Brolucizumab in age-related macular neovascularization (BRAIN study): Efficacy, optical coherence tomography biomarkers, and safety profile.

BACKGROUND: Brolucizumab is a new anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) in the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) and idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (IPCV). MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective, consecutive, interventional study was conducted from a tertiary eye hospital, in which treatment-naïve and treatment-switch patients were included. They underwent an intravitreal injection of brolucizumab. The decision to reinject was made based on the presence of fluid on spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) or worsening of vision at follow-up. Outcome measures were changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central subfield thickness (CST), fluid (subretinal/intraretinal/sub-retinal pigment epithelium fluid) levels, and OCT biomarkers and safety analysis. RESULTS: A total of 59 eyes of 50 patients with a total of 132 intravitreal injections were included. There was a statistically significant improvement (P < 0.05) in BCVA from baseline in logMAR treatment-naïve patients (mean BCVA at baseline 0.6 ± 0.41 and 0.37 ± 0.56). The mean baseline CST of all patients significantly reduced from 582.92 ± 233.11 µm at baseline to 474.06 ± 252.89 µm at the final treatment visit. Thirty-eight percent of patients showed complete resolution of SHRM after a single injection. The interval between each subsequent injection increased from a mean of 67 to 96 days in treatment-switch patients and from 47 to 151 days in treatment-naïve patients. CONCLUSION: Brolucizumab promises reduced number of injections with longer treatment intervals.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy 20 years after resolution of tubercular choroiditis.

We report the case of a 72-year-old white woman with blurring of vision in both eyes of 15 days' duration. She had a history of treatment for bilateral tuberculosis choroiditis 20 years before. She was diagnosed with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in the right eye and inflammatory choroidal neovascular membrane in the left eye, based on multimodal imaging, including optical coherence tomography, fundus fluorescein angiography, and indocyanine green angiography. The right eye received 3 intravitreal injections of aflibercept and showed complete resolution. The left eye was treated with a single intravitreal injection of aflibercept.

Review of incidental ocular pathologies detected during the screening of retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants.

AIM: The aim of the study was to report the spectrum of ocular pathologies other than retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) occurring in preterm babies, suggesting the need for universal screening in all babies. METHODS: Babies born before 34 weeks of gestational age (GA) and/or weighing <2000 g were screened at around 4 weeks of postnatal age and those born before 28 weeks of GA and weighing <1200 g were examined at 2-3 weeks of postnatal age. Babies between 34 and 36 weeks of GA or birth weight of 1750-2000 g with additional risk factors were also screened. Pupils were dilated using a fixed dose combination of 0.4% tropicamide and 2.5% phenylephrine. The babies underwent retinal imaging using the 3nethra neo camera, Forus, India, by a skilled ophthalmic photographer. RESULTS: A total of 1437 preterm babies were screened in an outreach project which spanned 18 hospitals equipped with neonatal intensive care centers (neonatal intensive care units) in an urban setting during the study period. A total of 4339 screening sessions were conducted. Of these infants, 754 (52.47%) were male and 683 (47.52%) were female babies. Among the enrolled infants, 165 (12.16%) had ocular findings other than ROP. Of the 165 cases, 70 (42.42%) were anterior segment and globe pathologies, whereas the remaining 95 (57.57%) were posterior segment pathologies. CONCLUSION: Timely screening helps in identifying and managing potentially vision-threatening pathologies including ROP. This will help reduce the burden of childhood blindness worldwide.

Role of hyaluronidase as an adjuvant in local anesthesia for cataract surgery.

Cataract surgery ranks among the commonest procedures performed worldwide. Approximately 51% of blindness worldwide is related to cataracts, affecting about 65.2 million people worldwide and more so in developing countries. Over the years, there has been a significant evolution in the surgical techniques of cataract extraction. The advancement in phacoemulsification machines, phaco-tips, and the availability of ophthalmic viscoelastic devices have played a substantial role in cataract surgery such that they are faster and more controlled than before. Similarly, anesthetic techniques in cataract surgery have advanced significantly from retrobulbar, peribulbar, and sub-Tenon's blocks to topical anesthesia. Though topical anesthesia eliminates the possible complications of injectable anesthesia, it is not suitable for use in uncooperative, anxious patients, pediatric age groups, and patients with cognitive disabilities. Hyaluronidase is an enzyme that breaks down hyaluronic acid in the retrobulbar tissue, facilitating uniform diffusion of the anesthetic drug and hastening the onset of anesthesia and akinesia. Hyaluronidase has been used in the last 80 years successfully as an adjuvant in retrobulbar, peribulbar, and sub-Tenon's blocks. Initially, the hyaluronidase enzyme was animal-derived and of bovine and ovine sources. Recombinant human-derived hyaluronidase, which has lesser allergic reactions, impurities, and toxicity, is now available. There is conflicting evidence regarding the efficacy of hyaluronidase as an adjuvant in retrobulbar and peribulbar blocks. This article summarizes a brief review of the literature on the role of hyaluronidase as an adjuvant in local anesthetic blocks in ophthalmic surgeries.

Retinopathy of prematurity in preterm infants born following assisted conception versus spontaneously conceived pregnancies - A 2-year retrospective observational study from an urban tertiary eye care referral center in South India.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine if in vitro fertilization (IVF) is associated with an increase in the incidence of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) among preterm infants. Methods: This retrospective, comparative study included all the preterm babies who were screened under an urban multicentric outreach project between April 2019 and August 2022. Infant details including gender, birth weight, mode of conception, single or multiple gestation, gestational age and post-menstrual age in weeks, age at presentation, and any presence of risk factors were recorded and analyzed. Results: Among 444 preterm babies included in the study, 373 (84%) were conceived normally and 71 (16%) were conceived by IVF. ROP was found in 99 (22.29%) babies in total. There was no significant difference in the incidence of any stage of ROP between the two groups; however, higher stages of ROP were found to be relatively more frequent in the spontaneous conception group in our study. We also found a statistically significant difference in the presence of ROP among singletons, twins, and triplets. Conclusion: IVF was found not to independently increase the risk of ROP in preterm infants. More prospective studies and randomized controlled trials are needed to establish the relationship between the mode of conception and development of severe ROP in preterm infants.

Taming the polar bear: Ten tips to manage posterior polar cataract.

Background: Posterior polar cataracts are challenging even for skilled cataract surgeons due to the high risk of posterior capsule rupture and vitreous loss during cataract surgery; hence, it is important to know how to manage such cases. Purpose: In this video, we describe the necessary precautions and steps to be taken to prevent and manage complications in phacoemulsification cataract surgery for posterior polar cataracts. Synopsis: The video contains ten tips to follow to avoid complications while performing phacoemulsification cataract surgery in patients with posterior polar cataracts and includes preoperative identification on slit-lamp examination, size of capsulorhexis, avoidance of hydrodissection, technique of nucleus management, viscoelastic injection to keep the anterior chamber formed, epinucleus and cortical matter removal, posterior capsular rupture management, anterior vitrectomy, and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in eyes with posterior capsular rupture. Highlights: The video highlights ten different steps to be followed in the surgical management of patients with posterior polar cataract which, if followed meticulously, can give excellent outcomes in these patients. Conclusion: Posterior polar cataracts can be managed with phacoemulsification, with good visual outcomes if these precautions are followed. Video link: https://youtu.be/TeoLckE83xM. Additional information: Won Best Educational Video in a contest by phacotraining.org.

Bilateral choroidal effusion following vaccination against SARS-CoV-2 virus.

An 80-year-old systemically stable female presented with sudden blurring of vision post the first dose of CovishieldTM, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine. On examination, she was found to have bilateral serous choroidal effusions. A thorough systemic and ocular workup was performed to rule out other causes of choroidal effusion. The effusions resolved with tapering doses of oral and systemic steroids. To the best of our knowledge, at the time of submission, this is the first case of choroidal effusion being reported after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.

Early Visual Functional Outcomes and Morphological Responses to Anti-Vascular Growth Factor Therapy in Diabetic Macular Oedema Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography.

PURPOSE: Diabetic macular oedema (DME) is a vision-threatening complication of diabetic retinopathy. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is useful for assessing DME. We performed serial OCTA measurements before and after 3 monthly intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) injections to understand its relationship with best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), central macular thickness (CMT) and vascular indices. METHODS: OCTA assessment consisting of 6 × 6 mm scans centred on fovea and en-face retinal angiograms were obtained. Scans were done at baseline and at 1 month following each of the 3 intravitreal injections of anti-VEGF (ranibizumab, Lucentis®). RESULTS: Our prospective study included 24 eyes of 24 subjects, aged 63.0 ± 5.0 years. There was a mean gain of 0.07 LogMAR (3 letters) and reduction of CMT, vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PD) by end of 3rd month. CMT was independently associated with improvement in BCVA. There were significant reductions in FAZ area, VD and PD over 3 months from baseline. CONCLUSION: At three months, intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy is associated with visual function recovery in DME, with reduction in CMT being the most reliable predictor of response. OCTA shows a reduction in VD and PD respectively suggestive of reduced macular perfusion in the short term. Simultaneous reduction in FAZ size can be due to reversal of manual displacement of the retinal capillaries resulting from resolution of intraretinal oedema.

Towards label-free 3D segmentation of optical coherence tomography images of the optic nerve head using deep learning.

Recently proposed deep learning (DL) algorithms for the segmentation of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images to quantify the morphological changes to the optic nerve head (ONH) tissues during glaucoma have limited clinical adoption due to their device specific nature and the difficulty in preparing manual segmentations (training data). We propose a DL-based 3D segmentation framework that is easily translatable across OCT devices in a label-free manner (i.e. without the need to manually re-segment data for each device). Specifically, we developed 2 sets of DL networks: the 'enhancer' (enhance OCT image quality and harmonize image characteristics from 3 devices) and the 'ONH-Net' (3D segmentation of 6 ONH tissues). We found that only when the 'enhancer' was used to preprocess the OCT images, the 'ONH-Net' trained on any of the 3 devices successfully segmented ONH tissues from the other two unseen devices with high performance (Dice coefficients > 0.92). We demonstrate that is possible to automatically segment OCT images from new devices without ever needing manual segmentation data from them.

Need for manual segmentation in optical coherence tomography angiography of neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: To compare the characteristics of eyes that had manual vs. automated segmentation of choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). METHODS: All patients with CNVM underwent OCTA using the Zeiss Angioplex Cirrus 5000. Slabs of the avascular outer retina, outer retina to choriocapillaris (ORCC) region and choriocapillaris were generated. Manual segmentation was done when there were significant segmentation artifacts. Presence of activity of CNVM was adjudged by the presence of subretinal fluid (SRF) on structural OCT and was compared to activity detected on en face OCTA slabs based on well-defined criteria. RESULTS: Eighty-one eyes of 81 patients were recruited of which manual segmentation was required in 46 (57%). Eyes with automated segmentation had significantly more CNVM in the ORCC (75%) whereas those with manual segmentation had deeper CNVM (sub-RPE = 22%, intra-PED = 22%) (p<0.001). Twenty eyes (25%) were found to have active CNVM on both the structural OCT and OCTA while an additional 19 eyes were presumed to have active CNVM on OCTA alone. There was only modest concordance between disease activity detected using structural OCT and OCTA (Kappa = 0.47, 95% CI = 0.30 to 0.64). CONCLUSIONS: Manual segmentation of OCTA is required in more than 50% eyes with CNVM and this progressively increases with increasing depth of CNVM location from the ORCC to below the RPE. There is moderate concordance between OCTA and structural OCT in determining CNVM activity.