180° versus 360° Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty in Open Angle Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

PRECIS: This systematic review and meta-analysis found that 360° selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) is significantly more effective than 180° SLT at reducing intraocular pressure at one month and one year follow-ups, without increased serious adverse event risk. PURPOSE: To determine the efficacy of 180° versus 360° selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) in adults with open angle glaucoma (OAG) and ocular hypertension (OHT). METHODS: A systematic review was performed using PubMed, Embase, and Scopus databases, from 1995 to December 30, 2023, for studies comparing 180° and 360° SLT in adults with OAG and OHT (PROSPERO ID: CRD42024497832). Meta-analyses were performed to calculate nominal percent and raw reductions in IOP between treatment groups at one-month, one-year, and two-year follow-ups, as well as success rates, defined as a 20% or greater IOP reduction. RESULTS: Nine studies with 1044 eyes were included; 491 received 180°SLT and 553 received 360° SLT. At the one-month follow-up, 360° SLT reduced IOP by 3.45% more (WMD=3.45; 95% CI: 2.02-4.88; P<0.00001) and 0.87 mmHg more (WMD=0.87; 95% CI: 0.35-1.38; P=0.0010). At the one-year follow-up, 360° SLT reduced IOP by 4.33% more (WMD=4.33; 95% CI: 2.35-6.32; P<0.0001) and 1.15 mmHg more (WMD=1.15; 95% CI: 0.25-2.04; P=0.01). At two years of follow up, 360° SLT reduced IOP by 4.86% more (WMD=4.86; 95% CI: -0.32, 10.0; P=0.07) and 1.25 mmHg more (WMD=1.25; 95% CI: -0.29, 2.79; P=0.11), however the difference was not statistically significant. Compared to 360° SLT, 180° SLT had a significantly lower success rate (OR=0.50; 95% CI: 0.35-0.72; P=0.0002). There was no difference in serious complications between interventions. CONCLUSION: 360° SLT is more effective than 180° SLT at lowering IOP at one-month and one-year follow-ups as well as achieving successful IOP control without increased risk of serious complications.

Incidence of postoperative week 1 management changes after resident-performed phacoemulsification cataract surgery.

BACKGROUND: The goal of this study was to investigate the incidence of departures from routine care at the postoperative week 1 (POW1) visit following uneventful resident-performed cataract surgery in asymptomatic patients who had a normal postoperative day 1 (POD1) examination. METHODS: A retrospective chart review of phacoemulsification surgeries performed by the senior resident class at Montefiore Medical Center between June 20, 2018 and April 1, 2019 was performed. The most recent preoperative visit note, operative report, POD1 visit note, and POW1 visit note were evaluated and variables were recorded. Exclusion criteria consisted of any complications that would have necessitated close follow-up and a POW1 visit, whether discovered preoperatively, intraoperatively, at the POD1 visit, or leading up to the POW1 visit. The primary outcome measure was the incidence of unanticipated management changes at the POW1 visit following resident-performed cataract surgery. RESULTS: The charts of 292 surgical cases of 234 patients that underwent phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation were reviewed. 226 cases (77%) had an uncomplicated pseudophakic fellow-eye history, with a routine surgery, and POD1 examination. 19 of these patients had symptomatic presentations at the POW1 timepoint, and an additional 30 had no POW1 visit at all. In total, 177 cases were included in the study, and only 4 of these cases (2.3%) had an unexpected management change at the POW1 visit. CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic patients who underwent uncomplicated cataract surgeries performed by resident surgeons followed by a routine POD1 visit had a low incidence of unexpected management changes at the POW1 visit. These results suggest that regularly scheduled POW1 visits could potentially be omitted for patients deemed to be at low risk for complications, and instead performed on an as-needed basis.

Shared Decision Making in Ophthalmology: A Scoping Review.

PURPOSE: Shared decision making (SDM) has been associated with improved patient satisfaction and outcomes in both medical and surgical specialties, but its role in ophthalmology has not been systematically examined. Using a scoping review of the literature, the purpose of this study was to explore the characteristics, implementation, and outcomes of SDM in ophthalmology. DESIGN: Scoping review of the literature. METHODS: Searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials through August 2021 for SDM in ophthalmology. The resulting 1602 studies were screened by 2 independent reviewers with 57 full-text articles examined for inclusion of an ophthalmologic diagnosis, as well as discussion of SDM or patient decision aids. Nineteen studies were eligible and qualitatively coded for 11 predetermined codes, which included patient outcomes, patient and physician requests for SDM, and methods of implementation. RESULTS: Of 19 included studies, all emphasized the value of SDM for ophthalmology and 2 studies reported improved patient outcomes. The most commonly examined topics were chronic ophthalmic diseases, such as cataracts and glaucoma. Limitations to SDM implementation were also universally discussed, including patients' lack of disease knowledge, communication barriers, and time restrictions. Although patient decision aids are an effective tool to mitigate these limitations, these have only been established for the subjects of cataracts and glaucoma. CONCLUSION: SDM is a methodology for patient-centered care that is regarded as a potentially useful tool in the field of ophthalmology. However, significant barriers exist to its effective implementation. Evidence-based research on if and how these barriers should be attenuated, as well as the development of additional patient decision aids for different ophthalmic diseases, are needed.

Phase transition specified by a binary code patterns the vertebrate eye cup.

The developing vertebrate eye cup is partitioned into the neural retina (NR), the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE), and the ciliary margin (CM). By single-cell analysis, we showed that fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling regulates the CM in its stem cell­like property of self-renewal, differentiation, and survival, which is balanced by an evolutionarily conserved Wnt signaling gradient. FGF promotes Wnt signaling in the CM by stabilizing ß-catenin in a GSK3ß-independent manner. While Wnt signaling converts the NR to either the CM or the RPE depending on FGF signaling, FGF transforms the RPE to the NR or CM dependent on Wnt activity. The default fate of the eye cup is the NR, but synergistic FGF and Wnt signaling promotes CM formation both in vivo and in human retinal organoid. Our study reveals that the vertebrate eye develops through phase transition determined by a combinatorial code of FGF and Wnt signaling.

Lens differentiation is controlled by the balance between PDGF and FGF signaling.

How multiple receptor tyrosine kinases coordinate cell fate determination is yet to be elucidated. We show here that the receptor for platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) signaling recruits the p85 subunit of Phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) to regulate mammalian lens development. Activation of PI3K signaling not only prevents B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL2)-Associated X (Bax)- and BCL2 Antagonist/Killer (Bak)-mediated apoptosis but also promotes Notch signaling to prevent premature cell differentiation. Reducing PI3K activity destabilizes the Notch intracellular domain, while the constitutive activation of Notch reverses the PI3K deficiency phenotype. In contrast, fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) recruit Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor Substrate 2 (Frs2) and Rous sarcoma oncogene (Src) Homology Phosphatase 2 (Shp2) to activate Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) signaling, which induces the Notch ligand Jagged 1 (Jag1) and promotes cell differentiation. Inactivation of Shp2 restored the proper timing of differentiation in the p85 mutant lens, demonstrating the antagonistic interaction between FGF-induced MAPK and PDGF-induced PI3K signaling. By selective activation of PI3K and MAPK, PDGF and FGF cooperate with and oppose each other to balance progenitor cell maintenance and differentiation.

Crk proteins transduce FGF signaling to promote lens fiber cell elongation.

Specific cell shapes are fundamental to the organization and function of multicellular organisms. Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling induces the elongation of lens fiber cells during vertebrate lens development. Nonetheless, exactly how this extracellular FGF signal is transmitted to the cytoskeletal network has previously not been determined. Here, we show that the Crk family of adaptor proteins, Crk and Crkl, are required for mouse lens morphogenesis but not differentiation. Genetic ablation and epistasis experiments demonstrated that Crk and Crkl play overlapping roles downstream of FGF signaling in order to regulate lens fiber cell elongation. Upon FGF stimulation, Crk proteins were found to interact with Frs2, Shp2 and Grb2. The loss of Crk proteins was partially compensated for by the activation of Ras and Rac signaling. These results reveal that Crk proteins are important partners of the Frs2/Shp2/Grb2 complex in mediating FGF signaling, specifically promoting cell shape changes.