 10 best stories from November – did you read them all?

Patients with intermediate uveitis (IU) have a high likelihood of achieving good long-term visual outcomes, but should expect a long disease course and frequent complications

Researchers concerned about inconsistencies in rating disease activity in uveitis have come up with a new scoring system called UVEDAI.

Adalimumab has the potential to serve an important role in management of chronic and refractory noninfectious uveitis and associated macular edema with low rates of serious adverse events in the long term, according to a recent report. That includes pediatric patients.

Cytomegalovirus or CMV’s an etiological factor in patients with hypertensive anterior uveitis in Korea, according to a recent study.

Noninfectious uveitis (NIU) is more prevalent among female than male adults and the number of cases increase in tandem with age, according to a recent study.

Adalimumab (ADA) works well as a treatment for patients with both active and inactive uveitis whether or not they are taking an immunosuppressant (IMM); however, the median time to treatment failure (mTTF) is longer for patients with inactive uveitis taking an IMM.

As with most surgical advances, new potential procedures in ophthalmology pose their fair share of risks. However, if those risks can be overcome the rewards to patients can make a significant difference in their quality of life.

Panuveitis is associated with recurrent or persistent inflammation (R/PI) for patients with both active and inactive uveitis, a study found.

As a retinal implant, the ARGUS II technology has shown early benefits for patients with retinitis pigmentosa. A new study from the United Kingdom is examining its benefits in patients with the dry form of age related macular degeneration.

As with all new technologies for surgical procedures, there will be questions to be answered about the safety for hypersonic vitrectomy. While human trials have not started yet, there are good indications in cadaveric and animal studies.

Medical technology is constantly evolving across fields, and ophthalmology is no exception. A new hypersonic vitrectomy device is currently in development and could be on the market in 2017.

Scientists found that amyloid beta proteins accumulate in the retinas of AMD patients – the same types of proteins that settle in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease.

Researchers are getting closer to understanding the pathogenesis of one type of age-related macular degeneration.

Research using mouse models demonstrated that a high-fat diet increased intestinal permeability, which led to increases in circulating and local inflammatory cytokines, and increased choroidal neovascularization.

By applying a machine learning approach, scientists can now differentiate neuromyelitis optica from multiple sclerosis on magnetic resonance imaging scans of patients’ gray matter.