Optical coherence tomography (OCT) features of cystoid spaces in choroideremia (CHM).

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence and features of cystoid spaces (CS) in patients with confirmed genetic diagnosis of choroideremia (CHM) using swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed CHM patients examined at the Regional Reference Center for Hereditary Retinal Degenerations at the Eye Clinic in Florence. We took into consideration genetically confirmed CHM patients with ophthalmological and swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) examinations. The presence/absence and location of cystoid spaces in the retina of each eye were reported. RESULTS: A total of 42 eyes of 21 CHM patients were included in our series. The average age of the patients was 36.5 ± 20.1 (range, 13-73 years). The average best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) for all patients was 0.63 ± 1.00 logMar (range, 0-2,80). CS were present in 15 eyes of eight patients (8/21, 38%). In all cases, CS were located in inner nuclear layer (INL); in five eyes of three patients, CS were detected also in ganglion cell layer (GCL). CS appeared as microcistoyd abnormalities and were detected in retinal areas characterized by retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retinal layers atrophy at the transition zone. CONCLUSIONS: Cystoid spaces in choroideremia showed peculiar features; they are clusters of small-size extrafoveal degenerative cysts mainly located in inner nuclear layer at the transition zone where outer retinal layers and RPE are severely damaged.

Ranizurel safety evaluation in real-world -(RaSER) study.

PURPOSE: To assess the early real-world clinical outcomes regarding safety and efficacy after ranizurel administration. METHODS: A retrospective, consecutive, interventional, uncontrolled, multi-centre study was conducted incorporating data from four centres in India. 22 eyes with variable indications were included and all patients were treated with at least one intravitreal injection of ranizurel 0.5 mg between January 2021 and April 2021. Each patient underwent best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurement with a Snellen chart (converted to LogMAR for analysis), central subfield thickness (CST) analysis with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement along with complete ophthalmic examination at baseline and the last follow-up for evaluation of adverse events after ranizurel injection. RESULTS: - None of the sites reported any signs of inflammation, vasculitis or any other ocular or systemic adverse effects in any of the cases. Mean BCVA at baseline was 0.48 ± 0.26 LogMAR (20/63) which improved significantly 0.26 ± 0.28 (20/40) at the last follow-up. (p = 0.001) Mean CST at baseline was 448.4 ± 122.9 µm which improved significantly to 328.3 ± 89.9 µm. (p = 0.001). CONCLUSION: - The early real-world data from this limited series indicates that ranizurel is a safe alternative biologic for patients who were treatment-naive and in those who had undergone prior treatment with other anti-VEGF agents.

Secondary glaucoma after intravitreal dexamethasone implant (Ozurdex) injection in patients with retinal disorder: A retrospective study.

PURPOSE: To investigate the rate of secondary glaucoma after intravitreal (IV) dexamethasone implant (ozurdex) 0.7 mg injection in a retinal disorder over a clinical treatment period of 2 years in a tertiary eye care center. METHODS: Retrospective study based on the records of patients receiving IV ozurdex 0.7 mg implant for T/t of cystoid macular edema (CME), diabetic macular edema (DME), macular edema due to central retinal vein occlusion/branch retinal vein occlusion (CRVO/BRVO), and choroidal neovascular membrane (CNVM) at a tertiary eye care hospital for 2 years with 6 months of follow-up. The post-T/t intraocular pressure (IOP) and antiglaucoma medication (AGM) required was recorded at day 1, 1 week, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 months and analyzed for secondary IOP spike or ocular hypertension defined as IOP >21 mmHg at any point in time. The patients with pre-existing glaucoma and lost to follow-up were excluded. RESULTS: A total of 102 eyes of 80 patients were included in the study. The mean baseline IOP was 14.40 + 2.97 mmHg, post-injection was 15.01 + 3.22 mmHg at day 1, 15.15 + 3.28 mmHg at 1 week, 15.96 + 3.62 mmHg at 1 month, 16.26 + 3.95 mmHg at 2 months, 15.41 + 3.33 mmHg at 3 months, 15.38 + 3.28 mmHg at 4 months, and 14.27 + 2.69 mmHg at 6 months. No significant difference was seen from baseline IOP at day 1 (P = 0.163), 1 week (P = 0.086), and 6 months (P = 0.748). Statistically significant difference was seen at 1 month (P = 0.0009), 2 months (P = 0.0001), 3 months (P = 0.023), and 4 months (P = 0.026). The mean IOP peak at 2 months recovered to baseline by 6 months subgroup IOP trend shows a similar variation and the results are consistent with the studies in the literature. About 19/102 (18.62%) eyes showed an IOP spike post-T/t. The maximum was seen at 2 months; 16 eyes showed a rise in the range 22-25 mmHg; 8 in the range 26-30 mmHg; and 1 eye had 34 mmHg and required multiple AGM-no surgical intervention was needed. CONCLUSION: A secondary IOP spike post-IV ozurdex 0.7 mg seen in 18.62% of the cases require AGM. The IOP monitoring should be meticulously performed for the variations and secondary IOP spike management to prevent irreversible damage to the optic nerve and visual field.

Reliability of Subjective Assessment of Spectral-Domain OCT Pathologic Features by Multiple Raters in Retinal Vein Occlusion.

Purpose: To examine the interrater and intrarater reliability of qualitatively and quantitatively assessed disorganization of retinal inner layers (DRIL) and disorganization of retinal outer layers (DROL) by multiple raters. Subjectively assessing these surrogate biomarkers can be challenging in daily routine, despite the high resolution of spectral-domain (SD) OCT scans. Design: Retrospective trial. Participants: Three hundred six pooled SD OCT scans of 34 patients treated for macular edema caused by retinal vein occlusion (RVO) between January 2016 and December 2017. Methods: SD OCT scans were assessed by 6 raters regarding presence of cystoid macular edema, subretinal fluid (SRF), vitreoretinal traction, and epiretinal membrane and extent of DRIL and DROL. Main Outcome Measures: Interrater and intrarater reliability were calculated applying κ statistics for qualitative assessment regarding each pathologic feature's presence in all evaluated OCT scans, and for quantified horizontal DRIL and DROL extent within each OCT cross-section. Results: Cystoid macular edema and SRF assessments revealed excellent inter- and intrarater reliability with almost perfect strength of agreement, whereas subjective DRIL and DROL evaluations yielded low κ statistics with slight to moderate strength of agreement. Furthermore, the presence of SRF remarkably compromised the reliability of DROL detection. Conclusions: Our data highlight the limited subjective assessibility of DRIL and DROL, underscoring the need for automated image analysis to improve the reliability of OCT biomarkers for clinical studies and daily practice.

Predicting visual outcomes for macular disease using optical coherence tomography.

In recent years, the management of macular disease has undergone radical changes, in part because of new therapeutic approaches, but also due to the introduction of a new imaging modality - optical coherence tomography (OCT). The application of OCT imaging has clarified many aspects of chorioretinal disease pathophysiology and elucidated many hitherto unrecognized disease characteristics. From an early stage in its development, OCT has also been revolutionary in attempting to extract clinically useful measurements from image data in an automated fashion. As a result, OCT-derived measurements of retinal thickness have been rapidly embraced in clinical and research settings. However, as knowledge of OCT image analysis has developed, it has become increasingly clear that even accurate measurements of retinal thickness may fail to predict visual outcomes for many diseases. As a result, the focus of much current clinical imaging research is on the identification of other OCT-derived anatomic biomarkers predictive of visual outcomes - such biomarkers could serve as surrogate endpoints in clinical trials and provide prognostic information in clinical practice. In this review, we begin by highlighting the importance of accurate visual function assessment and describing the fundamentals of OCT image evaluation, before describing the current state-of-the-art with regard to predicting visual outcomes, for a variety of macular diseases, using OCT.