Obstructive sleep apnea is seen nearly in 2/3 of patients with the diagnosis of CSR. There are possible common pathophysiological mechanisms like oxidative stress, vasoconstriction, or blood coagulation abnormalities. Screening for OSA should be considered in subjects with the diagnosis of CSR.

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Background To assess the impacts of prolonged protective face masks (PFM) wear on ocular surface symptoms among healthcare professionals (HCPs), and how these symptoms affected PFM wear. Methods Thirty-question survey forms were distributed via social media platform to 396 HCPs (110 doctors, 164 nurses, and 122 health technicians) between September 8 and 30, 2021. Participants who could not be reached via social media were given a face-to-face questionnaire. Aside from sociodemographic data, the questionnaire inquired about PFM wear, PFM types, ocular surface symptoms, and how PFM wear has changed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results A total of 74.5% of HCPs reported wearing PFMs, mostly surgical ones (76.8%), for half a day at work but not at home, with redness (29.3%) being the most frequently encountered ocular surface symptom, followed by burning (15.7%), pain (14.1%), tingling (10.9%), and rash (6.6%). The presence of associated restrictions in conjunction with PFM-related ocular symptoms was more likely in dry and hot environments. There was no significant relationship between PFM type, PFM-wearing duration, and HCPs' daily activities (p > 0.05). Despite the lack of a significant relationship between PFM types and ocular surface symptoms (p > 0.05), there was a significant relationship between PFM-wearing duration and ocular pain (p < 0.05). Conclusions PFM-related ocular surface symptoms can be alleviated by properly wearing PFMs, reducing wear time, and using long-acting topical lubricants. This could improve PFM wear compliance, prevent disease transmission, and ultimately help with COVID-19 protection.

This cross-sectional study aimed to compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) findings in patients with primary Raynaud’s phenomenon (PRP; n = 22), very early disease of systemic sclerosis (VEDOSS; n = 19), and systemic sclerosis (SSc; 25 patients with limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and 13 patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc)). Whole, parafoveal, and perifoveal superficial capillary plexus (SCP) vessel densities (VDs), deep capillary plexus VDs, and whole, inside, and peripapillary VDs were significantly higher in the PRP group (p < 0.001). In the lcSSc group, the FAZ perimeter was significantly higher than that in the VEDOSS group (p = 0.017). Retinal nerve fiber layer VDs were significantly lower in the lcSSc group than in the PRP and VEDOSS groups (p < 0.001). The whole and peripapillary optic disc VDs of the VEDOSS group were significantly higher than in the lcSSc group (p < 0.001). Whole SCP VDs (94.74% sensitivity, 100.00% specificity) and parafoveal SCP VDs (89.47% sensitivity, 100.00% specificity) showed the best performance in distinguishing patients with SSc from those with PRP. OCT-A seems to have potential diagnostic value in differentiating patients with PRP from patients with SSc and VEDOSS, and there is potential value in assessing prognostic roles, since findings from OCT-A images could be early indicators of retinal vascular injury long before overt SSc symptoms develop.

To investigate high-order corneal aberration alterations at different keratoconus (KC) stages using a Pentacam Scheimpflug camera (OCULUS, Wetzlar, Germany), and to compare data with healthy eyes Material and Method: This retrospective comparative study investigated clinical data of 50 patients (100 eyes) with KC and 59 healthy individuals (118 eyes) who underwent corneal topography using the Pentacam Scheimpflug camera in our clinic. Demographic characteristics, total aberrations, HOAs, coma and spherical aberrations of all participants were extracted and recorded.Results: Mean age in the KC group was 29.7±10.3 years and 32.1±12.4 years in the control group. These two groups were compatible in terms of age and sex (p=0.11; p=0.76, respectively,). Sixty-three eyes had mild, 23 had moderate, and 14 had sever KC. Differences in low-order astigmatism, trefoil, coma, tetra-foil, high-order astigmatism, high-order spherical aberration, and root mean square values between eyes with KC and healthy eyes were statistically significant (p<0.05). Additionally, there were statistically significant differences in the corneal aberrations between the keratometric classification groups. Conclusions:There is direct proportionality between the KC stage and corneal HOA changes, which may be helpful for staging and improving the safety of refractive surgery.