Retinal and choroidal efficacy of switching treatment to faricimab in recalcitrant neovascular age related macular degeneration.

Aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of switching treatment to faricimab in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) from other anti-VEGF agents. Fifty-eight eyes of fifty-one patients with nAMD and a full upload series of four faricimab injections were included. Demographic data, multimodal imaging and treatment parameters were recorded. The primary outcome measures were changes in central subfield thickness (CST) and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT). A subgroup analysis was performed for eyes with prior ranibizumab (R) or aflibercept (A) treatment. Mean injection intervals before and after switching were comparable (33.8 ± 11.2 vs. 29.3 ± 2.6 days; p = 0.08). Mean CST of 361.4 ± 108.1 µm prior to switching decreased significantly to 318.3 ± 97.7 µm (p < 0.01) after the third faricimab injection, regardless of prior anti-VEGF treatment (p < 0.01). Although SFCT slightly improved for the whole cohort from 165.8 ± 76.8 µm to 161.0 ± 82,8 µm (p = 0.029), subgroup analysis did not confirm this positive effect (subgroup R: p = 0.604; subgroup A: p = 0.306). In patients with a suboptimal response to aflibercept or ranibizumab in nAMD, farcimab can improve CST and slightly improve or maintain SFCT. Further prospective randomized trials are warranted.

Novel surgical technique of sutureless artificial iris and intraocular lens scleral fixation using Yamane technique.

Purpose: To describe a novel surgical technique of a combined implantation of an artificial iris and a scleral fixated intraocular lens (IOL) using flanged IOL haptics ("Yamane" technique). Observations: The suturelessly implanted artificial iris-IOL-sandwich was stable with good functional as well as aesthetic results. However, our case showed a postoperative intraocular pressure rise. Conclusions: The presented case demonstrates that a visual as well as cosmetical rehabilitation seems to be possible even after severe, penetrating ocular trauma with profound iris defects. Importance: The sutureless IOL scleral fixation technique can also be used in combination with a sutureless artificial iris implantation. Further studies are needed to evaluate the long-term safety profile and rates of postoperative complications.

Correlation between weather and incidence of selected ophthalmological diagnoses: a database analysis.

PURPOSE: Our aim was to correlate the overall patient volume and the incidence of several ophthalmological diseases in our emergency department with weather data. PATIENTS AND METHODS: For data analysis, we used our clinical data warehouse and weather data. We investigated the weekly overall patient volume and the average weekly incidence of all encoded diagnoses of "conjunctivitis", "foreign body", "acute iridocyclitis", and "corneal abrasion". A Spearman's correlation was performed to link these data with the weekly average sunshine duration, temperature, and wind speed. RESULTS: We noticed increased patient volume in correlation with increasing sunshine duration and higher temperature. Moreover, we found a positive correlation between the weekly incidences of conjunctivitis and of foreign body and weather data. CONCLUSION: The results of this data analysis reveal the possible influence of external conditions on the health of a population and can be used for weather-dependent resource allocation.