Refractive outcomes of immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery in eyes with long and short axial lengths.

PURPOSE: To report the refractive outcomes of long (≥25.00 mm) and short (≤22.00 mm) axial length (AL) eyes undergoing immediately sequential bilateral cataract surgery (ISBCS). METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, patients who underwent ISBCS were identified and eyes of patients with bilateral long and short ALs were included. Pre- and postoperative biometry, autorefraction, and ocular comorbidities or complications were recorded. The primary outcome was the mean refractive prediction error. RESULTS: Thirty-seven patients (74 eyes) with long ALs and 18 patients (36 eyes) with short ALs were included. The means ± standard deviations of the ALs were 26.40 ± 1.38 mm and 21.44 ± 0.46 mm in the long and short AL groups, respectively. In long AL eyes, the mean absolute error from the biometry-predicted refraction was - 0.16 ± 0.46 D, corresponding to 74% of eyes achieving a refraction within ±0.50 D of the predicted value. In short AL eyes, the mean absolute error was - 0.63 ± 0.73 D, corresponding to 44% of eyes achieving a refraction within ±0.50 D of the predicted value. Eight (44.4%) patients with short AL eyes had a myopic deviation greater than ±0.50 D from the predicted result in both eyes. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to patients with long AL eyes, ISBCS in patients with short ALs had a wider variance in refractive outcome and a lower rate of achieving a postoperative refraction within ±0.50 D of the predicted target.

Visual outcomes and rotational stability of a new non-diffractive extended-vision toric intraocular lens.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate visual outcomes and intraocular lens (IOL) rotational stability of patients undergoing immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery with a non-diffractive extended-depth-of-focus toric IOL. DESIGN: Non-comparative single-centre cohort study. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty patients (40 eyes) with significant cataracts and corneal astigmatism who underwent immediate sequential bilateral cataract surgery with the AcrySof IQ Vivity Extended Vision Lens (Alcon Laboratories Inc, Fort Worth, Tex.). METHODS: Binocular uncorrected visual acuities (UCVA) and monocular best-corrected visual acuities (BCVA) were assessed at distance (6 m), intermediate (66 cm), and near (40 cm) postoperatively at 1 week and 3 months. The rotational stability of each IOL was assessed at 1 day, 1 week, and 3 months postoperatively. A validated questionnaire (Questionnaire for Visual Disturbances [QUVID]) was used for patient-reported subjective visual disturbances preoperatively at a 3-month follow-up. RESULTS: Binocular distance, intermediate, and near UCVAs (mean ± SD) were 0.00 ± 0.16, 0.09 ± 0.08, and 0.14 ± 0.11 logMAR at 1 week and 0.01 ± 0.06, 0.08 ± 0.08, and 0.14 ± 0.07 logMAR at 3 months postoperatively, respectively. Distance monocular BCVA improved from 0.22 ± 0.23 logMAR preoperatively to 0.02 ± 0.06 logMAR at 3 months. Monocular BCVAs at 3 months were 0.08 ± 0.08 logMAR at intermediate distance and 0.05 ± 0.08 logMAR at near distance. IOL rotation from the intended placement axis was 2.5 ± 1.7 degrees at 1 week and 1.7 ± 1.7 degrees at 3 months postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: The AcrySof IQ Vivity Extended Vision IOL achieved good UCVAs and BCVAs for distance, intermediate, and near vision. This IOL also provided excellent rotational stability for astigmatism correction.

Assessment of Training Outcomes of Nurse Readers for Diabetic Retinopathy Telescreening: Validation Study.

BACKGROUND: With the high prevalence of diabetic retinopathy and its significant visual consequences if untreated, timely identification and management of diabetic retinopathy is essential. Teleophthalmology programs have assisted in screening a large number of individuals at risk for vision loss from diabetic retinopathy. Training nonophthalmological readers to assess remote fundus images for diabetic retinopathy may further improve the efficiency of such programs. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the performance, safety implications, and progress of 2 ophthalmology nurses trained to read and assess diabetic retinopathy fundus images within a hospital diabetic retinopathy telescreening program. METHODS: In this retrospective interobserver study, 2 ophthalmology nurses followed a specific training program within a hospital diabetic retinopathy telescreening program and were trained to assess diabetic retinopathy images at 2 levels of intervention: detection of diabetic retinopathy (level 1) and identification of referable disease (level 2). The reliability of the assessment by level 1-trained readers in 266 patients and of the identification of patients at risk of vision loss from diabetic retinopathy by level 2-trained readers in 559 more patients were measured. The learning curve, sensitivity, and specificity of the readings were evaluated using a group consensus gold standard. RESULTS: An almost perfect agreement was measured in identifying the presence of diabetic retinopathy in both level 1 readers (κ=0.86 and 0.80) and in identifying referable diabetic retinopathy by level 2 readers (κ=0.80 and 0.83). At least substantial agreement was measured in the level 2 readers for macular edema (κ=0.79 and 0.88) for all eyes. Good screening threshold sensitivities and specificities were obtained for all level readers, with sensitivities of 90.6% and 96.9% and specificities of 95.1% and 85.1% for level 1 readers (readers A and B) and with sensitivities of 86.8% and 91.2% and specificities of 91.7% and 97.0% for level 2 readers (readers A and B). This performance was achieved immediately after training and remained stable throughout the study. CONCLUSIONS: Notwithstanding the small number of trained readers, this study validates the screening performance of level 1 and level 2 diabetic retinopathy readers within this training program, emphasizing practical experience, and allows the establishment of an ongoing assessment clinic. This highlights the importance of supervised, hands-on experience and may help set parameters to further calibrate the training of diabetic retinopathy readers for safe screening programs.

Band keratopathy developing after denosumab injections.

We report the case of a 75-year-old woman who developed band keratopathy following denosumab therapy. The patient was referred for evaluation of progressive vision loss and new-onset band keratopathy in both eyes following denosumab therapy. She had no prior ocular history. On examination, she had calcific deposits in a horizontal band in the interpalpebral superficial cornea. Laboratory workup was negative. Denosumab was discontinued, and she was treated with keratectomy with ethylene-diamine-tetra-acetic acid. Denosumab influences calcium metabolism and consequently reduces bone turnover and increases bone density. It is commonly used for treatment of osteoporosis at high-risk for fracture. Very few cases of ocular adverse drug reactions have been reported. However, because of temporal association and biological plausibility, we believe our patient developed progressive band keratopathy after administration of denosumab.