Patients with central serous chorioretinopathy have high circulating alpha-klotho concentrations.

Stress is a risk factor for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC), but a suitable biomarker of this stress has not been identified. We aimed to evaluate alpha-klotho (αKl) as a potential biomarker of CSC. The circulating concentrations of αKl in patients diagnosed with acute or chronic CSC and treated at Hyogo College of Medicine between December 2019 and July 2021 were retrospectively compared with those of healthy individuals. We also compared the αKl concentrations of patients with acute or chronic CSC. Furthermore, we evaluated the relationships of age, sex, smoking status, and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) with αKl concentration. Patients in whom subretinal fluid reaccumulated in the same eye after its resolution were defined as having recurrent CSC. We studied 56 patients (46 men and 10 women) and 27 healthy controls (19 men and 8 women); and 38 and 18 eyes with acute and chronic CSC, respectively. The mean circulating concentration of αKl was higher in patients with CSC than in controls (827±232 and 724±183 pg/mL, respectively; p = 0.035). The mean SFCT was greater in patients with CSC than in controls (416±91.0 and 278±96.3 µm, respectively; p<0.0001). The mean αKl concentration was significantly higher in the patients with acute CSC than in those with chronic CSC (898±221 and 740±224 pg/mL, respectively; p = 0.038). Recurrence of CSC occurred in 10 of 56 (17.9%) eyes, of which five eyes were in the acute CSC group and five were in the chronic CSC group. Patients who experienced recurrence had significantly higher αKI concentrations than those who did not (p = 0.0219). There were no significant relationships of αKl concentration with age, sex, smoking history, or SFCT. In summary, the circulating αKI concentrations of patients with CSC are high, which suggests that αKI may be an indicator of stress in such patients.

Pupillary Light Reflex and Multimodal Imaging in Patients With Central Serous Chorioretinopathy.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate and compare the corresponding alterations of the pupillary response between acute and chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and between different disease categories. Methods: We recruited patients with unilateral acute and chronic CSC. An eye tracker was applied to determine the pupillary light reflex (PLR) and evaluate the following PLR metrics in healthy eyes: pupil diameter, diameter changes, including relative constriction amplitude (AMP%), and re-dilation ratio (D1%). Baseline optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography (FA/ICGA) were performed to analyze the relationship between pupillary response and retinal/choroidal architecture. Results: In total, 52 patients were enrolled, including 25 with acute CSC and 27 with chronic CSC. Compared to the chronic CSC group, the acute CSC group displayed a significantly larger baseline pupil diameter (BPD; of 5.51 mm, P = 0.015), lower AMP% (34.40%, P = 0.004), and higher D1% (93.01%, P = 0.002), indicating sympathetic overactivity. On OCT, the total macular volume was positively correlated with the D1% (r = 0.48, P = 0.005) and negatively with AMP (r = -0.47, P = 0.007). On ICGA, the intense choroidal vascular hyperpermeability (CVH) group displayed a greater BPD than the nonintense CVH group. Additionally, 9 cases with later recurrent episodes following therapy showed a lower AMP% and higher D1% than the nonrecurrent group. Conclusions: The PLR revealed sympathetic excitation in patients with acute CSC. The stronger D1% was significantly associated with greater total macular volume, and it may be a potential biomarker for predicting the later recurrence of CSC.

Risk Factors for Legal Blindness in 237 Japanese Patients with Exogenous Endophthalmitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study from J-CREST.

PURPOSE: We investigated potential risk factors for visual prognosis in Japanese patients with exogenous endophthalmitis. METHODS: In this retrospective observational multicenter cohort study, risk factors for legal blindness at 12 weeks after treatment initiation were evaluated based on patient characteristics, initial BCVA, causative events, pathogens, ocular symptoms, duration from symptom onset to initial treatment, and selected treatments. RESULTS: Overall, 23.1% of eyes developed legal blindness. The six risk factors for legal blindness were presence of eye pain, pathogen identification, poor BCVA at the initial visit, longer duration from symptom onset to initial treatment, type of causative event, and type of causative pathogen. Regarding the type of causative pathogen, coagulase-negative staphylococci was associated with a better visual impairment outcome. CONCLUSION: Exogenous endophthalmitis remains a severe ocular infection; however, it can be managed with rapid treatment, as well as other advances in medical knowledge and technology.

Risk Factors for Legal Blindness in 77 Japanese Patients with Endogenous Endophthalmitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study from J-CREST.

PURPOSE: We investigated potential predictive factors for visual prognosis in Japanese patients with endogenous endophthalmitis. DESIGN: Retrospective observational multicenter cohort study. METHODS: We examined the characteristics of 77 Japanese patients with endogenous endophthalmitis and performed statistical analyses of these real-world data. The primary endpoint was the identification of factors associated with visual prognosis. We examined differences between patients in the better vision and legal blindness groups at 12 weeks after treatment initiation. RESULTS: The five risk factors for visual impairment at 12 weeks after treatment initiation were presence of pressure injuries, severe clinical symptoms (presence of eye pain and ciliary injection), pathogen identification, and poor best-corrected visual acuity at baseline. Staphylococcus aureus and fungus were associated with a better visual impairment outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Endogenous endophthalmitis remains a severe ocular infection; however, it can be managed with rapid treatments, as well as other advances in medical knowledge and technology.

Clinical Characteristics and Outcomes in 314 Japanese Patients with Bacterial Endophthalmitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study from J-CREST.

Bacterial endophthalmitis is an intraocular infection that causes rapid vison loss. Pathogens can infect the intraocular space directly (exogenous endophthalmitis (ExE)) or indirectly (endogenous endophthalmitis (EnE)). To identify predictive factors for the visual prognosis of Japanese patients with bacterial endophthalmitis, we retrospectively examined the bacterial endophthalmitis characteristics of 314 Japanese patients and performed statistics using these clinical data. Older patients, with significantly more severe clinical symptoms, were prevalent in the ExE group compared with the EnE group. However, the final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was not significantly different between the ExE and EnE groups. Bacteria isolated from patients were not associated with age, sex, or presence of eye symptoms. Genus Streptococcus, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Enterococcus were more prevalent in ExE patients than EnE patients and contributed to poor final BCVA. The presence of eye pain, bacterial identification, and poor BCVA at baseline were risk factors for final visual impairment.