The 10-year progression rate of myopic maculopathy in this elderly Chinese population was 35.5%, increasing from 15 of 79 eyes (19%) in category 1 of myopic maculopathy at baseline to 17 of 24 eyes (71%) in category 2 and 6 of 6 eyes (100%) in category 3. Risk factors for myopic maculopathy progression were longer axial length, pre-existing staphylomata, smaller parapapillary γ-zone, older age, and female gender.

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Purpose. Our main purpose was to compare safety and efficacy in the treatment of progressive keratoconus with “epithelium-on” and “epithelium-off” corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL). Our secondary purpose was to evaluate efficacy of CXL when hypotonic 0.5% riboflavin is used as photosensitizer. Methods. One eye of 20 patients with bilateral progressive keratoconus was randomly treated for “epithelium-on” CXL (group 1) while the fellow eye underwent “epithelium-off” CXL (group 2). Hypotonic 0.5% riboflavin was used in both groups. Visual acuity, refraction, corneal topography, and wavefront aberrometry were evaluated at baseline and after 1, 6, and 12 months. Specular microscopy was performed on 10 patients preoperatively and after 12 months. Postoperative pain was evaluated using a patient questionnaire. Results. Uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuity improved significantly in both groups. Refraction, topography, and aberrometry showed nonsignificant changes from the preoperative status throughout the 12-month follow-up in both groups. Moreover, the outcomes between the groups were comparable at all follow-up points. Endothelial cell-count was stable. Postoperative pain length was shorter in group 1 (P < 0.001). Conclusion. “Epithelium-on” and “epithelium-off” CXL using hypotonic 0.5% riboflavin were equally safe and effective in stabilization of keratoconus. Topography and aberrometry outcomes in both groups failed to show any significant improvements. This study is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01181219.

Purpose This study aimed to quantitative assess the fundus tessellated density (FTD) and associated factors on the basis of fundus photographs using artificial intelligence. Methods A detailed examination of 3468 individuals was performed. The proposed method for FTD measurements consists of image preprocessing, sample labeling, deep learning segmentation model, and FTD calculation. Fundus tessellation was extracted as region of interest and then the FTD could be obtained by calculating the average exposed choroid area of per unit area of fundus. Besides, univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis have been conducted for the statistical analysis. Results The mean FTD was 0.14 ± 0.08 (median, 0.13; range, 0–0.39). In multivariate analysis, FTD was significantly ( P < 0.001) associated with thinner subfoveal choroidal thickness, longer axial length, larger parapapillary atrophy, older age, male sex and lower body mass index. Correlation analysis suggested that the FTD increased by 33.1% ( r = 0.33, P < .001) for each decade of life. Besides, correlation analysis indicated the negative correlation between FTD and spherical equivalent (SE) in the myopia participants ( r = −0.25, P < 0.001), and no correlations between FTD and SE in the hypermetropia and emmetropic participants. Conclusions It is feasible and efficient to extract FTD information from fundus images by artificial intelligence–based imaging processing. FTD can be widely used in population screening as a new quantitative biomarker for the thickness of the subfoveal choroid. The association between FTD with pathological myopia and lower visual acuity warrants further investigation. Translational Relevance Artificial intelligence can extract valuable clinical biomarkers from fundus images and assist in population screening.

Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate the change of myopic prevalence in students with different demographic characteristics before and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Suqian, China. Methods A retrospective, cross-sectional study was conducted. Student data from 52 schools in 2019 and 2020 were collected from the electronic medical records database through cluster sampling. Ophthalmic examinations were conducted on students from September to December in 2019 and 2020. Measurements of uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and noncycloplegic autorefraction were included to obtain the spherical equivalent refraction (SER) and prevalence of myopia. The difference in the rate of myopia and SER of students ages 6 to 18 with various demographic characteristics was compared between the two years. Results Records from 118,479 students in 2019 and the 121,881 students in 2020 were obtained. In 2019 and 2020, the prevalence of overall myopia increased from 43.1% to 48.9% (5.8 percentage point), and a substantial shift in myopic rate occurred in grades 4 to 6 (6.9 percentage point). The change in the prevalence of myopia in girls (5.9 percentage point) was approximately equal to that in boys (5.8 percentage point) and it was more common in rural students (5.9 percentage point) than in urban students (5.1 percentage point). The prevalence of low myopia increased more in children, and the prevalence of moderate myopia increased more in adolescents. The mean spherical equivalent refraction (SER) (-1.34±2.03 D) was lower in 2020 than in 2019 (-1.16±1.92 D), while SER decreased mainly at ages 7 to 15. The SER presented myopic status at the age of 9 (-0.55±1.26 D in 2019, -0.71±1.42 D in 2020), and attained moderate myopia at the age of 15 (-3.06±2.41 D in 2019, -3.22±2.40 D in 2020). Conclusions After the COVID-19 pandemic, myopia increased in this population with variable rates of increase in different demographic groups. The change of myopia in children was comparatively greater than that in adolescents. Therefore, we should take measures to prevent and control the development of myopia after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for younger students.

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BackgroundTo evaluate the safety and efficacy of an approach that combines corneal customized transepithelial therapeutic ablation to treat irregular corneal optics and accelerated corneal collagen cross-linking (CXL) to strengthen the corneal tissue and stop the progression of keratoconus. The transepithelial therapeutic ablation applied a novel concept named central corneal regularization (CCR) which could correct the corneal morphological irregularities and the eye’s spherocylindrical refractive error with minimal stromal tissue removal.MethodsRetrospective study. Eyes that underwent CCR combined with CXL were evaluated preoperatively and up to 12 months postoperatively for visual acuity, subjective refraction, corneal haze, pachymetry and maximum keratometry (Kmax).ResultsTwenty four eyes of 24 patients with a mean age of 28.92 ± 9.88 years were treated. The mean spherical equivalent (SE) refractive error changed from − 0.74 ± 1.17 D preoperatively to − 1.05 ± 1.52 D at 12 months postoperatively. The mean uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) improved. No eye lost lines of CDVA, 21 had a mean improvement of 3.21 lines. The mean cylinder error and Kmax value dropped from − 3.06 ± 1.83 D and 51.38 ± 3.29 D to − 1.04 ± 0.80 D and 48.70 ± 2.58 D, respectively. The mean haze score at 3, 6 and 12 months was 0.56, 0.19 and 0.06, respectively.ConclusionsCCR combined with CXL offers promising results as a safe and effective treatment in keratoconic patients.

Corneal regularization and removal of the underlying flap or interface pathology by cTEN ablation appears to be an effective treatment for LASIK flap or interface complications associated with visually disturbing irregular astigmatism and light scattering in cases with sufficient residual stromal thickness.