IMPORTANCEOutcome data are limited regarding early experience with brolucizumab, the most recently approved anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) agent for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).OBJECTIVE To report clinical outcomes after intravitreous injection (IVI) of brolucizumab, 6 mg, for nAMD.
DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTSThis retrospective case series conducted at 15 private or academic ophthalmological centers in the United States included all consecutive patients with eyes treated with brolucizumab by 6 retina specialists between October 17, 2019, and April 1, 2020. EXPOSURES Treatment with brolucizumab IVI, 6 mg. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Change in mean visual acuity (VA) and optical coherence tomography parameters, including mean central subfield thickness and presence or absence of subretinal and/or intraretinal fluid. Secondary outcomes included ocular and systemic safety. RESULTS A total of 172 eyes from 152 patients (87 women [57.2%]; mean [SD] age, 80.0 [8.0] years) were included. Most eyes (166 [96.5%]) were not treatment naive, and 65.7% of these eyes (109 of 166) were switched from the prior anti-VEGF agent because of persistent fluid detected on optical coherence tomography scans. Study eyes received a mean (SD) of 1.46 (0.62) brolucizumab IVIs. The mean (SD) VA prior to starting brolucizumab was a 64.1 (15.9) Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letter score (Snellen equivalent, 20/50) and was a 63.3 (17.2) ETDRS letter score (Snellen equivalent, 20/63) at the last study evaluation (mean difference, 0.8; 95% CI, −2.7 to 4.3; P = .65). When analyzed by number of brolucizumab IVIs, the presence or absence of fluid prior to starting brolucizumab, or the presence or absence of intraocular inflammation after receiving brolucizumab, there was no difference in mean VA prior to starting brolucizumab compared with after brolucizumab IVIs or at the final study evaluation. The mean (SD) central subfield thickness in all eyes prior to starting brolucizumab was 296.7 (88.0) μm and was 269.8 (66.5) μm at the last study examination (mean difference, 26.9 μm; 95% CI, 9.0-44.7 μm; P = .003). Intraocular inflammation was reported in 14 eyes (8.1%) and was self-limited and resolved without treatment in almost half those eyes (n = 6). One previously reported eye (0.6%) had occlusive retinal vasculitis and severe loss of vision.
CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCEIn this analysis of brolucizumab IVI for nAMD, VA remained stable, with a reduction in central subfield thickness. Intraocular inflammation events ranged from mild with spontaneous resolution to severe occlusive retinal vasculitis in 1 eye.
Individuals with DE symptoms and persistent ocular pain after topical proparacaine (a marker of central sensitisation to pain) more frequently report NOP-like symptoms and demonstrate increased sensitivity to evoked pain.
Objective
To study chronic pain and mental health profiles in patients with dry eye (DE) symptoms, comparing those with high and low levels of neuropathic ocular pain (NOP) complaints.
Design
Cross-sectional study of 181 patients with DE symptoms (dry eye questionnaire score ≥6) seen in the Miami Veterans Affairs eye clinic. An evaluation was performed consisting of questionnaires regarding DE symptoms, NOP complaints (burning, sensitivity to wind, light and cold/hot temperatures) and pain elsewhere in the body (non-ocular). This was followed by a comprehensive ocular surface examination. The patients’ comorbidities, medications, mental health (depression and post-traumatic stress disorder) and quality-of-life indices were also obtained. Patients were classified using cluster analysis into either the ‘high NOP’ or ‘low NOP’ group. Subsequent analyses were performed to examine differences in ocular and non-ocular parameters between these two groups.
Results
Despite similar ocular surface findings, patients in the high NOP group had very different systemic (non-ocular) profiles with higher overall pain intensity ratings, higher frequency of comorbid chronic centralised pain conditions, lower quality-of-life indices and more abnormal mental health scores than those in the low NOP group.
Conclusions
Consistent with a chronic overlapping pain condition, patients with DE disease with more severe NOP symptoms report more frequent and severe non-ocular functional comorbid pain disorders.
Alkali exposure dramatically changes the PC profile of cornea. Our data are consistent with penetration and hydrolysis as stochastic contributors to changes in PCs due to exposure to alkali for a finite duration and amount.
Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation assays have long been used to detect DNA synthesis in vivo and in vitro. The key principle of this method is that BrdU incorporated as a thymidine analog into nuclear DNA represents a label that can be tracked using antibody probes. In this chapter, we describe BrdU incorporation into limbal stem cells. The colorimetric reaction produced by this assay can be detected by immunohistochemistry, and using appropriate controls, it can be used for determination of proliferating properties of restricted progenitor cells derived from the cornea.
Wide-field (WF) swept-source (SS) optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) was used to image diabetic tractional retinal detachments (TRDs) before and after pars plana vitrectomy. The clinical utility of SS-OCTA was assessed.Methods: Patients with diabetic TRDs were imaged prospectively with SS-OCTA. Ultrawide-field imaging was obtained when possible. Postoperative WF SS-OCTA imaging was performed.Results: From January 2018 through December 2019, 31 eyes of 21 patients with diabetic TRDs were imaged. Wide-field SS-OCTA en-face images captured all areas of TRD and fibrovascular proliferation within the posterior pole that were visualized on ultrawidefield imaging. Optical coherence tomography angiography B-scans revealed the vascularity of preretinal membranes and identified areas of vitreoretinal traction and posterior vitreous detachment. Ten eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy. Postoperative SS-OCTA imaging demonstrated removal of fibrovascular membranes, relief of traction, and resolution of TRDs. Retinal ischemia before and after surgical repair appeared similar.Conclusion: All clinically relevant features of diabetic TRDs were identified at baseline and assessed longitudinally after pars plana vitrectomy using WF SS-OCTA, which showed resolution of vitreoretinal traction and no apparent change in the status of retinal perfusion after surgery. If the media are clear and fixation is adequate, WF SS-OCTA is likely the only imaging modality needed for the diagnosis and longitudinal evaluation of diabetic TRDs.
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