BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To use quantitative fundus autofluorescence (qAF) to analyze different stages of non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). PATIENTS AND METHODS: In this cohort study, 38 pseudophakic patients and 36 age-matched controls participated. We performed near-infrared, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and qAF imaging on 31 pseudophakic eyes and controls of participants older than 60 years with non-neovascular AMD phenotypes using the Spectralis HRA + OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany). RESULTS: The patients included in this study had a mean age of 83.9 years, and 35.7% patients were men. Mean qAF was higher in control participants than in all patients with AMD ( P < .001). According to non-neovascular AMD phenotype, mean qAF levels were significantly lower in eyes with subretinal drusenoid deposits than in control eyes ( P < .05). The lowest mean qAF was in patients with geographic atrophy. CONCLUSION: Quantitative fundus autofluorescence of non-neovascular AMD decreases from normal to early to late AMD, suggesting that loss of lipofuscin fluorophores, not increase, signifies AMD progression. [ Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina . 2018;49:S34–S42.]

IMPORTANCEStevens-Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN) is known to cause multiple end-organ complications in its acute phase, but less is known about the long-term association with patients' mental health and quality of life.OBJECTIVE To examine the chronic physical and psychological sequelae affecting patients with SJS/TEN.

Purpose: To examine the three-dimensional foveal cone photoreceptor structure in a patient who had suffered laser pointer-induced retinal injury.Methods: Patient underwent standard fundus photography and clinical spectral domain optical coherence tomography imaging. High-resolution imaging was performed using an adaptive optics-optical coherence tomography-scanning laser ophthalmoscope.Results: Adaptive optics imaging revealed loss of inner and outer segments of cone photoreceptors whereas the anterior retinal layers appeared healthy. Analysis of cone topology showed an increase in Voronoi domain area and a less regular hexagonal packing structure closer to the lesion site.Conclusion: Exposure to laser pointer radiation, however brief, can result in damage to the retina. Here, repeated imaging nine months later showed a decrease in the size of the lesions (ranging from 3.7 to 23.9%) compared with the first time point. However, the longerterm prognosis is likely permanent scarring.

To characterize fluorophore signals from drusen and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and their changes in age related macular degeneration (AMD), the authors describe advances in ex vivo hyperspectral autofluorescence (AF) imaging of human eye tissue. Ten RPE flatmounts from eyes with AMD and 10 from eyes without AMD underwent 40× hyperspectral AF microscopic imaging. The number of excitation wavelengths tested was initially two (436 nm and 480 nm), then increased to three (436 nm, 480 nm, and 505 nm). Emission spectra were collected at 10 nm intervals from 420 nm to 720 nm. Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) algorithms decomposed the hyperspectral images into individual emission spectra and their spatial abundances. These include three distinguishable spectra for RPE fluorophores (S1, S2, and S3) in both AMD and non-AMD eyes, a spectrum for drusen (SDr) only in AMD eyes, and a Bruch’s membrane spectrum that was detectable in normal eyes. Simultaneous analysis of datacubes excited atthree excitation wavelengths revealed more detailed spatial localization of the RPE spectra and SDr within drusen than exciting only at two wavelengths. Within AMD and non-AMD groups, two different NMF initialization methods were tested on each group and converged to qualitatively similar spectra. In AMD, the peaks of the SDr at ~510 nm (436 nm excitation) were particularly consistent. Between AMD and non-AMD groups, corresponding spectra in common, S1, S2, and S3, also had similar peak locations and shapes, but with some differences and further characterization warranted.

Introduction: The lower proportion of women at the rank of full professor compared to men has been documented in nearly all specialties. Women are under-represented in academic stroke neurology, but there is limited data. Methods: We reviewed all 160 U.S. medical schools and the associated medical centers for vascular neurologists. An internet search of stroke team websites and neurology department websites was performed from August 1, 2020 to August 25, 2020. We included 117 academic medical centers that had at least 1 vascular neurologist on faculty. We included vascular neurology ABPN certified or board eligible (fellowship-trained) neurologists. Data was collected on sex, academic rank, and American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN) certification status. ABPN board certification status was verified on the ABPN verify CERT website. Social medical women’s neurology groups were also queried for names of women full professor to cross check. Results: Among 540 academic ABPN vascular neurologists, 182 (33.8%) were women and 358 (66.3%) were men. Among academic ranks, women made up 108/269 (40.1%) of Assistant professors, 49/137 (35.8%) of Associate professors, and 25/134 (18.8%) of full professors. Twenty two academic centers had vascular neurology female professors on faculty, compared to 70 academic centers with male full professors on faculty. Twenty nine academic centers had multiple male professors on faculty compared to only 3 centers with multiple female full professors. Among women, 108 (59.3%) were assistant professor, 49 (26.7%) were associate professor, 25 (13.7%) were full professor. Among men, 161 (45.0%) were assistant professor, 88 (24.6%) were associate professor, and 109 (30.5%) were professor. There was a significant difference between academic rank based upon sex (p <0.0001). Conclusion: Among academic medical centers in the United States, significant sex differences were observed in academic faculty rank for ABPN vascular neurologists, with women less likely than men to be full professors. Further study is warranted to address the gender gap in the field of stroke.