The aim of this study was to evaluate the changes in the prevalence of myopia in Taiwanese schoolchildren over the past few decades and to analyze the risk factors for myopia.Design: Analysis of 8 consecutive population-based myopia surveys conducted from 1983 through 2017.Participants: An average of 8917 (5019e11 656) schoolchildren 3 to 18 years of age were selected using stratified systematic cluster sampling or by probability proportional to size sampling.Methods: All participants underwent complete ophthalmic evaluations. Three drops of 0.5% tropicamide were used to obtain the cycloplegic refractive status of each participant. Questionnaires were used to acquire participant data from the 1995, 2005, 2010, and 2016 surveys.Main Outcome Measures: Prevalence of myopia (spherical equivalence of À0.25 diopter [D]) and high myopia ( À6.0 D) was assessed. Multivariate analyses of risk factors were conducted.Results: The prevalence of myopia among all age groups increased steadily. From 1983 through 2017, the weighted prevalence increased from 5.37% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.50%e7.23%) to 25.41% (95% CI, 21.27%e29.55%) for 7-year-olds (P ¼ 0.001 for trend) and from 30.66% (95% CI, 26.89%e34.43%) to 76.67% (95% CI, 72.94%e80.40%) for 12-year-olds (P ¼ 0.001 for trend). The prevalence of high myopia also increased from 1.39% (95% CI, 0.43%e2.35%) to 4.26% (95% CI, 3.35%e5.17%) for 12-year-olds (P ¼ 0.008 for trend) and from 4.37% (95% CI, 2.91%e5.82%) to 15.36% (95% CI, 13.78%e16.94%) for 15-year-olds (P ¼ 0.039 for trend). In both the 2005 and 2016 survey samples, children who spent less than 180 minutes daily on near-work activities showed significantly lower risks for myopia developing (<60 minutes: odds ratio [OR], 0.48 and 0.56; 60e180 minutes: OR, 0.69 and 0.67). In the 2016 survey, spending more than 60 minutes daily on electronic devices was associated significantly with both myopia and high myopia (OR, 2.43 and 2.31).Conclusions: The prevalence of myopia among schoolchildren increased rapidly from 1983 through 2017 in Taiwan. The major risk factors are older age and time spent on near-work activities. Use of electronic devices increased the amount of time spent on near-work and may increase the risk of developing myopia.
Suture exposure may occur several years after blepharoplasty and could cause RCE. Thorough exploration of the fornix by double eyelid eversion can identify the hidden sutures in such patients.
The prevalence of certain macular diseases differs between male and female. However, the actual difference in macular structure between male and female was barely understood. Previous studies reported the mean retinal thickness of macula was thinner for female, but here it was observed that the difference is not statistically large enough for sex distinction. Similarly, the age-related non-pathological change of macular structure was also hardly known. It has been found that the thickness of choroid decreases with age. In this study, deep learning was applied to distinguish sex and age from macular optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of 3134 persons and achieved a sex prediction accuracy of 85.6 ± 2.1% and an age prediction error of 5.78 ± 0.29 years. A thorough analysis of the prediction accuracy and the Grad-CAM showed that 1) the foveal contour leads to a better sex distinction than the macular thickness, 2) B-scan macular OCT images contain more sex-related information than en face fundus images, and 3) the age-related characteristics of the macula are on the whole layers of the retina, not just the choroid. These novel findings reported in this study are useful to ophthalmologists for further investigation in the pathogenesis of sex and age-related macular structural diseases.
To provide real-world experiences of treating polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) patients with photodynamic therapy (PDT) plus intravitreal injection of ranibizumab or intravitreal injection of aflibercept alone. Retrospective chart review of patients with PCV in a single tertiary referral center in Taiwan. Chart review of PCV patients treated with PDT and injection of ranibizumab or injection of aflibercept. A total of 101 eyes of 101 patients (38 females and 63 males) were reviewed. Of those, 48 and 53 eyes received primary/adjunctive PDT along with injections of ranibizumab or intravitreal injections of aflibercept only, respectively. Initial visual acuity (VA) and central subfield choroidal thickness were similar between the two groups (p > 0.05). In addition, changes in VA at 3, 6, and 12 months post treatment were similar. The central retinal thickness decreased with either treatment (p < 0.01); however, this change did not translate into VA performance (p > 0.05). In the subgroup analysis of pachychoroid and non-pachychoroid patients, better initial VA and post-treatment VA at 3 months and 6 months was noted in the latter group of patients treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor monotherapy (p < 0.05). Aflibercept monotherapy is comparable with PDT plus ranibizumab in PCV patients with PCV (pachychoroid and non-pachychoroid patients). In addition, better prognosis regarding VA was observed in non-pachychoroid patients treated with aflibercept monotherapy.
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