Prescription trends for preservative free glaucoma medication in a public health system.

PURPOSE: To analyze the prescribing trends over a 7-years period, between 2013 and 2020, in a tertiary hospital (Hospital Clinico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain) and its health area. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A retrospective study on the data collected from the information systems, "farm@web" and "Farmadrid", of glaucoma prescriptions in the framework of a public health system (Spanish National Health System) during the last seven years. RESULTS: Prostaglandin analogues were the most commonly used drugs in monotherapy during the study period (range: 36.82% - 47.07%). Fixed combinations of topical hypotensives had an upward trend since 2013 (range: 39.99% - 54.21%), becoming the most dispensed drugs in 2020 (48.99%). Preservative-free eye drops (lacking benzalkonium chloride, BAK) have displaced preservative containing topical treatments in all pharmacological groups. In 2013, BAK-preserved eye drops accounted for 91.1% of the total prescriptions, however in 2020 they only accounted for 34.2% of total prescriptions. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the present study highlight the current trend to avoid BAK-preserved eye drops for the treatment of glaucoma.

Fuji sign: Prevalence and predictive power to photodynamic therapy in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy.

AIM: To determine the prevalence of Fuji sign in central serous chorioretinopathy (cCSC) patients and its predictive power of good response to photodynamic therapy (PDT). METHODS: Retrospective study, including 135 eyes of 130 patients diagnosed with cCSC treated with PDT between 2017 and 2021. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) images from these patients were compiled and analyzed. The presence of the Fuji sign, an anatomical finding recently described as a predictor of spontaneous resolution of the subretinal fluid (SRF) in cCSC, as assessed in basal images and the maximum height of SRF pre- and post-PDT OCT was measured. RESULTS: Mean age was 56.6 years, 69.4% were men and the percentage of partial or complete resolution of the SRF after PDT was 75.55%. Only 8.9% of patients (12/135) had positive Fuji sign at baseline OCT. Among them, 50% (6/12) presented a complete response to the PDT (pre-PDT SRF: 109.00 (29.61) µm), 8.3% (1/12) had a partial resolution of the SRF (127 µm to 66 µm) and 41.6% (5/12) did not respond to PDT (pre-PDT SRF: 71.00 (22.82) µm, post-PDT SRF: 83.60 (36.13) µm). CONCLUSIONS: Fuji sign has a low prevalence in cCSC and its presence is not associated with a good response to PDT.

Efficacy and safety of topical 5-fluorouracil in conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia refractory to interferon alpha-2b.

PURPOSE: To report the efficacy and safety of 5-fluorouracil as the second line of treatment for two cases of conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia refractive to topical interferon alpha-2b. CASE REPORT: In the first case, a 77-year-old woman was evaluated because of a fleshy vascularized lesion in the temporal conjunctiva on her right eye with leukoplakia of the corneal epithelium from 10- to 5-o'clock limbus. In the second case, an 81-year-old man, a nodular lesion in the temporal conjunctiva on his RE, with corneal adjacent opalescence, one millimeter in extent, was observed. Both patients were initially treated with excisional surgery, the samples being reported as conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia with high-grade dysplasia. Co-adjuvant treatment with topical interferon alpha-2b 1 mIU/mL was indicated 4 times/day uninterruptedly. In the first case, there was no response despite 8 months of treatment, while in the second, the corneal lesion progressed in an arboriform pattern after 4 months of topical chemotherapy. MANAGEMENT & OUTCOME: In the absence of efficacy, the treatment was then changed to topical 5-fluorouracil (1%), 4 times/day for 7 days with a time-lapse of 21 days off, which constitutes a course. Two and four courses of treatment with 5-fluorouracil 1% were completed in both cases in the absence of important side effects. After the first course, both patients showed complete remission of the lesions. No clinical signs of relapse were noted after 1 year of follow-up. DISCUSSION: The treatment with 5-fluorouracil is a good option as the second line of treatment for conjunctival intraepithelial neoplasia who are low-responders to interferon alpha-2b, with fewer side effects than other currently available alternatives.

Prediction of the response to photodynamic therapy in patients with chronic central serous chorioretinopathy based on optical coherence tomography using deep learning.

PURPOSE: To assess the prediction of the response to photodynamic therapy (PDT) in chronic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) based on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) images using deep learning (DL). METHODS: Retrospective study including 216 eyes of 175 patients with CSCR and persistent subretinal fluid (SRF) who underwent half-fluence PDT. SD-OCT macular examination was performed before (baseline) and 3 months after treatment. Patients were classified into groups by experts based on the response to PDT: Group 1, complete SRF resorption (n = 100); Group 2, partial SRF resorption (n = 66); and Group 3, absence of any SRF resorption (n = 50). This work proposes different computational approaches: 1st approach compares all groups; 2nd compares groups 1 vs. 2 and 3 together; 3rd compares groups 2 vs. 3. RESULTS: The mean age was 55.6 ± 10.9 years and 70.3% were males. In the first approach, the algorithm showed a precision of up to 57% to detect the response to treatment in group 1 based on the initial scan, with a mean average accuracy of 0.529 ± 0.035. In the second model, the mean accuracy was higher (0.670 ± 0.046). In the third approach, the algorithm showed a precision of 0.74 ± 0.12 to detect the response to treatment in group 2 (partial SRF resolution) and 0.69 ± 0.15 in group 3 (absence of SRF resolution). CONCLUSION: Despite the high clinical variability in the response of chronic CSCR to PDT, this DL algorithm offers an objective and promising tool to predict the response to PDT treatment in clinical practice.

Delayed Onset of Retinal Embolism After Coronary Angioplasty.

Although rare, retinal artery cholesterol emboli (Hollenhorst plaques) post angioplasty can be a severe event that can cause irreversible visual disturbances, usually taking place during or following the procedure. However, as the number of procedures continues to increase, interventional radiologists or cardiologists who perform coronary catheterization should be cognizant of its possible delayed occurrence, as in the case presented herein.