Game changer-talent transfer pathways in sport: a systematic review.

Research question: Talent transfer, an accelerated sport pathway to expertise, holds considerable appeal for sports organisations. As an emerging area of academic research across a range of sport disciplines, there is opportunity for to advance knowledge and practice. This review aimed to (a) explore how talent transfer has been defined, to develop a synthesised definition; (b) systematically identify the factors that influence talent transfer; and (c) investigate how theory underpins and enhances understanding of talent transfer. Research methods: A systematic review was conducted of 12 peer-reviewed journal articles on talent transfer using the PRISMA approach. Results and findings: Aiming for a comprehensive, multidisciplinary perspective, the results: introduce a clear, synthesised conceptualisation of talent transfer as an accelerated sport pathway in which a highly trained athlete in one sport (donor sport), transitions to a new sport (recipient sport) with the potential of achieving high-performance success; systematically map influencing factors; and outline considered theories. Factors influencing talent transfer span individual, task-related, and environmental constraints. The review exposes a scarcity of theoretical foundation in current research, suggesting ecological dynamics as a promising approach to advance research and practice. Implications: Practical and theoretical implications arise, emphasising the usefulness of a synthesised definition and a multifactorial approach for designing, implementing, evaluating, and researching talent transfer pathways. This benefits sports administrators, managers, and researchers.

Investigating Patterns of Donor and Recipient Sports of Talent Transfer Paralympians.

Talent transfer has enabled elite athletes to be successful in another sport, with great potential in para-sport. Previous research suggests that similarities between donor and recipient sports may facilitate talent transfer; however, this remains unclear in para-sport. This study investigated patterns between donor and recipient sports' characteristics, identifying the impact on talent transfer in para-sport. An Australian case study utilizing secondary data of 38 Australian Paralympians who competed at the Paralympic Games from 2000 through 2020 was analyzed. Results demonstrated that similarities between sports were not significantly associated with successful talent transfers between Paralympic sports. Understanding patterns associated with successful Paralympic talent transfers offers a foundation of knowledge for designing and developing future talent-transfer pathways and research. Based on this study, it is recommended that sport administrators and practitioners explore greater opportunity for talent transfer in para-sport, rather than limiting talent-transfer opportunities based on athletes' donor sports.

Macrophakia: The characterization of a novel lens condition.

Purpose: To present a novel characterization of a lens condition termed macrophakia which includes large or proportionally large lenses with shallow anterior chamber dimensions that are statistically deviant of a normal population. Observations: We identified five eyes from three cases to have significantly large lens parameters and small anterior chamber depths. In all five eyes, the anterior chamber depth was less than 2 mm and the anterior chamber depth to lens thickness ratio was two standard deviations outside the normative range of lens and chamber measurements. These large lenses were all observed in the absence of typical pathology and other biometric abnormalities. Conclusions and importance: A novel lens characterization termed macrophakia is proposed to describe large or proportionately large lenses. Naming this condition is clinically relevant and will enhance cataract evaluations and patient education.

The Association of Cardiovascular and Neurological Comorbidities in Geriatric Patients Sustaining Ocular Trauma.

Purpose: Falls are associated with ocular trauma in the elderly. However, it is unlikely for a fall to cause ocular injury unless there is a disruption in the protective maneuvers that shield the face. We suspect ocular injury may be an early indicator of systemic or neurologic degeneration. This study investigates the 5-year incidence of cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases in older patients who sustained ocular or periorbital injuries. Patients and Methods: This was a retrospective cohort study. The study population included 141 patients over the age of 65 who sustained trauma to the eye, orbit, or eyelid between April 2011 and June 2016. The control population included 141 patients with a similar range of comorbidities who received cataract surgery during the same period. The study measured new diagnoses of various disorders during the 5-year period following presentation. Results: There were a total of 180 females and 102 males in the study. The mean ages of the control and subject group were 76 and 81.8, respectively. Of our twelve tested comorbidity types, patients that suffered a periocular trauma were more likely to develop heart failure (p=0.00244), dementia (p=0.00002), Alzheimer's disease (p=0.00087), and vascular disease (p=0.00037). Conclusion: Geriatric patients who sustained ocular and periocular injuries had a greater incidence of heart failure, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and atherosclerosis diagnoses in the 5-year period following injury. The findings of this study suggest that periocular trauma may be an early indicator of underlying degenerative or systemic disease. Ophthalmologists should ensure proper primary care follow-up in conjunction with recovery from injury.

A Retrospective Cohort Study on the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Managing Glaucoma in Patients with Coexistent Neurodegenerative Disease.

Aim: To investigate the limitations of diagnosing glaucoma in patients with coexistent neurodegenerative disease (NDD) by collecting information on demographics, examination findings, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual field (VF) tests. Materials and methods: Retrospective cohort study of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and coexistent dementia, multiple sclerosis (MS), Parkinson's disease (PD), or cerebrovascular accident (CVA) from 2014 to 2020. We included patients with a minimum of 3 years of follow-up. Demographics, ophthalmic exam, OCT, and VF findings were reported and compared across NDD groups using the Chi-squared and analysis of variance tests. Results: We included 199 patients with glaucoma and coexistent NDD, including dementia (51.3%), CVA (11.2%), PD (18.1%), and MS (19.6%). Cupping, neuroretinal rim thinning, pallor, and peripapillary atrophy of the optic nerve were most frequently observed. There was a high number of missing values from OCT to VF tests, and zero patients had a complete OCT or VF test. Additionally, 67.8 and 77.4% of patients received <1 OCT and VF/year, respectively. Retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thinning was observed most frequently in the superior (33.2% OD and 30.7% OS) and inferior (25.6% OD and 30.2% OS) quadrants, with the most significant thinning seen in CVA patients compared to other NDDs (p < 0.05). Glaucoma hemifield tests (GHTs) were abnormal in 23.1% OD and 22.6% OS, and the average mean deviation was -7.43 [standard deviation (SD) 8.23] OD and -8.79 (SD 7.99) OS. Conclusion: The OCT and VF tests are frequently unavailable and may be confounded in patients with coexistent glaucoma and NDDs, complicating glaucoma diagnosis and management. Clinical significance: Diagnosing and managing glaucoma in patients with coexistent NDD is difficult, given the lack of available and reliable OCT and VF testing data. Providers may be forced to rely on intraocular pressure (IOP) and other imperfect measures. How to cite this article: Ciociola EC, Patel K, Blahnik T, et al. A Retrospective Cohort Study on the Difficulties of Diagnosing and Managing Glaucoma in Patients with Coexistent Neurodegenerative Disease. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2023;17(3):126-133.

Decision Factors for Glaucoma Suspects and Ocular Hypertensive Treatment at an Academic Center.

Aims and background: Practice guidelines assert that high-risk glaucoma suspects should be treated. Yet, there is ambiguity regarding what constitutes a high enough risk for treatment. The purpose of this study was to determine which factors contribute to the decision to treat glaucoma suspects and ocular hypertensive patients in an academic ophthalmology practice. Materials and methods: Retrospective cohort study of glaucoma suspects or ocular hypertensives at an academic ophthalmology practice from 2014 to 2020. Demographics, comorbidities, intraocular pressure (IOP), optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings, and visual field measurements were compared between treated and untreated patients. A multivariable logistic regression model assessed predictors of glaucoma suspected treatment. Results: Of the 388 patients included, 311 (80%) were untreated, and 77 (20%) were treated. There was no statistical difference in age, race/ethnicity, family history of glaucoma, central corneal thickness (CCT), or any visual field parameters between the two groups. Treated glaucoma suspects had higher IOP, thinner retinal nerve fiber layers (RNFL), more RNFL asymmetry, thinner ganglion cell-inner plexiform layers (GCIPL), and a higher prevalence of optic disc drusen, disc hemorrhage, ocular trauma, and proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) (p < 0.05 for all). In the multivariable model, elevated IOP {odds ratio [OR] 1.16 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04-1.30], p = 0.008}, yellow temporal [5.76 (1.80-18.40), p = 0.003] and superior [3.18 (1.01-10.0), p = 0.05] RNFL quadrants, and a history of optic disc drusen [8.77 (1.96-39.34), p = 0.005] were significant predictors of glaucoma suspect treatment. Conclusion: Higher IOP, RNFL thinning, and optic disc drusen were the strongest factors in the decision to treat a glaucoma suspect or ocular hypertensive patient. RNFL asymmetry, GCIPL thinning, and ocular comorbidities may also factor into treatment decisions. Clinical significance: Understanding the clinical characteristics that prompt glaucoma suspect treatment helps further define glaucoma suspect disease status and inform when treatment should be initiated. How to cite this article: Ciociola EC, Anderson A, Jiang H, et al. Decision Factors for Glaucoma Suspects and Ocular Hypertensive Treatment at an Academic Center. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2023;17(3):157-165.

The effect of a brief, unplanned treatment delay on neovascular age-related macular degeneration patients: a retrospective cohort study.

Non-compliance to intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapy can result in increased disease activity in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Our study aims to determine effects of unplanned delay in anti-VEGF injection treatment for nAMD. This retrospective observational study included patients with delays in receiving intravitreal injections for nAMD treatment from March to May 2020 by at least 21 days. Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics, visual acuity (VA), central macular thickness (CMT) measured on optical coherence tomography (OCT), and duration of delayed treatment were analyzed for 3 time points, the pre-delay visit (v1) and post-delay visits (v2 and v3). Data were compared to age-matched controls treated for nAMD in 2019 without delay. Demographic characteristics were compared using two-sample t-tests for continuous variables and Pearson's chi-square tests for categorical variables. For the two primary outcomes of interest, VA and CMT, means and standard deviations were reported for each combination of group and time. Each outcome was modeled using a linear mixed model with the group, time and group-time interaction as fixed effects. A total of 69 patients (99 eyes) in the treatment delay group and 44 patients (69 eyes) in the control group were identified. Statistically significant differences between control and delayed groups were detected for VA (difference in mean logMAR = 0.16; 95% CI 0.06, 0.27; p = 0.002) and CMT (difference in mean CMT = 29; 95% CI 12, 47; p = 0.001) at v2. No differences were detected for v1 and v3 time points for both outcomes. An unplanned delay in intravitreal injection treatment for nAMD resulted in an increase in CMT and worsening of VA compared to controls observed at v2. At v3, CMT and VA recovered to near v1 levels. This study demonstrates that a one-time, brief interruption in treatment for nAMD results in reversible, temporary worsening.

A case of JOAG in a patient with Rett syndrome.

Purpose: In this report, we describe a case of juvenile open angle glaucoma in a patient with Rett syndrome. Observations: A 39- year-old white woman with a notable history of Rett syndrome was referred to our center with a ten-year diagnosis of juvenile open angle glaucoma. Initial exam was notable for complete cupping of the optic nerve. Upon follow up visits, intraocular pressures were elevated and remained refractory to multiple therapies, including SLT and pressure-lowering drops. Medical management was continued due to the risk of surgery and limited visual potential. Because it was declared that patient did not have substantial feedback to visual stimuli and did not exhibit any signs of pain, conservative management with drops was continued. Conclusion and importance: This is the first report of a patient with concurrent Rett syndrome and juvenile open angle glaucoma, thus expanding on the literature of an ocular manifestation occurring presumably coincidentally with this disorder.

Unintentional Descemet Cleft Introduces Novel Mechanism of Maintenance of Corneal Clarity.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report a case of corneal transparency for 7 months after the formation and persistence of a Descemet fluid cleft. METHODS: We report the case of a 64-year-old woman undergoing anterior chamber reformation 2 months after Baerveldt implantation of the right eye. During the procedure, the ophthalmic viscoelastic was inadvertently injected into the posterior stroma, nearly isolating the corneal endothelial cell layer, and creating a Descemet fluid cleft filled with viscoelastic. The patient was managed conservatively and monitored near monthly for corneal decompensation. RESULTS: The cornea remained centrally clear for 207 days after the initial anterior chamber reformation until the collapse of the viscoelastic cleft. When the cleft completely collapsed, the cornea became diffusely edematous, and the patient underwent cataract removal and intraocular lens placement without need for Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty to maintain vision. During these 7 months, the patient's best-corrected visual acuity remained stable at 20/25 +2 or better. Intraocular pressure was also stable, averaging 18.2 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: We hypothesize that corneal transparency can be maintained in the absence of endothelial cell function provided that aqueous humor cannot reach the cornea and disrupt the arrangement of the interfibrillar space.

A Pilot Study Assessing Treatment Outcomes in Neovascular Glaucoma Using Ahmed Glaucoma Valve with and without Cyclophotocoagulation.

Purpose: The purpose of this retrospective pilot study was to examine the short-term effect of simultaneous Ahmed Glaucoma Valve implantation and cyclophotocoagulation on postoperative outcomes in patients with neovascular glaucoma. Methods and materials: Patient charts were selected for inclusion in this study if they carried a diagnosis of neovascular glaucoma and underwent Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation only, Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation with cyclophotocoagulation, or cyclophotocoagulation only. A total of 55 eyes of 54 patients were selected for data collection and analysis. Main outcome measures included 1-, 3-, and 6-month intraocular pressure and occurrence of the hypertensive phase. Other outcomes included visual acuity, surgical complication rate, and a number of 6-month postoperative ophthalmic medications. Results: A significantly lower intraocular pressure was seen in the group that received Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation + cyclophotocoagulation compared to the Ahmed glaucoma valve-only group at 3 and 6 months (p = 0.03 and <0.001, respectively). The difference in the occurrence of the hypertensive phase between the Ahmed glaucoma valve-only group and the Ahmed glaucoma valve + cyclophotocoagulation group approached but did not reach significance (p = 0.052). A significantly lower intraocular pressure was also seen in the cyclophotocoagulation-only group compared to the Ahmed glaucoma valve-only group at 3 months (p = 0.006). Conclusion: Simultaneous Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation and cyclophotocoagulation significantly lowered intraocular pressure at 3 and 6 months compared to Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation alone in patients with neovascular glaucoma. Clinical significance: Neovascular glaucoma is difficult to manage medically and surgically. When surgery is performed, intraocular pressure often remains elevated postoperatively despite aggressive medical management. This study examines a novel method to lower intraocular pressure after Ahmed glaucoma valve implantation in patients with neovascular glaucoma. How to cite this article: Ford RL, Knight ORJ, Klifto MR, et al. A Pilot Study Assessing Treatment Outcomes in Neovascular Glaucoma Using Ahmed Glaucoma Valve with and without Cyclophotocoagulation. J Curr Glaucoma Pract 2022;16(1):4-10.

Comparison of Time-to-Surgery and Outcomes in Transferred Vs Non-Transferred Open Globe Injuries.

Purpose: It is widely accepted in the field of ophthalmology that closure of open globes within 24 hours of the injury results in the best visual outcomes. This study investigates the time-to-surgery and visual outcomes of open globe injury patients in North Carolina that were transferred to our institution before receiving surgical intervention as compared to those that were not transferred. Patients and methods: This is a retrospective cohort study using data from UNC Hospitals trauma registry. Demographics, time of injury, final clinical outcomes, time to surgical intervention, and transfer history were extracted and analyzed. The study population includes open globe injury patients of all ages that were seen and treated at our institution from 2005 to 2020. Patients were divided based on transfer history. The transfer group consisted of patients who were transferred from an outside hospital to our tertiary care facility for surgical treatment. The non-transfer group consisted of patients who arrived at our tertiary care facility directly after injury. Results: In total, 238 open globe injuries were evaluated. Of those, 197 were transferred and 41 were not transferred. Compared to non-transfer patients, transfer patients had longer delays between injury and surgery, between presentation at the initial ED and surgery, and between injury and arrival at the tertiary care center. On average, the delay between injury and surgical intervention was 3 hours and 51 minutes longer for transfer patients compared to non-transfer patients. Eight patients in the transfer group were delayed >24 hours due to inter-hospital transfer. Additionally, transfer patients on average suffered from poorer final visual acuities, with an average final visual acuity of 1.84 logMAR in the transfer group and 1.35 logMAR in the non-transfer group. Conclusion: Our study found that inter-hospital transfer leads to significant delays in primary closure of open globe injuries. Injuries that were transferred to a tertiary care center before receiving surgical intervention on average resulted in worse final visual acuities.

Central Retinal Vein Occlusion Associated with Fibromuscular Dysplasia: A Case Report.

In this report, we detail a rare presentation of central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in a patient with fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD). A 45-year-old woman with a 12-year history of FMD presented to the ophthalmology clinic with symptoms and exam findings consistent with CRVO. Dilated fundus examination revealed disc edema, diffuse flame, and dot-blot hemorrhages, and tortuous, engorged retinal veins. The patient was diagnosed with CRVO, and she was treated with monthly anti-VEGF monoclonal antibody followed by a VEGF inhibitor. At her most recent follow-up, her macular edema was resolved and her visual acuity had markedly improved. FMD has been shown to rarely present with retinal manifestations, especially in patients with hypertension. This appears to be first case report to document CRVO in the context of known FMD. We suggest that CRVO be considered as a potential complication for young patients with FMD.

Evaluating machine learning classifiers for glaucoma referral decision support in primary care settings.

Several artificial intelligence algorithms have been proposed to help diagnose glaucoma by analyzing the functional and/or structural changes in the eye. These algorithms require carefully curated datasets with access to ocular images. In the current study, we have modeled and evaluated classifiers to predict self-reported glaucoma using a single, easily obtained ocular feature (intraocular pressure (IOP)) and non-ocular features (age, gender, race, body mass index, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and comorbidities). The classifiers were trained on publicly available data of 3015 subjects without a glaucoma diagnosis at the time of enrollment. 337 subjects subsequently self-reported a glaucoma diagnosis in a span of 1-12 years after enrollment. The classifiers were evaluated on the ability to identify these subjects by only using their features recorded at the time of enrollment. Support vector machine, logistic regression, and adaptive boosting performed similarly on the dataset with F1 scores of 0.31, 0.30, and 0.28, respectively. Logistic regression had the highest sensitivity at 60% with a specificity of 69%. Predictive classifiers using primarily non-ocular features have the potential to be used for identifying suspected glaucoma in non-eye care settings, including primary care. Further research into finding additional features that improve the performance of predictive classifiers is warranted.

Comparison of ZETA Fast (PTS) (Optopol Technology) and Humphrey SITA Fast (SFA) (Carl Zeiss Meditec) Perimetric Strategies.

PURPOSE: To compare two threshold strategies for visual field assessment, ZETA Fast (Optopol Technology) and Humphrey SITA Fast (Carl Zeiss Meditec), in controls and subjects with glaucoma. Patients and Methods. A prospective case-control study was carried out in which the clinical practice study included 26 controls and 26 glaucoma subjects. Testing for each strategy was monocular. Quantitative comparisons of mean deviation (MD), pattern standard deviation (PSD), visual field index (VFI), and test duration were made using two one-sided t-tests and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests. Confusion matrices were constructed to assess Optopol's detection as a proxy for Zeiss's detection of early glaucomatous defects. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to assess MD and PSD's discriminability. RESULTS: The difference in MD values (Optopol-Zeiss) was within the margin for controls (difference = 0.36, p=0.06), but not for glaucomatous subjects (difference = 2.16, p=1.0). The Optopol strategy took longer than the Zeiss strategy in both controls (difference = 23 seconds, p=0.001) and glaucomatous subjects (difference = 49 seconds, p < 0.001). PSD values were higher and VFI values were lower from Optopol in glaucomatous subjects (p < 0.001 and p=0.002). Optopol was 92% sensitive in capturing early glaucomatous defects with MD <-2 when compared to Zeiss (p < 0.001). ROC analysis shows Optopol yields higher discriminability than Zeiss for MD/PSD indices. CONCLUSIONS: Both strategies enable effective identification of glaucomatous defects within 6 minutes; they also offer high sensitivity with a high correlation in global indices between the two strategies. The Optopol strategy is an alternative to the Zeiss counterpart with the limitation of a marginally longer testing protocol but a higher sensitivity of detecting glaucomatous defects.

Cerebrospinal fluid and ophthalmic disease.

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The purpose of this review is to discuss the contemporary body of literature examining the relationship between cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and ophthalmic disease. This review focuses on diseases that have a pathogenesis related to the translaminar pressure difference, defined as the pressure difference between the orbital subarachnoid space (OSAS) and the intraocular pressure. The diseases discussed include glaucoma, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, and spaceflight associated neuro-ocular syndrome. RECENT FINDINGS: The relationship between cerebrospinal and ophthalmic disease has been investigated for over 100 years. Recent research provides insight into the mechanisms that dictate CSF circulation in the OSAS and how alterations in these mechanism lead to disease. This review discusses these recent findings and their relationship to major ophthalmic diseases. SUMMARY: The recent findings provide insight into diseases that have pathogenic mechanisms that are not fully understood. This information will help physicians gain a clearer understanding of the relationship between CSF and ophthalmic disease and guide future research.

Infections and glaucoma.

Glaucoma is an intraocular pressure-related ophthalmic disease with multiple causes that results in an optic neuropathy and vision loss. Intraocular pressure elevation is among its strongest risk factors. While glaucoma is mostly primary in etiology, secondary glaucoma is not infrequent. Recognizing its cause is imperative, since treatment is often different depending on the pathophysiologic mechanism. Numerous clinically relevant ophthalmic infections can result in robust inflammatory responses that may result in pressure elevation or intraocular anatomic configurations that predispose to pressure elevation. Knowing the mechanisms by which these infections can lead to glaucoma is critical in treating, and we consolidate what is currently known in regards to how infectious diseases lead to glaucoma.