Quantitative Ocular Surface Changes in Patients Undergoing Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy.

PURPOSE: To describe the clinical course and evaluate treatment of ocular surface changes in patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. METHODS: Multiple markers of ocular surface dryness were evaluated in 16 patients on ICI therapy. The Wilcoxon rank-sum test was used to determine the significant change in the initial and final ocular surface indices. RESULTS: Fifty percent of the eyes demonstrated worsening Schirmer I scores; 29% showed an increase in lissamine green staining. During follow-up, 43% of patients experienced a decline in OSDI scores. Treatments included preservative-free artificial tears (88%), cyclosporine (25%), topical corticosteroids (31%), warm compresses (25%); punctal plugs (13%). Median follow-up time was 3.4 months (range:0-79 ); median ICI treatment duration was 7 months (range:1-40). Four patients died during the observation period. CONCLUSION: A significant proportion of patients experience changes in ocular surface markers while treated with ICIs. Medical intervention can lead to stabilization of ocular surface disease.

Epidemiology of visual impairment, sight-threatening or treatment-requiring diabetic eye disease in children and young people in the UK: findings from DECS.

BACKGROUND: We investigated the incidence and causes of sight-threatening diabetes-related eye disease in children living with diabetes in the UK, to inform the national eye screening programme and enable monitoring of trends. METHODS: We undertook a prospective active national surveillance via the British Ophthalmic Surveillance Unit. Eligible cases were children aged 18 years or younger, with type 1 or 2 diabetes, newly diagnosed between January 2015 and February 2017 with sight-threatening diabetic eye disease. RESULTS: Eight children were reported. The annual incidence of all sight-threatening diabetes-related eye disease requiring referral to an ophthalmologist among children living with diabetes (n=8) in the UK was 1.21 per 10 000 person-years (95% CI 0.52 to 2.39) and was largely attributable to cataract (n=5) 0.76 per 10 000 person-years (95% CI 0.25 to 1.77). The incidence of sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (n=3) among those eligible for screening (12 to 18 year-olds living with diabetes) was 1.18 per 10 000 person-years (95% CI 0.24 to 3.46). No subjects eligible for certification as visually impaired or blind were reported. CONCLUSIONS: Secondary prevention of visual disability due to retinopathy is currently the sole purpose of national eye screening programmes globally. However, the rarity of treatment-requiring retinopathy in children/young people living with diabetes, alongside growing concerns about suboptimal screening uptake, merit new consideration of the utility of screening for primary prevention of diabetes-related morbidity by using the screening event and findings as a catalyst for better diabetes self-management.

Prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in children and young people living with diabetes: protocol for a systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: The frequency of diabetes mellitus in childhood is increasing. Thus, more children and young people are at risk of developing diabetic retinopathy and diabetes related visual impairment. However, there is no consensus on optimal screening strategies for the paediatric population reflecting the lack of clarity about the current burden of disease in this group. We aim to estimate the prevalence of diabetic retinopathy in children and young people living with types 1 or 2 diabetes, and to investigate potential sources of heterogeneity in this figure so as to inform screening strategies for this population. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: PubMed and EMBASE will be searched from 1995 to 2016 using the OvidSP platform with no language restriction. Additionally, manual review of the references lists of included articles will be conducted. Two investigators will independently screen titles and abstracts for potential eligibility. Studies which report prevalence of diabetic retinopathy among general populations of children and young people with types 1 or 2 diabetes will be included. Pooled prevalence estimates of diabetic retinopathy reported in studies with sample size greater than 200 participants will be calculated by the random effect model. Forest plots will be used to summarise individual and pooled estimates of the prevalence. Heterogeneity between studies will be assessed using the I2 statistic and explored through meta-regressions and subgroup analyses if the necessary data are available. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval is not required as this is a review of anonymised published data. We will report the findings of this systematic review in a peer-reviewed journal, and share it with the relevant professionals including health authorities through our Diabetic Eye disease in Childhood Study collaborative network. CLINICAL TRAIL REGISTRATION: PROSPERO (CRD42017067178).