Introduction Timing of retinal detachment (RD) following cataract surgery is of importance for both diagnostic and prognostic factors. However, results on RD onset-time following cataract surgery have been conflicting. Method A systematic pooled analysis of the literature regarding timing of retinal detachment following cataract surgery. Outcomes were verified against an independent dataset. Results Twenty-one studies, reporting on rates of RD in 3,352,094 eyes of 2,458,561 patients, met our inclusion criteria and were included in the analysis. The mean pooled time to RD following surgery was 23.12 months (95% CI: 17.79–28.45 months) with high heterogeneity between studies (I 2=100%, P < 0.00001). Meta-analytic pooling for the risk of retinal detachment revealed a risk of 1.167% (95% CI: 0.900 to 1.468, I 2=99.50%, P < 0.0001). A retrospective chart review identified 54 pseudophakic RD cases (mean age 65.5, 59.3% males). The 95% confidence interval for the mean time to RD was 3.1–6.75 years. Conclusions The interval between cataract surgery and RD in a pooled analysis revealed a mean time of approximately 1.5–2.3 years. However, there was high variability between studies. Validation based on our local results showed similar yet slightly longer time frames. Timing of pseudophakic retinal detachment might direct appropriate follow-up, assisting in earlier detection.

Introduction: We have recently shown that defects in interdigitation and ellipsoid zones (IZ and EZ) can predict response to anti-VEGF therapy in a small group of treatment-naïve diabetic macular edema (DME) patients. The aim of the current study is to further evaluate this association in a larger study group of patients over a longer follow-up time. Methods: Thirty eyes of 30 treatment-naïve DME patients were analyzed in this retrospective study. The integrity of foveal IZ and EZ was evaluated using OCT at the diagnosis of DME and following anti-VEGF injections. The defect size was correlated with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT). Results: The mean patients' age at baseline was 63.0±10.0 years. Patients underwent 3.9±2.9 anti-VEGF injections for a mean of 9.1±4.8 months. Following treatment, the mean Snellen visual acuity improved from 20/52 to 20/44 (p=0.05), CMT decreased from 432.5±141.4 m to 375.2±121.4 µm (p=0.05) and IZ/EZ defect size decreased from 259.83±375.94 µm to 65.34±143.97 µm (p=0.001). In patients with no IZ/EZ defects at baseline the mean Snellen visual acuity was better when compared to those with IZ/EZ defects (20/36 vs. 20/70, p=0.031). The number of eyes with IZ/EZ defects decreased from 17 (57%) at baseline to 6 (20%) at end of follow-up (p<0.01). BCVA gain correlated with IZ/EZ defect size reduction (r=0.41, p=0.02) but not with improvement in CMT (r=0.28, p=0.121). Conclusions: IZ/EZ defect size correlated not only with baseline BCVA, but also predicted the change in BCVA after anti-VEGF treatment. Possible future automatic measurement of IZ/EZ defect size might prove helpful for evaluation of treatment response.

Purpose: Intravitreal injections of intraocular therapeutic agents are a common and effective treatment for various retinal pathologies. Patient discomfort related to injection is a potential barrier to treatment. Our aim in this study was to evaluate whether cooling the eye using topical ice compresses before intravitreal injection will reduce pain or bleeding. Methods: This randomized controlled open-label study included 42 patients. All patients received a standard topical anesthesia protocol and then were randomly assigned to either receive a placement of ice packs (intervention group) or a room-temperature pack (control group) on the eyelid, 2 minutes before the intravitreal injection. Patients' discomfort, itching, burning and pain (using visual analog scale), and bleeding size (using photographs) were measured 1 and 10 minutes after the injection. Tolerability was calculated by averaging patients' discomfort, itching, burning, and pain scores. Results: At 1 minute, pain (1.95 vs. 4.27, P = 0.01) and overall tolerability (1.66 vs. 2.98, P = 0.03) were significantly lower in patients receiving ice packs. At 10 minutes, pain (1.6 vs. 3.73, P = 0.02), burning (0.9 vs. 3.09, P = 0.007), discomfort (2.1 vs. 4.27, P = 0.008), and overall tolerability (1.23 vs. 2.87, P = 0.004) were all significantly lower in the ice group compared with the controls. Bleeding size (area or circumference) was not statistical different between groups. Conclusion: Topical ice patch administered before intravitreal injection significantly decreased pain and overall tolerability. This simple and inexpensive method may be used to ameliorated pain and improve tolerability.

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Précis: We provide a free-to-use, open-source algorithm to quantify macular hypotony based on optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. This numerical approach calculates a metric that measures the deviations of Bruch’s membrane from a smooth ideal retinal layer. Purpose: Hypotony maculopathy is a recurrent complication of glaucoma surgical interventions in which extremely low intraocular pressure triggers changes in the shape of retinal layers. Abnormal folds can often be observed in the retina using standard fundoscopy, but OCT is particularly important to appreciate the severity of symptoms at different depths. Despite the need for metrics that could be used for the informed clinical decision to evaluate the progression and resolution of macular hypotony, algorithms that quantify the retinal folds are not available in the literature or included in clinical imaging equipment. The purpose of this work is to introduce a simple algorithm that can be used to assess hypotony maculopathy from OCT B-Scans and volumes and a free, open-source implementation. Methods: The pipeline we present is based on a straightforward segmentation of Bruch’s membrane complex. The principal idea of quantification is to compute a smoothed version of this complex and analyze the deviations from an ideal interface. Such deviations are then measured and added to create a metric that characterizes each OCT B-Scan. A full OCT volume reconstruction is thus characterized by the average metric obtained from all planes. Results: We tested the metric we proposed against the assessment of 3 experts and obtained a very good correspondence, with Pearson correlation coefficients higher than 0.8. Furthermore, agreement with automatic analysis seemed better than between experts. We describe the pipeline in detail and illustrate the results with a group of patients, comparing baseline images, severe hypotony maculopathy, and a variety of outcomes. Conclusion: The tool we introduce and openly provide fills a clinical gap to quantitatively grade hypotony maculopathy. It offers a metric of relatively simple interpretation that can be used to help clinicians in cases where the regression of symptoms is not obvious to the naked eye. Our pilot study demonstrates reliable results, and an open-source implementation facilitates easy improvements to our algorithm.

There are 3 main approaches to glaucoma surgery: subconjunctival, Schlemm canal-based, and suprachoroidal/ciliary body. Subconjunctival glaucoma surgery is ideal for patients with advanced disease, low target pressures, and prior failed surgery.Although transscleral cyclophotocoagulation has classically been reserved for patients with refractory glaucoma, micropulse technology might become an indispensable tool used earlier during the disease process, sparing the higher frequency of serious complications of the older technology.Although Schlemm canal-based procedures are usually considered in mild to moderate glaucoma cases with controlled or slightly above-target intraocular pressure and are often combined with cataract surgery, suprachoroidal shunts are still struggling to find their role and currently undergoing further trials to validate their efficacy and safety.Preliminary evidence implies a possible role for some of the newer microinvasive glaucoma surgery in treating patients with prior failed incisional surgery.