Anatomical and Functional Outcomes of Vitrectomy with/without Intravitreal Methotrexate Infusion for Management of Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy Secondary to Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment.

PURPOSE: To assess the anatomical and functional outcomes of intravitreal infusion of methotrexate (MTX) during pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) for proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) associated with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). METHODS: Comparative interventional nonrandomized study including consecutive patients who had vitrectomy for RRD. The study included six groups. Groups I (established PVR), II (high risk of PVR), and III (no risk of PVR) comprised prospectively recruited study eyes, which received PPV and adjuvant intravitreal MTX infusion equivalent to 400 µg/0.1 mL. Groups IA, IIA, and IIIA comprised retrospectively recruited control groups. Main outcome measures were retinal reattachment at the end of 6 months, visual outcome, and complications. Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test analyzed categorical variables. ANOVA test and Kruskal-Wallis test analyzed quantitative variables. Mann-Whitney U-test and independent t-test evaluated the difference between each group and its control. Comparison between two paired groups was done by Wilcoxon Rank test. The Kaplan-Meier method was used for survival analysis and the log-rank test estimated differences in event-free survival across the groups. P was significant at <0.05. RESULTS: The study included 190 eyes of 188 patients. Study Groups I, II, and III included 42, 35, and 24 eyes, respectively. Mean age was 45 years. Male gender constituted 70% of patients. Mean follow-up period was 6 months. Control Groups IA, IIA, and IIIA included 30, 30, and 29 eyes, respectively. Mean age was 50 years. Male gender constituted 50%. Mean follow-up period was 7 months. Median rate of retinal reattachment was 82% in the study eyes versus 86% in the control eyes. The difference in the retinal reattachment rates between each study group and its respective control was not statistically significant, Group I-IA (p= 0.2), Group II-IIA (p=0.07), and Group III-IIIA (p=0.07). BCVA improved by a mean of 4 lines in the study eyes versus 3 lines in the control eyes. The difference in visual outcome between each study group and its respective control was statistically significant between Groups II-IIA and III-IIIA, p=0.03, but not between Groups I-IA, p=0.07. We did not detect complications attributed to MTX use in the study eyes. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal infusion of MTX during PPV is a safe adjuvant therapy in RRD patients with and without PVR. MTX yields superior functional outcomes in patients at high risk of PVR and in patients with no risk of PVR compared to PPV without MTX, but not in cases with established PVR. MTX did not confer an additional advantage in terms of retinal reattachment rate. Summary. Proliferative vitreoretinopathy is a major cause of failure in surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Methotrexate as an adjuvant therapy blocks essential drivers in the pathogenetic cascade leading to PVR. Intravitreal infusion has the advantage of blocking the pathology in its nascence and obviates the need for repeated intravitreal injections of the drug.

Functional assessment of early retinal changes in diabetic patients without clinical retinopathy using multifocal electroretinogram.

BACKGROUND: We aimed to assess early retinal changes in diabetic subjects without clinical retinopathy using multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG). METHODS: Twenty eyes of 20 diabetic subjects type 2 without retinopathy and 20 eyes of 20 healthy controls of the same age and sex were eligible for our study and underwent mfERG. MfERG responses were recorded; N1-P1 amplitude and P1 implicit time of the 5 rings recorded were measured and analyzed. RESULTS: The reduction in N1-P1 amplitude and the delay in P1-implicit time in type 2 diabetic subjects were statistically significant in most of the assessed rings compared to controls (p <  0.001). Moreover, N1-P1 amplitude was negatively correlated with diabetes duration. However, there was a positive correlation between P1-implicit time and diabetes duration in type 2 diabetic subjects in four out of five rings (p <  0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Our study showed reduced mfERG N1-P1 amplitude and delayed P1-implicit time indiabetic patients without retinopathy compared to normal controls. Implicit time andamplitude were significantly affected by diabetes duration. These results propose a valuable role of mfERG in evaluating the expected neuroretinal dysfunction before the clinical development of diabetic retinopathy. Early detection of functional abnormalities indicates that the patients need more tight medical control of diabetes. More well-designed studies are needed to assert upon these results.

The 7-Year Outcomes of Epithelium-Off Corneal Cross-linking in Progressive Keratoconus.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical results of epitheliumoff corneal cross-linking (CXL) during a 7-year follow-up. METHODS: This retrospective, non-randomized, single-center interventional study enrolled 34 consecutive eyes of 24 patients with progressive keratoconus undergoing CXL surgery with epithelium removal. Visual, refractive, corneal topographic, pachymetric, and anterior segment changes were evaluated at 1, 3, and 7 years after surgery. RESULTS: Significant reduction of refraction was observed at 1 year postoperatively (P ≤ .006), with an additional significant reduction between the 1- and 3-year postoperative visits (P ≤ .002) and no significant changes afterward (P ≥ .156). Regarding corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA), a significant improvement was detected at 1 year after surgery (P < .001), with an additional improvement between 1 and 3 years postoperatively (P = .001), and no significant changes at the end of the follow-up (P = .518). Significant corneal flattening was observed at 1, 3, and 7 years after surgery (P ≤ .041). Likewise, a significant central thinning was observed at 1 year postoperatively (P < .001), with no significant changes afterward (P ≥ .112). Anterior maximum elevation only changed significantly between 1 and 3 years after surgery (P = .002), whereas the posterior maximum elevation changed significantly at all time points of the follow-up (P ≤ .034). No significant changes with surgery in anterior segment volume (P ≥ .377) and anterior chamber depth (P ≥ .142) were detected. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of epithelium-off CXL in progressive keratoconus is maintained 7 years after surgery. Long-term corneal changes after this procedure may be influenced by an age-related corneal stiffening process. [J Refract Surg. 2018;34(3):181-186.].