A compressive assessment of patient satisfaction with ophthalmology with ophthalmology clinic services: A study at a tertiary care academic institution amidst and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

PURPOSE: The study aims to systematically assess patient satisfaction concerning eye care services provided during and after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic at a tertiary care academic institution. This work seeks to analyze the various dimensions influencing the holistic measure of overall patient contentment. METHODS: A cohort of 2485 patients seeking physical consultation for ocular conditions at a tertiary care academic institution between April 2020 and December 2022 were recruited in a cross-sectional study. They were divided into two groups, viz. during the COVID period and post-COVID period. The primary focus was on evaluating overall satisfaction, measured through a validated patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ-18). RESULTS: The study encompassed a total of 2485 participants, with 1242 individuals in the cohort during the COVID period and 1243 in the post-COVID phase. Within the COVID period subgroup, the mean age of male and female patients was 39.46 ± 19.31 and 39.58 ± 19.07 years, respectively. In the post-COVID subgroup, the mean age of male and female patients was 45.26 ± 19.38 and 45.36 ± 19.22 years, respectively. Examining the COVID subgroup, the highest satisfaction scores were observed in the domain of time spent with the doctor (3.3453 ± 0.59), followed by financial aspects (3.0816 ± 0.47), interpersonal manner (3.0589 ± 0.37), and accessibility and convenience (3.0585 ± 0.37). Notably, technical quality received the lowest satisfaction score (2.4763 ± 0.42). A statistically significant difference ( P < 0.0001) was noted in the PSQ-18 scores between the two groups. In the post-COVID subgroup, patients expressed higher satisfaction with the technical quality of treatment, irrespective of the mode of management. However, financial satisfaction was better in the COVID group. CONCLUSION: Our study using the PSQ-18 questionnaire highlights significant variations in patient satisfaction with ophthalmology clinic services during and after the COVID era. Notably, time spent with the doctor scored the highest, emphasizing its positive impact. However, addressing concerns related to technical quality is crucial for overall improvement.

Insights Into Ocular Resilience: Unraveling the Epidemiology, Prognostic Factors, and Visual Triumphs of Open Globe Injuries in the COVID-19 Era at a Leading Tertiary Care Centre of Western Rajasthan, India.

INTRODUCTION: This study was conducted to describe the epidemiology, prognostic factors, and visual outcomes of open globe injuries (OGIs) at a tertiary care centre in Western Rajasthan, India. METHODS: Data of OGI patients treated at the Department of Ophthalmology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, from March 2019 to December 2021 were reviewed retrospectively. Demographic details including age, gender, place of injury, wound characteristics (i.e., cause, mechanism, location, and size), visual acuity (VA), and associated ocular injuries were recorded. The Ocular Trauma Classification System (OTCS) and the Birmingham Eye Trauma Terminology (BETT) were used to categorize OGIs. All the data was entered into a Microsoft Excel sheet (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Washington, United States) and analyzed with IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 23.0 (Released 2015; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States). RESULTS: A total of 40 patients with OGIs were included. OGI was discovered to be four times higher in males and 47.5% of the total cases were observed in patients aged 0-15 years, followed by patients aged 16-30 (27.5%). The rupture injury showed a higher incidence rate (32.5%) than the penetrating injury (62.5%). Of all OGIs, 75% were grade 4 injuries, with zone 1 being the most often affected zone and wood stick injury being the most prevalent aetiology. A significant difference was noted (p<0.001) in comparing presenting VA with final VA with paired sample t-test. A negative Spearman correlation was noted between age and final VA (r = 0.53, p = 0.000), and the grade of injury and final VA (r = 0.51, p = 0.001.) Conclusion: Young males were the most susceptible group to sustain OGIs due to their more physical activities. Health education and safety in the workplace and during sports are crucial to reduce the incidence of OGI.

Ocular surface changes in primary open-angle glaucoma on anti-glaucoma medications versus treatment-naïve patients.

PURPOSE: To examine the ocular surface disease in primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients already on treatment versus POAG patients without treatment. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted on 120 eyes of 60 POAG patients: 60 treatment-naïve eyes (group I) and 60 eyes already on topical anti-glaucoma medications (AGMs) (group II). All patients had filled out the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and underwent a comprehensive glaucoma workup. Tear break-up time (TBUT) test, Schirmer's test (type I), corneal sensitivity, anterior segment-optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT), and corneal and conjunctival staining were done at day 1, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months follow-up. RESULTS: On presentation, TBUT, Schirmer's test, tear meniscus height (TMH), and tear meniscus depth (TMD) were significantly higher in group I compared to group II. No significant difference was noted in OSDI score, corneal sensitivity, and tear meniscus area (TMA) between the groups on presentation. Both, lissamine green and rose bengal staining, had higher grades in group II compared to group I. Worsening of ocular surface disease was noted in both groups on follow-up. OSDI score, TBUT, Schirmer's test, TMH, and TMD had better values in group I in comparison to group II on follow-up. CONCLUSION: The study has identified glaucoma patients on AGMs to be more affected by dry eye disease (DED) compared to treatment-naive glaucoma patients. We found statistically significant differences in values of TBUT, Schirmer tests, lissamine and rose bengal staining, and AS-OCT parameters at baseline and 3, 6, and 12 months follow-up. OSDI scores showed significant differences at 6 and 12 months of follow-up. We recommend consideration of evaluation and management of DED/ocular surface disease in glaucoma patients on topical AGMs, particularly multiple drugs and doses.

A double-blinded study for quantifiable assessment of the diagnostic accuracy of AI tool "ADVEN-i" in identifying diseased fundus images including diabetic retinopathy on a retrospective data.

PURPOSE: To quantifiably assess the diagnostic accuracy of Adven-I, a proprietary artificial intelligence (AI)-driven diagnostic system that automatically detects diseases from fundus images. The purpose is to quantify the performance of Adven-i in differentiating a nonreferable (within normal limits) image from a referable (diseased fundus) image and further segregating diabetic retinopathy (DR) from the rest of the abnormalities (non-DR) encompassing the wide spectrum of abnormal pathologies. The assessment is carried out in comparison to manual reading as the reference gold standard. Adven-i is the only AI system classifying retinal abnormalities into DR and non-DR classes separately, apart from predicting nonreferable fundus, while most existing systems classify fundus images into referable and nonreferable DR. METHODS: The double-blinded study was conducted on retrospective data collected over the course of a year in the ophthalmology outpatient department (OPD) at a top Tier II eyecare hospital in Chandigarh, India. Three vitreoretina specialists who were blinded to one another read the images. The ground-truth was generated on the basis of majority agreement among the readers. An arbitrator's decision was regarded final if all three readers disagreed. RESULTS: 2261 fundus images were analyzed by Adven-i. The sensitivity and specificity of Adven-i in diagnosing images with abnormalities were 95.12% and 85.77%, respectively, and for segregating DR from rest of the retinal abnormalities were 91.87% and 85.12%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Adven-i shows definite promise in automated screening for early diagnosis of referable fundus images including DR. Adven-i can be adopted to scale for mass screening in resource-limited settings.

Central Retinal Artery Occlusion in Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis: An Inflammatory-Prothrombotic State.

PURPOSE: The aim was to evaluate patient profiles of rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) cases with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) postcoronavirus disease 2019. DESIGN: A nonrandomized retrospective case-control study. METHODS: The ROCM cases presenting with CRAO were compared with a control ROCM group without CRAO at a tertiary care center. Demography, systemic status, clinical features, histopathology, imaging, and blood profile were assessed for any specific risk factors. RESULTS: A total of 12 patients were seen in the CRAO group and 16 in the non-CRAO group. The male-to-female ratio was 3:1 with a mean age of 49.5 years. In the CRAO group, 75% had diabetes mellitus with mean hemoglobin A1c of 9.03%, and 66.7% had received steroid treatment. All cases were histopathologically confirmed positive for mucor. There was a significant difference in mean D-dimer and serum ferritin between the 2 groups, with higher level in the CRAO group. All patients with CRAO had light perception-negative vision, with total ophthalmoplegia and proptosis seen in 66.7% of cases. Four patients had orbital apex involvement, 5 had cavernous sinus involvement, and 8 had intracranial involvement in the CRAO group. CONCLUSIONS: Inflammatory markers D-dimer and serum ferritin were significantly associated with CRAO, suggestive of hyperinflammatory and hypercoagulable state. A high index of suspicion should be maintained in cases with elevated markers and prophylactic anticoagulants can be started to prevent CRAO in a subset of patients.

Unmet Need for ROP Screening in Peripheral Rural Areas.

Aim: To study the incidence and risk factors associated with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) at a tertiary care centre in Western India. Methods: A retrospective review of records of both referred and babies born in our hospital who were screened for ROP within the last 21 months at a tertiary care centre was done. The newborns were screened as per National Neonatology Forum of India guidelines. ROP was classified according to the International Classification for Retinopathy of Prematurity criteria. Results: A total of 167 neonates were screened with an incidence of ROP of 26.9%. The mean gestational age (GA) and mean birth weight (BW) were 31.89 ± 2.824 weeks and 1538.11 ± 530.84 gm. The mean BW of neonates having any ROP was significantly lower (1296.98gm, p < 0.001), and the mean GA was also significantly lower in ROP babies (30.67 weeks, p < 0.001). O2 supplementation, RDS, IVH, and NEC were the systemic risk factors that significantly correlated with ROP p-value <0.001. On analysis of the correlation of stage of ROP with BW and GA, a significant correlation of -0.307 (p < 0.001) and -0.283 (p < 0.001) was found. Conclusion: The incidence of ROP in this study is similar to that reported in the literature from other regions. Other than LBW and GA, oxygen supplementation, RDS, IVH, and NEC were significant risk factors associated with ROP.

Peripapillary retinal thermal coagulation following electrical injury.

In this study, we have presented the case report of a 20 year old boy who suffered an electric injury shock, following which he showed peripapillary retinal opacification and increased retinal thickening that subsequently progressed to retinal atrophy. The fluorescein angiogram revealed normal retinal circulation, thus indicating thermal damage to retina without any compromise to retinal circulation.

Spectrum of Fuchs uveitic syndrome in a North Indian population.

PURPOSE: To describe patients with Fuchs uveitis syndrome (FUS) in North India. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. METHODS: One hundred ninety-eight eyes of 183 patients with FUS were reviewed at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Advanced Eye Centre, Department of Ophthalmology, between December 1996 and September 2011. Demographic profile, clinical findings at presentation, risk of new complications, and rate of decreased vision were the main outcome measures. RESULTS: The mean age at presentation was 30.1 ± 9.4 years. Male-to-female ratio was 1.1:1. Fifteen patients (8.1%) had bilateral involvement. Clinical findings at presentation included diffuse keratic precipitates (92.4%), anterior chamber cells (54.5%), diffuse iris atrophy without hypochromia (29.3%), heterochromia (24.7%), iris nodules (16.1%), cataract/pseudophakia (79.3%), vitreous cells (61.1%), elevated intraocular pressure (13.6%), and chorioretinal scars (2%). On fluorescein angiography, hyperfluorescence of the optic disc was detected in 28 of 51 eyes (55%), peripheral vasculitis in 1 (2%) and both in 8 eyes (15.7%). OCT showed traction papillopathy in 6 of 34 eyes (17.6%). None of the eyes showed cystoid macular edema. CONCLUSION: Heterochromia is seen only in 25% of patients with Fuchsheterochromic uveitis in brown irides. Diffuse stellate keratic precipitates, low cellular reaction, vitritis, vitreous opacities, diffuse iris stromal atrophy in the absence of posterior synechia, and macular edema are other parameters helpful in diagnosing FUS.

Oral D-penicillamine for the prevention of retinopathy of prematurity in very low birth weight infants: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.

PURPOSE: To compare prophylactic enteral D-penicillamine (DPA) with placebo for prevention of 'retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) or death' among very low birth weight (VLBW) infants. METHODS: This was a double-blind, single-centre, randomized, placebo-controlled trial with stratification (for birth weight <1250 and ≥1250 g) and blocking. Inborn neonates with birth weight 750-1500 g, gestation ≤32 weeks, age ≤5 days, who tolerated feeds were eligible. Neonates with gastro-intestinal malformations, life-threatening malformations and necrotizing enterocolitis were excluded. Enrolled subjects were randomly allocated to receive oral DPA suspension at 100 mg/kg/dose 8 h for 3 days, followed by 50 mg/kg/day for another 11 days or placebo. The primary outcome was 'any ROP or death'. Secondary outcomes included any ROP, treatable ROP, adverse effects and feed intolerance. RESULTS: A total of 88 subjects were enrolled. Baseline characteristics were similar with the exception of multiple gestation. There were no significant differences in primary and secondary outcomes, even after adjusting for multiple gestation and on sub-group analysis. No adverse reaction was noted. CONCLUSION: Prophylactic enterally administered DPA suspension in a dose 100 mg/kg/dose 8 h for 3 days, followed by 50 mg/kg once per day for next 11 days, does not prevent 'any stage ROP or death' or 'ROP requiring treatment' in VLBW infants. DPA is well tolerated and does not have any major short-term adverse effects.