Quantitative Assessment of Fundus Tessellated Density in Highly Myopic Glaucoma Using Deep Learning.

Purpose: To characterize the fundus tessellated density (FTD) in highly myopic glaucoma (HMG) and high myopia (HM) for discovering early signs and diagnostic markers. Methods: This retrospective cross-sectional study included hospital in-patients with HM (133 eyes) and HMG (73 eyes) with an axial length ≥26 mm at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center. Using deep learning, FTD was quantified as the average exposed choroid area per unit area on fundus photographs in the global, macular, and disc regions. FTD-associated factors were assessed using partial correlation. Diagnostic efficacy was analyzed using the area under the curve (AUC). Results: HMG patients had lower global (0.20 ± 0.12 versus 0.36 ± 0.09) and macular FTD (0.25 ± 0.14 vs. 0.40 ± 0.09) but larger disc FTD (0.24 ± 0.11 vs. 0.19 ± 0.07) than HM patients in the tessellated fundus (all P < 0.001). In the macular region, nasal FTD was lowest in the HM (0.26 ± 0.13) but highest in the HMG (0.32 ± 0.13) compared with the superior, inferior, and temporal subregions (all P < 0.05). A fundus with a macular region nasal/temporal (NT) FTD ratio > 0.96 (AUC = 0.909) was 15.7 times more indicative of HMG than HM. A higher macular region NT ratio with a lower horizontal parapapillary atrophy/disc ratio indicated a higher possibility of HMG than HM (AUC = 0.932). Conclusions: FTD differs in degree and distribution between HMG and HM. A higher macular NT alone or with a lower horizontal parapapillary atrophy/disc ratio may help differentiate HMG. Translational Relevance: Deep learning-based FTD measurement could potentially assist glaucoma diagnosis in HM.

Visual impairment burden in retinopathy of prematurity: trends, inequalities, and improvement gaps.

Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an important cause of avoidable childhood visual impairment, and the increase in number and survival of premature infants may inflate its burden globally. We aimed to comprehensively assess the trends and inequalities in the burden of ROP-related visual impairment and to identify improvement gaps to facilitate appropriate actions in neonatal care systems. We obtained ROP data from the Global Burden of Disease 2019 study. We employed joinpoint regression analysis to assess the trends of the burden of ROP-related visual impairment, measured by age-standardised prevalence rates, health equity analysis methods to evaluate cross-country burden inequalities, and data envelopment and stochastic frontier analyses to identify improvement gaps based on the development status, i.e., sociodemographic index (SDI). Between 1990 and 2019, the age-standardised prevalence rates of ROP-related visual impairment significantly increased worldwide (average annual percentage change: 0.23 [95% confidence interval, 0.21-0.26] among males and 0.26 [0.25-0.27] among females), primarily in developed regions. Although significant SDI-related cross-country inequalities were identified, these reduced over time (slope index of inequality: -57.74 [-66.22 to -49.25] in 1990 to -29.68 [-38.39 to -20.97] in 2019; health concentration index: -0.11 [-0.13 to -0.09] in 1990 to -0.07 [-0.09 to -0.06] in 2019). Notably, some less-developed countries exhibited superior performance despite limited resources, whereas others with a higher SDI delivered lagging performance.  Conclusion: The global burden of ROP-related visual impairment has steadily increased between 1990 and 2019, with disproportionate burden concentration among less-developed countries, requiring appropriate preventive and intervention measures. What is Known: • Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is an important cause of avoidable childhood visual impairment. • The prevalence of ROP is anticipated to increase due to the growing number of extremely premature infants. What is New: • The prevalence of ROP-related visual impairment has increased worldwide, primarily in developed regions, with declining but persisting cross-country inequalities. • The increasing burden of ROP-related visual impairment should be considered as part of global and national health agendas, requiring interventions with proven efficacy.

Multi-Quantitative Assessment of AS-OCTA Complemented AS-OCT for Monitoring Filtering Bleb Function After Trabeculectomy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore a quantitative grading system of the filtering bleb combined anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography (AS-OCTA) vascular features and optical coherence tomography (OCT) morphological features. Methods: One hundred three eyes of 103 patients diagnosed with primary open-angle glaucoma and undergone trabeculectomy over 6 months were divided into success and failure groups according to postoperative intraocular pressure (IOP) level. Vessel density (VD) and vessel diameter index (VDI) were examined by AS-OCTA. Bleb's morphology, including bleb height (BH), and microcyst-structure (MCS) were detected by AS-OCT. Multi-vascular model score (MVMS) was calculated by comprehensive factor analysis, and the comprehensive grading system (MVMS-MCS-BH) was analyzed by linear regression. The efficiency our method was verified by receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: The VD and VDI were higher in the failure group and closely related to post-trabeculectomy IOP (all P = 0.000). The MVMS was mostly consisted of VD in all regions, and VDIs of nasal, central, and temporal positions in sequence. MVMS ≥0, BH <1.33, and non-MCS were significantly associated with IOP increasing (coefficient = -3.23, -3.69, and 8.10, all P = 0.000). MVMS-BH-MCS got a higher area under curve (AUC), sensitivity, and specificity (0.92, 100%, and 80.30%) than the slit-lamp method (0.62, 72.20%, and 46.43%, respectively). Conclusions: The quantitative vascular characteristics detected by AS-OCTA were significant for the bleb monitor. The MVMS-BH-MCS grading system had achieved outstanding accuracy in reflecting the surgical results. Translational Relevance: The multi-vascular biomarker and comprehensive evaluation combined vascular and morphological parameters yield useful information on surgical outcomes, and help ophthalmologists to monitor patients effectively.

Characteristic Assessment of Angiographies at Different Depths with AS-OCTA: Implication for Functions of Post-Trabeculectomy Filtering Bleb.

This study aimed to analyze the quantitative vascular biomarkers of filtering bleb function at different depths using anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography (AS-OCTA). This cross-sectional study is registered on Clinicaltrails.gov (NCT04515017). Forty-six eyes with primary open-angle glaucoma that had undergone trabeculectomy with mitomycin-C for more than six months were included. Vessel density (VD) and vessel diameter index (VDI) in the superficial layer (SL), Tenon's layer (TL), and deep layer (DL) of the bleb were obtained. The VD and VDI were higher in the failure group (both p = 0.000). Significant correlations were found between the SL, TL, DL's VDI, and IOP in the success group (p = 0.013, 0.016, 0.031, respectively). The VD of the TL and DL were related to IOP in the failure group (p = 0.012, 0.009). Tenon's VD (TVD) and Tenon's VDI (TVDI) correlated with IOP adjusting for TVD, TVDI, and the Indiana Bleb Appearance Grading Scale (IBAGS) (p = 0.009, 0.043) or Kenfeld grading system (KGS) (p = 0.011, 0.016). The area under curve (AUC) of the TVD, TVDI, IBAGS, and KGS to predict surgery failure were 0.960, 0.925, 0.770, and 0.850. AS-OCTA realized the quantitative evaluation of vessels, especially the invisible vascularity beneath the conjunctiva. TVD and TVDI as detected by AS-OCTA better reflected bleb function than conventional grading systems.