Purpose
Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is generally considered a disease of the macula. However, recent studies show peripheral retinal lesions are prevalent in patients with AMD, indicative of a disease process that is more widespread. Full‐field electroretinography (ffERG) measures an electrical response, not only from the macula, but from the entire retina. We wanted to study the ffERG response in eyes with AMD.
Methods
We performed full‐field electroretinography (RETI‐port/scan 21, Roland, Berlin) in 13 patients with early AMD, 25 patients with late AMD and 24 individuals without vitreoretinal disease as a control group. Dawson–Trick–Litzkow fibre electrodes were used. Statistical analysis was performed and a p‐value <0.05 was considered significant.
Results
After adjusting for multiple comparisons, both the light‐adapted 3.0 a‐wave implicit time (p < 0.001) and 30‐Hertz flicker peak time (p = 0.012) showed significant difference between patients with late AMD and individuals without vitreoretinal disease. There was a significant difference in the light‐adapted 3.0 a‐wave implicit time (p = 0.011) between patients with early AMD and the control group, but the difference in 30 Hz flicker peak time was not significant (p = 0.256).
Conclusion
The difference in cone function measured by light‐adapted 3.0 a‐wave implicit time and 30‐Hertz flicker peak time in early and late AMD when compared to healthy controls suggests a more diminished overall response when AMD has reached later stages.
Purpose
We report a case of acute bilateral Descemet membrane endothelial keratoplasty (DMEK) rejection two weeks following BNT162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer-BioNTech), reflecting on possible changes to the management of patients with DMEK scheduled for COVID-19 vaccination.
Patients and Methods
A 94-year-old woman with Fuchs’ endothelial dystrophy who underwent DMEK 24 months earlier (right eye) and 20 months earlier (left eye) demonstrated bilateral graft rejection two weeks after the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine. Standard treatment regimen was followed, and clinical status documented with slit-lamp examination and swept-source optical coherence tomography throughout.
Results
Preoperative best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and corneal thickness (CT) were 0.3 and 679µm right eye and 0.2 and 668µm left eye. Postoperative BCVA and CT were 0.7 and 559µm right eye and 0.4 and 590µm left eye. Standard treatment regimen consisted of dexamethasone/tobramycin and ketorolac, four times daily. At one month, both preparations were discontinued, replaced by dexamethasone 0.1% four times daily. At three months, this was tapered to once daily. Post-rejection, BCVA and CT were 0.2 and 710µm right eye and 0.3 and 710µm left eye. Treatment was with dexamethasone/tobramycin six times daily. Poor response resulted in re-DMEK transplantation, starting in the left eye. At one-month follow-up, BCVA and CT were 0.5 and 538µm right eye and 0.63 and 504µm left eye.
Conclusion
We report the first acute bilateral DMEK graft rejection after a single dose of COVID-19 vaccine. We recommend clinicians exercise vigilance and consider dexamethasone 0.1% during the vaccination period.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.