Clinical Performance of Extended Depth of Focus (EDOF) Intraocular Lenses - A Retrospective Comparative Study of Mini Well Ready and Symfony.

Purpose: Extended depth of focus intraocular (EDOF) IOLs form a bridge between single- and multifocal IOL design. This study aimed to compare clinical outcomes obtained after implanting two different optical designs of EDOF IOLs: the Mini Well Ready (SIFI Medtech, Catania, Italy) and Tecnis Symfony (Abbott Laboratories, Illinois, USA). Methods: The retrospective observational study included 61 patients (122 eyes) who underwent bilateral implantation of the Mini Well Ready IOL (32 patients) or the Tecnis Symfony IOL (29 patients). The following preoperative and postoperative parameters were evaluated: spherical equivalent, anterior astigmatism, pupil size, monocular and binocular uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), monocular and binocular uncorrected intermediate visual acuity (UIVA) and distance-corrected intermediate visual acuity (DCIVA), monocular and binocular uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA) and distance-corrected near visual acuity (DCNVA). In the 6 months postoperative period, defocus curve, contrast sensitivity, photopic phenomena, and posterior capsule opacification were assessed. Results: The patients receiving the Tecnis Symfony had slightly better monocular and binocular UDVA and CDVA than with the Mini Well Ready IOL, the differences were not statistically significant. Whereas the UIVA, DCIVA, UNVA, DCNVA, UNVA and DCNVA values were higher in the Mini Well Ready group, the differences were not significant. There were no significant between-group differences regarding the defocus curve for the vast majority of tested vergences. Dysphotopsias postoperatively were assessed at 6 months. Conclusion: Patients receiving both the Mini Well Ready and Symfony IOLs had excellent visual acuity outcomes and spectacle independence.

A single-centre retrospective observational study of fungal keratitis in Poland with a review of findings in Europe.

INTRODUCTION: Fungal keratitis is a severe condition which may lead to blindness. Fungal keratitis, also known mycotic keratitis or keratomycosis, has worldwide distribution, but is more common in tropical climates compared to moderate zones. In recent years, there have been several studies suggesting an increase in the number of mycotic keratitis cases in countries with a moderate climate. There is little data available with no literature review concerning fungal keratitis in European countries. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the causes, presentation, and clinico-pathological associations of fungal keratitis in a retrospective series of patients referred to the Department of Ophthalmology of the Railway Hospital in Katowice, south-west Poland, and comparing the findings to previously published studies in peer reviewed articles from other European countries published between 2000-2019. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Data were collected using the medical records of patients with fungal keratitis. Risk factors, clinical manifestation and treatment results were analysed from 45 patients (45 eyes) with fungal keratitis treated in the Department of Ophthalmology of Railway Hospital in Katowice between January 2013 - December 2017. The factors affecting the development of infection, visual acuity at baseline and at the end of treatment, as well as treatment method selection, were analysed. Literature review was performed using the Medline, Pubmed, Embase databases and Google scholar. The inclusion criteria were peer reviewed papers published between 2000-2019 which reported data from patients with fungal keratitis in at least one European country. 11 peer reviewed articles which matched the inclusion criteria were analysed. RESULTS: The mean BCVA of patients treated in the Department of Ophthalmology of the Railway Hospital in Katowice upon diagnosis was 2.3 (logMAR), compared to 1.95 (logMAR) at the end of treatment. Pearson's chi-squared test was used to establish the final mean BCVA in eyes with keratitis caused by Candida spp. compared with keratitis caused by Filamentous spp. The reviewed articles showed poor results of treatment and diagnostic difficulties in fungal keratitis. CONCLUSIONS: Fungal keratitis is a significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and may occur in rural and urban areas. Early and accurate diagnosis followed by proper antifungal treatment can prevent blindness and improve BCVA results.

Bionic eye review - An update.

PURPOSE: To date, reviews of bionic eye have concentrated on implants which were used in human trials in the developed countries. This is the main restriction of this systematic review examines, however this review discusses worldwide advances in retinal prosthetic research, assesses engineering features and clinical progress of recent implant trials, and identifies potential future research areas in the field of bionic implants. METHODS: A literature review searching PubMed, Google Scholar, and IEEExplore was performed using the PRISMA Guidelines for Systematic Review. We included peer-reviewed papers in the review which demonstrated progress in human or animal trials and papers with described innovative bionic eye engineering design. For each trial, a characteristic of the device, engineering solution, and latest clinical outcomes were presented. RESULTS: Eleven prosthetic projects fulfilled met our inclusion criteria and were ordered by stimulation location. Four have recently finished human trials, three are having conducted multi- or singlecenter human trials, and three are in preclinical animal testing stage. FDA has approved Argus II (FDA 2013, CE 2011); the Alpha-IMS (CE 2013) has been approved and obtained BCVA with Landolt-C test has taken into a multicenter clinical research. New approaches will be presented using alternating magnetic fields, low-intensity focused ultrasounds, optogenetics, implementing ionic gradients across neural cell membranes or influencing neurotransmitter levels will be presented in the review. CONCLUSION: Several bionic eye have successfully achieved visual perception in animals and/or humans. However, many things need to be improved and engineering difficulties are to be resolved before bionic eye will be capable of fully and safely bring back vision functions. New approaches could improve medical outcome of future bionic eye.