Care of Older Adults: Role of Primary Care Physicians in the Treatment of Cataracts and Macular Degeneration.

This article aims to facilitate optimal management of cataracts and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by providing information on indications, risk factors, referral guidelines, and treatments and to describe techniques to maximize quality of life (QOL) for people with irreversible vision loss. A review of PubMed and other online databases was performed for peer-reviewed English-language articles from 1980 through August 2012 on visual impairment in elderly adults. Search terms included vision loss, visual impairment, blind, low vision, QOL combined with age-related, elderly, and aging. Articles were selected that discussed vision loss in elderly adults, effects of vision impairment on QOL, and care strategies to manage vision loss in older adults. The ability of primary care physicians (PCPs) to identify early signs of cataracts and AMD in individuals at risk of vision loss is critical to early diagnosis and management of these common age-related eye diseases. PCPs can help preserve vision by issuing aptly timed referrals and encouraging behavioral modifications that reduce risk factors. With knowledge of referral guidelines for soliciting low-vision rehabilitation services, visual aids, and community support resources, PCPs can considerably increase the QOL of individuals with uncorrectable vision loss. By offering appropriately timed referrals, promoting behavioral modifications, and allocating low-vision care resources, PCPs may play a critical role in preserving visual health and enhancing the QOL for the elderly population.

Case-matched comparison of vitrectomy, peripheral retinal endolaser, and endocyclophotocoagulation versus standard care in neovascular glaucoma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of combination pars plana vitrectomy, endoscopic peripheral panretinal photocoagulation, and endocyclophotocoagulation (ECP) as compared with standard care in patients with neovascular glaucoma. METHODS: This age-matched case-controlled retrospective series of 54 eyes compared the clinical outcomes between a consecutive series of combination pars plana vitrectomy/panretinal photocoagulation/ECP (n = 27) versus the current standard of care (n = 27) for patients with neovascular glaucoma. "Standard" treatments for patients with neovascular glaucoma include panretinal photocoagulation, intravitreal bevacizumab, filtration surgery, pars plana vitrectomy, and Ahmed valve placement. RESULTS: After 1 year, mean intraocular pressure reduced from 40.7 ± 12.40 mmHg preoperatively to 12.3 ± 4.84 mmHg (P < 0.001) in the ECP group and from 34.7 ± 12.38 mmHg to 23.2 ± 12.34 mmHg in the control group (P = 0.002). Compared with controls, the mean drop in intraocular pressure in the ECP group was significantly greater at all postoperative visits. Logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution visual acuity outcomes were similar in both groups. There were 2 cases (7.4%) of postoperative phthisis bulbi in each group. CONCLUSION: Endoscopic pars plana vitrectomy, panretinal photocoagulation, and ECP seem to control intraocular pressure to a greater extent than standard glaucoma treatments in patients with neovascular glaucoma. In this aged-matched comparative case series, there was no significant difference between the two treatments' effects on visual acuity.

Ocular blast injuries in mass-casualty incidents: the marathon bombing in Boston, Massachusetts, and the fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas.

PURPOSE: To report the ocular injuries sustained by survivors of the April 15, 2013, Boston Marathon bombing and the April 17, 2013, fertilizer plant explosion in West, Texas. DESIGN: Multicenter, cross-sectional, retrospective, comparative case series. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients treated at 12 institutions were included in the study. METHODS: Ocular and systemic trauma data were collected from medical records. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Types and severity of ocular and systemic trauma and associations with mechanisms of injury. RESULTS: In the Boston cohort, 164 of 264 casualties were transported to level 1 trauma centers, and 22 (13.4%) required ophthalmology consultations. In the West cohort, 218 of 263 total casualties were transported to participating centers, of which 14 (6.4%) required ophthalmology consultations. Boston had significantly shorter mean distances to treating facilities (1.6 miles vs. 53.6 miles; P = 0.004). Overall, rigid eye shields were more likely not to have been provided than to have been provided on the scene (P<0.001). Isolated upper body and facial wounds were more common in West largely because of shattered windows (75.0% vs. 13.6%; P = 0.001), resulting in more open-globe injuries (42.9% vs. 4.5%; P = 0.008). Patients in Boston sustained more lower extremity injuries because of the ground-level bomb. Overall, 27.8% of consultations were called from emergency rooms, whereas the rest occurred afterward. Challenges in logistics and communications were identified. CONCLUSIONS: Ocular injuries are common and potentially blinding in mass-casualty incidents. Systemic and ocular polytrauma is the rule in terrorism, whereas isolated ocular injuries are more common in other calamities. Key lessons learned included educating the public to stay away from windows during disasters, promoting use of rigid eye shields by first responders, the importance of reliable communications, deepening the ophthalmology call algorithm, the significance of visual incapacitation resulting from loss of spectacles, improving the rate of early detection of ocular injuries in emergency departments, and integrating ophthalmology services into trauma teams as well as maintaining a voice in hospital-wide and community-based disaster planning.

A broadly applicable surgical teaching method: evaluation of a stepwise introduction to cataract surgery.

OBJECTIVE: Although cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in the country, it is a microsurgical procedure that is difficult to learn and to teach. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of a new method for introducing postgraduate year (PGY)-3 ophthalmology residents to cataract surgery. SETTING: Hospital-based ophthalmology residency program. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: PGY-3 and PGY-4 residents of the Harvard Medical School Ophthalmology Residency from graduating years 2010 to 2012. RESULTS: In July 2009, a new method of teaching PGY-3 ophthalmology residents cataract surgery was introduced, which was termed "the stepwise introduction to cataract surgery." This curriculum aimed to train residents to perform steps of cataract surgery by deliberately practicing each of the steps of surgery under a structured curriculum with faculty feedback. Assessment methods included surveys administered to the PGY-4 residents who graduated before the implementation of these measures (n = 7), the residents who participated in the first and second years of the new curriculum (n = 16), faculty who teach PGY-4 residents cataract surgery (n = 8), and review of resident Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education surgical logs. Resident survey response rate was 100%. Residents who participated in the new curriculum performed more of each step of cataract surgery in the operating room, spent more time practicing each step of cataract surgery on a cataract surgery simulator during the PGY-3 year, and performed more primary cataract surgeries during the PGY-3 year than those who did not. Faculty survey response rate was 63%. Faculty noted an increase in resident preparedness following implementation of the new curriculum. There was no statistical difference between the precurriculum and postcurriculum groups in the percentage turnover of cataracts for the first 2 cataract surgery rotations of the PGY-4 year of training. CONCLUSIONS: The introduction of cataract surgery to PGY-3 residents in an organized, stepwise manner improved resident preparedness for the PGY-4 year of residency. This surgical teaching method can be easily applied to other surgical specialties.

Surgical outcomes after epiretinal membrane peeling combined with cataract surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To compare functional and anatomical outcomes after idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) peeling combined with phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation versus ERM peeling alone. METHODS: A retrospective, non-randomised comparative case series study was conducted of 81 eyes from 79 patients who underwent ERM peeling at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center between 2001 and 2010. Eyes that underwent combined surgery for ERM and cataracts (group 1) were compared with those that had ERM peeling alone (group 2) with respect to best-corrected visual acuity at 6 months and 1 year after surgery, postoperative central macular thickness (CMT) as measured on optical coherence tomography, and rates of complications, including elevated intraocular pressure (IOP), ERM recurrence and need for reoperation. RESULTS: Mean logMAR visual acuity improved significantly in both groups at 6 months (p<0.001) and 1 year (p<0.001) after surgery. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in visual acuity improvement at 6 months (p=0.108) or 1 year (p=0.094). Mean CMT of both groups also significantly decreased after surgery (p=0.002), with no statistical difference in CMT reduction between the two groups, but a trend toward less CMT reduction in group 1 (p=0.061). The rates of complications, including IOP elevation, ERM recurrence and frequency of reoperation, were similar in the two groups, with non-statistical trends toward greater ERM recurrence (p=0.084) and need for reoperation (p=0.096) in those that had combined surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Combined surgery for ERMs and cataracts may potentially be as effective as membrane peeling alone with respect to visual and anatomical outcomes. Further studies are necessary to determine if there may be greater ERM recurrence or need for reoperation after combined surgery.