Increased Number and Severity of Open Globe Injuries during COVID-19 Stay-at-home Orders.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the occurrence and outcome of open globe injury during state-mandated COVID-19 stay-at-home orders compared to historical averages at a tertiary medical center in Portland, Oregon. METHODS: Open globe injury between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2020 was identified using relevant procedure codes. The number of injuries, mechanism of trauma, and short-term outcomes of globes repaired during the study period of March 23, 2020 to July 6, 2020 when stay-at-home orders were in effect were compared to a cohort from the same 15-week time frame in 2015-2019. We also evaluated injuries occurring throughout 2020 as compared to the prior 5 years. RESULTS: 263 consecutive open globe injuries were identified between January 2015 and December 2020. While Oregon's stay-at-home orders were in effect, we observed a significant increase in the number of open globe injuries treated compared to the prior 5 years (p = .004). Twenty-four cases identified during the study period represent a 2-fold increase over the 2015-2019 average of 11.8 globe repairs during the same 15-week time period. Visual acuity < 20/200 at 6 months (p = .008) and secondary enucleation (p < .001) were more frequent during stay-at-home orders, and severity of injury as calculated by the Ocular Trauma Scores (OTS) was higher. Time-to-repair was similar between the two cohorts. CONCLUSION: At our center, there was an increased number and severity of open globe injury during the period of mandatory COVID-19 stay-at-home orders. Visual acuity outcomes and risk for secondary enucleation were poorer compared to the reference cohort.Abbreviations: Ocular Trauma Score (OTS), Open globe injury (OGI), Emergency department (ED), Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU).

RETINAL INFILTRATION IN A CASE OF CHRONIC MYELOID LEUKEMIA.

PURPOSE: To describe a case of chronic myeloid leukemia with retinal leukemic infiltration identified by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography. METHODS: Case report. RESULTS: A 64-year-old man presented with bilateral painless blurred vision and three weeks of fatigue, unintentional weight loss, and complete hearing loss. Dilated fundus examination of both eyes showed peripheral intraretinal hemorrhages with white centers, vascular tortuosity, and peripheral nonperfusion. No macular lesions were identified by slit-lamp examination, fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence, or fluorescein angiography. Optical coherence tomography through the macula revealed multiple hyperreflective lesions throughout the inner retinal layers. Some of these lesions showed intrinsic flow by OCT angiography, but many lesions did not. The bone marrow biopsy confirmed chronic myeloid leukemia, and these intraretinal lesions were deemed to be leukemic infiltrates. The patient regained vision after systemic chemotherapy with resolution of the retinal infiltrates over time. CONCLUSION: Primary leukemic retinal involvement can be challenging to diagnose, especially when the macula appears normal clinically. Optical coherence tomography and OCT angiography are useful imaging modalities for the detection of retinal leukemic infiltration. Completing a thorough review of systems and initiating an urgent, systemic work-up are warranted in cases of retinal infiltration.

Cyclodialysis Cleft After Secondary Intraocular Lens Placement With Yamane Technique.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to report a rare case of cyclodialysis cleft after secondary intraocular lens (IOL) placement using the Yamane flanged intrascleral haptic fixation technique. METHODS: This study is an observational case report. RESULTS: A 74-year-old man with an ocular history of spontaneously dislocated IOL and subsequent anterior chamber IOL (ACIOL) placement presented with monocular diplopia secondary to ACIOL subluxation. The patient underwent explantation of the subluxed ACIOL and placement of a scleral-fixated IOL using the Yamane technique. The postoperative course was complicated by persistent hypotony, prompting ultrasound biomicroscopy, which revealed a cyclodialysis cleft adjacent to one of the externalized IOL haptics. The haptic was discovered in the involved supraciliary space while performing direct cyclopexy. The cyclodialysis cleft closed with return to physiologic intraocular pressure. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclodialysis cleft formation is a possible complication of scleral IOL fixation and should be suspected in cases of prolonged postoperative hypotony. Extended longitudinal tracking of the needle and haptic through the supraciliary space may be one mechanism for cyclodialysis cleft formation in the Yamane technique.

Visual Outcomes in Macula-Involving Retinal Detachments Based on Time to Surgical Repair.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To examine the relationship between duration of macular detachment and postoperative visual acuity in macula-involving rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective review of patients who underwent surgical repair of macula-involving rhegmatogenous retinal detachments was conducted with Institutional Review Board approval. Primary outcome measure was postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) as dependent on duration of macular detachment. RESULTS: In eyes with duration of macular detachment less than or equal to 7 days, postoperative BCVA increased by 0.017 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) units (P = .001), and the odds of achieving logMAR 0 decreased by a factor of 0.43 (95% CI, 0.21 to 0.87; P = .02) with each additional day of detachment. Eyes repaired within 3 days of macular detachment were more likely to have postoperative BCVA of logMAR 0 than eyes repaired 4 to 7 days after macular detachment (odds ratio, 2.32; 95% CI, 1.15 to 4.70; P = .02). CONCLUSION: Increased duration of macular detachment is associated with progressive decline in postoperative visual acuity. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina 2022;53:439-444.].

Putting the "No" in Non Nocere: Surgery, Anesthesia, and a Patient's Right to Withdraw Consent.

[Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2017-10.asp].

Student-Driven Approaches to Undergraduate Medical Research: A Peer-Led Symposium.

Exposure to research early in medical school facilitates the development of physician-scientists and competent clinicians. In the last decade, institutions have established programs and policies to address the physician- scientist shortage. However, student-led initiatives to promote medical student engagement in research remain unexplored. This paper presents the design and results of the third iteration of a symposium in which senior medical students provided guidance and advice to preclinical students interested in research. It also reviews the lessons learned from three years of conducting the symposium. [Full article available at http://rimed.org/rimedicaljournal-2016-08.asp, free with no login].

A comparison of some organizational characteristics of the mouse central retina and the human macula.

Mouse models have greatly assisted our understanding of retinal degenerations. However, the mouse retina does not have a macula, leading to the question of whether the mouse is a relevant model for macular degeneration. In the present study, a quantitative comparison between the organization of the central mouse retina and the human macula was made, focusing on some structural characteristics that have been suggested to be important in predisposing the macula to stresses leading to degeneration: photoreceptor density, phagocytic load on the RPE, and the relative thinness of Bruch's membrane. Light and electron microscopy measurements from retinas of two strains of mice, together with published data on human retinas, were used for calculations and subsequent comparisons. As in the human retina, the central region of the mouse retina possesses a higher photoreceptor cell density and a thinner Bruch's membrane than in the periphery; however, the magnitudes of these periphery to center gradients are larger in the human. Of potentially greater relevance is the actual photoreceptor cell density, which is much greater in the mouse central retina than in the human macula, underlying a higher phagocytic load for the mouse RPE. Moreover, at eccentricities that correspond to the peripheral half of the human macula, the rod to cone ratio is similar between mouse and human. Hence, with respect to photoreceptor density and phagocytic load of the RPE, the central mouse retina models at least the more peripheral part of the macula, where macular degeneration is often first evident.