Psychophysical, electrofunctional, and morphological evaluation in naïve neovascular AMD patients treated with intravitreal anti-VEGF.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the retinal morpho-functional characteristics of patients with neovascular wet age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) treated with intravitreal injection (IV) of aflibercept (AFL). Methods: The study was conducted on 35 patients previously diagnosed with type 1 nAMD who received a fixed-dosing regimen of aflibercept injections over 12 months. The goal was to assess trends in visual abilities over time by measuring visual acuity (VA), contrast sensitivity (CS), visual evoked potentials (VEPs), and spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). The same psychophysical, electro-functional, and morphological tests administered at baseline (T0) were repeated 4 to 8 weeks after the last aflibercept injection (Tn), resulting in a total of six examinations. Results: At Tn, all subjects exhibited improved VA for both far and near distances compared to values detected at T0. Similarly, VEP amplitude and latency values at Tn showed a greater P100 improvement than those observed at T0. Additionally, the CS examination at Tn demonstrated improvement, particularly at high spatial stimulation frequencies. The Tn SD-OCT results highlighted a reduction in macular thickness compared to T0 values. Conclusions: This exploratory research indicates that intravitreal injections of AFL, following a fixed-dosing regimen, represent a valuable therapeutic approach for enhancing visual performance. This conclusion is supported by comprehensive statistical analysis of psychophysical, electro-functional, and morphological examinations within the same group of patients with nAMD, as demonstrated for the first time.

Reduced macular thickness and macular vessel density in early-treated adult patients with PKU.

PURPOSE: Macular structure is poorly evaluated in early-treated phenylketonuria (ETPKU). To evaluate potential changes, we aimed to examine retinas of PKU patients using optical coherence tomography (OCT) with additional OCT angiography (OCTA) and compare the results to healthy controls. METHODS: A total of 100 adults were recruited in this monocentric, case-control study: 50 patients with ETPKU (mean age: 30.66 ± 8.00 years) and 50 healthy controls (mean age: 30.45 ± 7.18 years). Macular thickness, vessel density and flow area of the right eye was assessed with spectral domain OCT angiography SD-OCT(A). Macular microstructural data between the ETPKU and control group was compared. In the ETPKU group, the relationship between visual functional parameters (best corrected visual acuity [VA], spherical equivalent [SE], contrast sensitivity [CS] and near stereoacuity) and microstructural alterations was examined. The dependency of OCT(A) values on serum phenylalanine (Phe) level was analysed. RESULTS: There was significant average parafoveal and perifoveal total retinal layer thinning in ETPKU patients compared to healthy controls (p < 0.016 and p < 0.001, respectively), while the foveal region remained unchanged in the ETPKU group. Whole macular and parafoveal superficial capillary plexus density was significantly decreased in ETPKU compared to controls (p < 0.001). There were no significant differences in the foveal avascular zone, nonflow area, macular superficial and deep capillary plexus between the groups. The temporal parafoveal inner retinal layer thickness was found to negatively correlate with individual Phe levels (r = -0.35, p = 0.042). There was no difference in vascular density and retinal thickness in the subgroup analysis of patients with good therapy adherence compared to patients on a relaxed diet. CONCLUSIONS: Durable elevation in Phe levels are only partially associated with macular retinal structural changes. However, therapy adherence might not influence these ophthalmological complications.

Neuroanatomical substrates underlying contrast sensitivity.

BACKGROUND: Contrast sensitivity (CS), a measurement of the ability to discriminate an object from its background, is an essential domain of visual functions. Eye aging or diseases are usually responsible for CS decline or impairment. However, whether neuroanatomical substrates are underlying CS is mostly unknown. METHODS: High-resolution magnetic resonance imaging data of 100 healthy young subjects from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) dataset were used to calculate gray matter volume (GMV). CS was assessed using the Mars Contrast Sensitivity Test. A multiple regression analysis was used to investigate the relationship between CS and GMV in a voxel-wise manner within the whole gray matter. RESULTS: The range of Mars_Final scores for the 100 participants was from 1.08 to 1.88, and we found significant positive correlations between the CS scores and GMV in the bilateral visual cortex. Precisely, the significant bilateral clusters were mainly located in bilateral V3A, with the superior parts extending to the bilateral posterior parietal cortex. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest the critical role of the dorsal visual stream in CS processing, which may provide insights into the neuroanatomical mechanism of contrast sensitivity and its relation to some brain disorders.

Early clinical effects of phacoemulsification cataract surgery with implantation of Acrysof IQ Restor multi-focal toric lens / 医学研究生学报

Objective Acrysof IQ Restor multifocal toric intraocular lens ( IOL) is a new product , which allows a single sur-gical procedure for presbyopia correction and corneal astigmatism management .This study was to evaluate the early clinical effects of phacoemulsification cataract surgery with implantation of a diffractive multifocal toric IOL . Methods We retrospectively analyzed 7 cases (9 eyes) of corneal astigmatism ≥1.0 diopter (D) treated by phacoemulsification with implantation of an Acrysof IQ Restor toric IOL.The patients were followed up for 3 months for observation of uncorrected distance visual acuity ( UDVA) , best corrected distance visual acuity ( CDVA) , uncorrected near visual acuity ( UNVA ) , best corrected near visual acuity ( CNVA ) , spherical equivalent (SE) refraction, focal depth, residual astigmatism, rotational stability of the IOL, contrast sensitivity (CS), and spectacle independ-ence preoperatively and at 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after operation . Results At 3 months after surgery , the UDVA ( log-MAR), CDVA, UNVA, and CNVA were 0.07 ±0.10, 0.02 ±0.11, 0.12 ±0.06, and 0.08 ±0.07, respectively, with an SE re-fraction within ±0.50 D of the attempted spherical correction in 8 eyes (88.9%) and a focal depth of (5.32 ±1.78) D.The residual astigmatism at 3 months was significantly reduced as compared with the baseline ([0.25 ±0.28] vs [1.55 ±0.39] D, P0.05).At 3 months, the mean IOL axis rotation was (3.11 ±1.61)°and CS was remarkably im-proved ( P0.05) except at 18.0 cpd (P<0.05). Conclusion Implantation of the Acrysof IQ Restor multifocal toric IOL provides excellent overall quality of vision, spectacle independence, visual quality, and rotational stability for patients with cataract and corneal astigmatism.