EXAMINATION OF GALACTOMANNAN LEVELS IN INTRAOCULAR FLUID TO ASSIST THE DIAGNOSIS OF ASPERGILLUS ENDOPHTHALMITIS.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the utility of Galactomannan (GM) testing of intraocular fluid in the diagnosis of Aspergillus endophthalmitis (AE). METHODS: This retrospective study enrolled three groups of patients, including those with 17 eyes with AE; 20 eyes with intraocular infection of bacteria, viruses, or other fungi; and 19 eyes with cataract. Intraocular fluid from all these patients was collected for GM testing. In addition, the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curves and diagnostic significance were analyzed. RESULTS: The mean optical density index (ODI) of GM was 5.77 ± 1.73 in the AE group, which was significantly higher than that in the non-Aspergillus intraocular infection (NAII) (0.19 ± 0.11, p < 0.001) and the negative control groups (0.29 ± 0.27, p < 0.001). The area under the ROC curve (AUC) was 1.00 (95% confidence interval, 1.00-1.00; p < 0.001) in the AE and the other two groups. At a cut-off ODI of 1.88, the sensitivity and specificity were 100.0% and 100.0%, respectively, and the Youden index reached its highest value of 1.00. CONCLUSION: GM testing of intraocular fluid indicated good sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of AE, thereby promising a rapid diagnostic modality for AE.

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in the diagnosis of Bartonella neuroretinitis: a case report and literature review.

BACKGROUND: Cat-scratch disease (CSD) is caused by Bartonella henselae infection. In atypical cases of CSD, pathogen determination is challenging. We report a case of Bartonella neuroretinitis with neither a clear history of scratches nor typical general symptoms. The diagnosis was made using metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS), a high-throughput sequencing technology. CASE PRESENTATION: A female patient presented to the ophthalmologist with complaint of blurred vision in her right eye. Although with history of raising a cat, she reported no clear history of scratches or typical general symptoms, except a fever of unknown origin which resolved spontaneously. The best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the right eye was count fingers. Fundus examination showed optic disc oedema, macular exudates and inferior exudative retinal detachment. Laboratory examination results showed increased value of serum C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. Ocular involvement of toxoplasmosis, syphilis and tuberculosis were excluded. To identify the possible causative pathogen of the disease, mNGS of aqueous humour sample was performed and 521 reads of B. henselae were identified. Serological test results further showed a positive immunoglobulin G (IgG) titre of 1:64. Taking the contact history, clinical manifestations, mNGS and serological results into consideration, the diagnosis of Bartonella neuroretinitis (ocular CSD) was made. After appropriate treatment, the BCVA of the right eye improved to 20/25 in the last follow-up. Fundus examination showed a normal optic disc and macula, and the exudates had reduced. CONCLUSION: mNGS, a fast and unbiased method, can be used to detect B. henselae (if present) in intraocular fluid samples.; however, the results should be interpreted together with the clinical symptoms and other auxiliary test results.

The clinical value of ß-D-glucan testing and next-generation metagenomic sequencing for the diagnosis of fungal endophthalmitis.

PURPOSE: To explore the clinical value of ß-D-glucan (BDG) testing and next-generation metagenomic sequencing (mNGS) for detecting the pathogens of fungal endophthalmitis (FE). METHODS: This study included 32 cases (32 eyes) with FE and 20 cases (20 eyes) with intraocular inflammation caused by other etiologies. All patients underwent extraction of aqueous humor or vitreous fluid samples for BDG testing and mNGS. The diagnostic performance and total clinical concordance rate (TCCR) of BDG testing and mNGS for FE were evaluated and calculated based on the results of the clinical diagnosis. RESULTS: Among the clinically diagnosed FE, the positivity rates of BDG testing and mNGS (90.63%) were both significantly higher (P<0.001) than that of microbial cultures (53.13%). There was 100% consistency in pathogen identification using mNGS and culture identification for culture-positive cases. The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.927 for BDG testing and 0.853 for mNGS. When the 2 tests were combined, the sensitivity (93.75%), specificity (100.00%), and TCCR (96.15%) were all improved compared with the single tests. CONCLUSIONS: The positive rates of BDG test and mNGS were markedly higher than those of cultures in FE identification. The combination of these 2 tests showed improved performance when compared with individual tests.

Clinical manifestation and long-term follow-up of presumed ocular tuberculosis in China.

Background: This study aimed to report the clinical manifestations of presumed ocular tuberculosis (OTB) and the treatment response after anti-tuberculosis therapy (ATT) in a Chinese population. Methods: Clinical data, including general characteristics, ocular lesions, visual acuity at baseline, and final follow-up of patients with presumed OTB from 2006 to 2022 in two eye clinics in China, were retrospectively analyzed. Results: The study included 84 eyes of 52 patients. The following ocular manifestations were observed: anterior uveitis (4.8%), posterior uveitis (34.5%), panuveitis (11.9%), retinal vasculitis (40.5%) and optic neuropathy (8.3%). After ATT, the vision improved by varying degrees in 48 eyes (57.1%), remained stable in 34 eyes (40.5%) and decreased in 2 eyes (2.4%). Conclusions: OTB is likely to be misdiagnosed as other infectious uveitis and optic neuropathy. Clinical features must be interpreted in conjunction with topical and general laboratory findings and in collaboration with other subspecialties to make a final diagnosis.

Performance of Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing of Cell-Free DNA From Vitreous and Aqueous Humor for Diagnoses of Intraocular Infections.

BACKGROUND: Delayed diagnosis and improper therapy for intraocular infections usually result in poor prognosis. Due to limitations of conventional culture and polymerase chain reaction methods, most causative pathogens cannot be identified from vitreous humor (VH) or aqueous humor (AH) samples with limited volume. METHODS: Patients with suspected intraocular infections were enrolled from January 2019 to August 2021. Metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) was used to detected causative pathogens. RESULTS: This multicenter prospective study enrolled 488 patients, from whom VH (152) and AH (336) samples were respectively collected and analyzed using mNGS of cell-free DNA (cfDNA). Taking final comprehensive clinical diagnosis as the gold standard, there were 39 patients with indefinite final diagnoses, whereas 288 and 161 patients were diagnosed as definite infectious and noninfectious diseases, respectively. Based on clinical adjudication, the sensitivity (92.2%) and total coincidence rate (81.3%) of mNGS using VH samples were slightly higher than those of mNGS using AH samples (85.4% and 75.4%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Using mNGS of cfDNA, an era with clinical experience for more rapid, independent, and impartial diagnosis of bacterial and other intraocular infections can be expected.

False negative result of polymerase chain reaction in very early stages of acute retinal necrosis.

BACKGROUND: Viral nucleic acid testing of intraocular fluid using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a major laboratory examination in the diagnosis of acute retinal necrosis (ARN). Importantly, false negative PCR results may occur in several special situations. We reported a case of ARN with a negative PCR result in the aqueous humour in the very early stages of disease. CASE PRESENTATION: A female patient presented to the ophthalmologist with complaints of blurred vision and redness in her left eye. Her medical history included ARN in her right eye 10 years prior. Although the result of the aqueous viral analysis by PCR in her left eye was negative the first time (one day after the appearance of ocular symptoms), ARN in her left eye was presumed based on the clinical signs. With timely antiviral and anti-inflammatory treatments, the retinal lesions diminished. The viral load of herpes simplex virus (HSV) turned positive (7.25 × 103 copies/mL) one week later, increased to 2.49 × 105 copies/mL after three weeks, and finally turned negative about five weeks after the onset of disease. The initial HSV-IgG level in the aqueous humour was 0.01 U/mL and increased to 222.64 U/mL in the final sampling. CONCLUSIONS: The results of PCR analysis can be negative in the very early stages of ARN. Diagnosis of ARN should be made based on the clinical features, and antiviral treatments should not be delayed. Repeated PCR analysis of the aqueous humour is necessary to confirm the diagnosis and monitor the disease process.

Postoperative Outcome of Combined Phacovitrectomy in Eyes with Excessive Myopia (>-30 D).

Background: To report the outcomes of phacoemulsification combined with vitrectomy in eyes with extreme myopia (-30 diopters or more). Case Presentation. Three patients with cataract, vitreous opacities, and extreme myopia of more than -30 diopters underwent a combined surgical procedure of cataract extraction combined with vitrectomy. Postoperative refractive correction of the three cases ranged from -1.0 D to -2.5 D spherical equivalent. There was an obvious hyperopic shift of all cases. All patients noted a significant improvement in uncorrected and best-corrected visual acuity from 0.4 to 0.8 in case 1, from CF/70 cm to 1.0 in case 2, and from 0.12 to 0.5 in the right eye and 0.15 to 0.2 in the left eye in case 3. Vitreous floaters disappeared in all cases. No complications were noted during follow-up. Conclusions: To the best of the authors' knowledge, these represent the first reported clinical cases of combined cataract extraction+vitrectomy surgery in eyes with extreme (>-30 D) myopia. Our results support the notion that phacoemulsification combined with vitrectomy may be a good therapeutic option for cataracts and vitreous floaters in cases with extreme myopia.

Intraocular lens constant optimization in toric intraocular lens calculation using keratometry and total corneal power.

PURPOSE: To evaluate intraocular lens (IOL) constant optimization in toric IOL calculation with keratometry (K) and total corneal refractive power (TCRP). METHODS: Predicted spherical equivalent (SE) and residual astigmatism (RA) with K and TCRP were retrospectively calculated using the Haigis, Holladay 1, and SRK/T formulae and optimized IOL constants. The results of the Barrett calculator and the Abulafia-Koch formula with K were also calculated. The median absolute error in SE (MedAE-SE), mean absolute error in RA (MAE-RA), and centroid error (CE) were analyzed. RESULTS: Seventy-nine eyes of 71 patients implanted with toric IOLs were included. With K, there were no significant differences between the results before and after constant optimization using all the formulae. With TCRP, constant optimization significantly reduced MedAE-SE; however, significantly increased MAE-RA and CE using the Holladay 1 and SRK/T formulae. MedAE-SE, MAE-RA, and CE using the Haigis formula did not show significant differences. The difference in the predicted RA before and after constant optimization increased with IOL toricity. The MedAE-SE predicted by TCRP was significantly higher than that predicted by K despite constant optimization. The MAE-RA and CE predicted by TCRP were significantly lower than those predicted by K without posterior corneal astigmatism optimization; however, were not significantly different from those predicted by the Barrett and Abulafia-Koch formulae. CONCLUSIONS: Constant optimization is recommended when using the TCRP in toric IOL calculations, particularly for patients with large astigmatism. However, TCRP did not yield more accurate results than optimized K in toric IOL calculations despite constant optimization.

Application of metagenomic next-generation sequencing in suspected intraocular infections.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the efficacy of metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) and to explore its value in the diagnosis of intraocular infection. METHODS: A retrospective case-series study of patients with suspected intraocular infection was performed. Intraocular fluid samples were collected from all the patients and sent for mNGS. Detailed clinical data, the results of mNGS and other laboratory examinations, the sequencing data of mNGS, and the final diagnosis were recorded. RESULTS: Fifteen eyes of 15 patients were included in the study. Eight samples were identified as positive for different kinds of pathogens by mNGS, which were all confirmed by other laboratory examinations or effective diagnostic treatment. The mNGS results were negative in seven samples. The final diagnosis was still intraocular infection in four of the seven negative results. Of these, one patient was diagnosed with fungal endophthalmitis according to the clinical characteristics and good treatment response to the anti-fungal therapy, one patient underwent vitrectomy and the bacterial culture of the vitreous sample was positive for Brucella melitensis, and two patients were diagnosed with ocular tuberculosis according to the positive T-SPOT test and effective anti-tuberculous treatments. CONCLUSIONS: mNGS could be helpful in determining pathogens in cases of suspected intraocular infection. The mNGS protocols should be optimized for the detection of intracellular bacterial and fungal pathogens.

Risk factors for the long-term prognosis and recurrence of HIV-negative cytomegalovirus retinitis in North China.

AIM: To demonstrate the clinical features, the risk factors, the visual prognosis and the recurrence of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis (CMVR) in HIV-negative patients. METHODS: HIV-negative patients with CMVR were involved in this study. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure (IOP), CMV-DNA load in aqueous and/or serum samples, treatment, follow-up time, recurrence and complications were recorded. Ocular characteristics were evaluated by fundus photographs. Association between ocular factors and visual prognosis were analyzed by regression analysis. RESULTS: Twenty-five eyes of 16 patients were included. All 25 eyes underwent intravitreal injections of anti-viral agents. The mean logMAR BCVA improved from 0.94±0.98 (0.98-0.78) initially to 0.77±0.73 (0.82-0.68) at last visit, but not significantly. After antiviral treatment, the aqueous CMV DNA load significantly reduced to (3.42±1.47)×102 copies/mL (P=0.001), compared with (2.51±3.11)×105 copies/mL at baseline. Macular involvement (R 2=0.475, P=0.049) and initial visual acuity (R 2=0.475, P=0.017) were significantly associated with the poor visual prognosis (BCVA<20/400). The extent of retinal lesions (R 2=0.064, P=0.04) was significant associated with the risk of recurrence of CMVR. CONCLUSION: Intravitreal injection of anti-viral agents offers a safe and effective treatment for CMVR. Macular involvement and initial visual acuity significantly associate with visual prognosis. The extent of retinal lesions is significantly associated with the recurrence of CMVR. These ocular factors can be used as predictive risk factors for long term visual prognosis in HIV-negative CMVR patients.

The Relationship between the Aqueous VEGF Level and the Severity of Type 1 Retinopathy of Prematurity.

PURPOSE: To analyze the relationship between the severity of type 1 retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and the level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in aqueous fluid. METHODS: The aqueous VEGF levels of 49 patients (88 eyes) with type 1 ROP were retrospectively analyzed. These eyes were categorized into three groups according to the severity of disease: aggressive retinopathy of prematurity (A-ROP), threshold of ROP (T-ROP), and type 1 pre-threshold ROP (P-T-1). The differences in aqueous VEGF levels among these three groups were compared. The relationship between the aqueous VEGF level and the retinal changes of ROP, including the vessel tortuosity in zone I, and the location and stage of the ROP lesions, were also analyzed. RESULTS: The aqueous VEGF level of the A-ROP group was the highest among the three groups, followed by those of the T-ROP and P-T-1 groups. The aqueous VEGF level was negatively correlated with the zone and the stage of the ROP diseases, while it was positively correlated with the venous tortuosity in zone I and had no relevance with the artery tortuosity in zone I. CONCLUSIONS: The aqueous VEGF level in A-ROP was the highest in type I ROP. The location of the ROP lesions and the venous tortuosity in zone I correlated with the aqueous VEGF level and could indicate the severity of ROP.

The Predictive Value of Interleukin-8 in the Development of Cytomegalovirus Retinitis in HIV-Negative Patients.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the value of interleukin (IL)-8 in the development and management of cytomegalovirus retinitis (CMVR) in HIV-negative patients. METHODS: A retrospective case series from January 2014 to May 2018 was conducted. Forty patients (40 eyes) received intravitreal injection of ganciclovir (IVG). The aqueous levels of the cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA and IL-8 in each follow-up visit were tested. The initial and final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), the course of treatment, the recurrence rate, and the occurrence of complications were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: The aqueous value of IL-8 was significantly correlated with the aqueous level of the CMV DNA during treatment but was not associated with the BCVA or the number of IVG. No recurrence occurred in the condition in which a low aqueous IL-8 level was set as the endpoint of the treatment. CONCLUSION: In HIV-negative patients with CMVR, IL-8 was closely associated with CMV DNA concentration in the aqueous humor. The real-time aqueous level of IL-8 could be used as one of the evidences of disease recovery.

Detection of shallow anterior chamber depth from two-dimensional anterior segment photographs using deep learning.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to implement and evaluate a deep learning (DL) approach for automatically detecting shallow anterior chamber depth (ACD) from two-dimensional (2D) overview anterior segment photographs. METHODS: We trained a DL model using a dataset of anterior segment photographs collected from Shanghai Aier Eye Hospital from June 2018 to December 2019. A Pentacam HR system was used to capture a 2D overview eye image and measure the ACD. Shallow ACD was defined as ACD less than 2.4 mm. The DL model was evaluated by a five-fold cross-validation test in a hold-out testing dataset. We also evaluated the DL model by testing it against two glaucoma specialists. The performance of the DL model was calculated by metrics, including accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC). RESULTS: A total of 3753 photographs (1720 shallow AC and 2033 deep AC images) were assigned to the training dataset, and 1302 photographs (509 shallow AC and 793 deep AC images) were held out for two internal testing datasets. In detecting shallow ACD in the internal hold-out testing dataset, the DL model achieved an AUC of 0.86 (95% CI, 0.83-0.90) with 80% sensitivity and 79% specificity. In the same testing dataset, the DL model also achieved better performance than the two glaucoma specialists (accuracy of 80% vs. accuracy of 74 and 69%). CONCLUSIONS: We proposed a high-performing DL model to automatically detect shallow ACD from overview anterior segment photographs. Our DL model has potential applications in detecting and monitoring shallow ACD in the real world. TRIAL REGISTRATION: http://clinicaltrials.gov , NCT04340635 , retrospectively registered on 29 March 2020.

Development and validation of deep learning algorithms for automated eye laterality detection with anterior segment photography.

This paper aimed to develop and validate a deep learning (DL) model for automated detection of the laterality of the eye on anterior segment photographs. Anterior segment photographs for training a DL model were collected with the Scheimpflug anterior segment analyzer. We applied transfer learning and fine-tuning of pre-trained deep convolutional neural networks (InceptionV3, VGG16, MobileNetV2) to develop DL models for determining the eye laterality. Testing datasets, from Scheimpflug and slit-lamp digital camera photography, were employed to test the DL model, and the results were compared with a classification performed by human experts. The performance of the DL model was evaluated by accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, operating characteristic curves, and corresponding area under the curve values. A total of 14,468 photographs were collected for the development of DL models. After training for 100 epochs, the DL models of the InceptionV3 mode achieved the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.998 (with 95% CI 0.924-0.958) for detecting eye laterality. In the external testing dataset (76 primary gaze photographs taken by a digital camera), the DL model achieves an accuracy of 96.1% (95% CI 91.7%-100%), which is better than an accuracy of 72.3% (95% CI 62.2%-82.4%), 82.8% (95% CI 78.7%-86.9%) and 86.8% (95% CI 82.5%-91.1%) achieved by human graders. Our study demonstrated that this high-performing DL model can be used for automated labeling for the laterality of eyes. Our DL model is useful for managing a large volume of the anterior segment images with a slit-lamp camera in the clinical setting.

Prognostic Factors of Cytomegalovirus Infection Associated Retinitis in HIV-Negative Patients: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

Purpose: To summarize the prognostic factors of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis (CMVR) in HIV-negative patients treated with multiple intravitreal injections (IVs) of ganciclovir.Methods: A retrospective cohort study (70 eyes) was conducted. Clinical signs, initial and final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), initial aqueous load of CMV DNA, course of treatment, and occurrence of complications were recorded and analyzed.Results: A positive correlation was found between the baseline and the final best corrected visual acuity (P < .001) and between the initial aqueous CMV DNA load and the number of IVs (P = .01). A lesion close to the posterior pole (P < .001) and a larger retinal lesion (P = .002) remarkably led to worse visual prognosis.Conclusions: Poor visual prognosis was significantly associated with poor initial visual acuity, proximity of lesion to the posterior pole, and an extensive CMV lesion. The treatment duration was positively correlated with the initial aqueous CMV DNA load.

A New Two-Step Anesthesia for 23- or 25-Gauge Vitrectomy Surgery: A Prospective, Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the safety and efficacy of topical anesthesia combined with subconjunctival anesthesia (termed two-step anesthesia) for 23- or 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy or other posterior segment surgery. METHODS: Patients (n = 90) requiring 23-/25-gauge vitrectomy or other posterior segment surgery were randomized into 3 groups. Group 1 received peribulbar anesthesia, group 2 received retrobulbar anesthesia and group 3 received two-step anesthesia. A 5-point visual analog pain scale (VAPS) was used to measure self-report of patient pain. Complications were recorded for subsequent analysis. RESULTS: VAPS scores for overall intraoperative pain ranged from 0 to 3 (1.07 ± 1.07) in group 1, from 0 to 2 (0.69 ± 0.93) in group 2 and from 0 to 3 (1.06 ± 0.98) in group 3. Assessment of surgeon discomfort score ranged from 0 to 2 (0.31 ± 0.66) in group 1, from 0 to 3 (0.38 ± 0.82) in group 2 and from 0 to 2 (0.47 ± 0.62) in group 3. Both scores reveal no significant difference among the 3 groups. While there were no complications noted in group 1, there was an ocular perforation in group 2. Additionally, there were no complications in group 3 related to the anesthetic technique. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that two-step anesthesia is a safe and effective anesthetic approach for selected patients undergoing 23- or 25-gauge pars plana vitrectomy or other posterior segment surgeries. It may offer a viable alternative to peribulbar anesthesia and retrobulbar anesthesia for carefully selected 23- or 25-gauge cannular-access ocular surgeries.

Comparison of Ocular Biometry Profiles in Urban and Rural Cataract Candidates in Eastern China.

PURPOSE: To compare ocular biometric parameters between urban and rural cataract patients in Shanghai, China. METHODS: A study of ocular biometry records from urban and rural hospitals was performed for cataract patients at least 50 years of age. The ocular biometrical parameters, which were measured with partial coherence laser interferometry (IOL Master, Zeiss), were axial length (AL), anterior chamber depth (ACD), radius of corneal curvature (K, including steep/flat/average K), astigmatism, and axis. Only the right eye record of each patient was analysed. RESULTS: Ocular biometric data included 2839 urban patients (73.15 ± 9.54 years) and 2646 rural patients (73.64 ± 7.32 years). Mean AL, ACD, and K were 24.35 ± 2.34 mm, 3.14 ± 0.58 mm, and 44.38 ± 1.52 D, respectively, in urban patients and 23.58 ± 1.70 mm, 3.08 ± 0.57 mm, and 44.53 ± 1.50 D, respectively, in rural patients. The urban subjects had significantly longer axial lengths (in both univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses) and deeper ACDs (in univariate analysis) than rural subjects (p < 0.01). There was no significant difference in steep K, flat K, and average K between the two groups. With-the-rule (WTR) corneal astigmatism was found in 1787 eyes (32.58%), against-the-rule (ATR) corneal astigmatism was found in 2727 eyes (49.72%), and oblique corneal astigmatism was found in 971 eyes (17.70%). CONCLUSIONS: We report biometry and astigmatism data in a large cohort of urban and rural adult subjects for the first time. In our study, a short AL, shallow ACD, and axis turned in an ATR direction had higher prevalence rates in the rural subjects. This profile of ocular biometric data and corneal astigmatism will be helpful in planning for intraocular lens (IOL) power calculations and astigmatism correction in subjects in different locations.

Herpetic Anterior Uveitis in a Chinese Referral Center: Clinical Manifestations and Laboratory Test Results.

PURPOSE: To describe and to compare the clinical manifestation and laboratory test results of herpetic anterior uveitis (HAU) caused by Herpes simplex virus (HSV) and varicella-zoster virus (VZV). METHODS: A retrospective, observational study on patients diagnosed with HAU. Etiology, clinical features, ocular complications, and recurrences of the infection were evaluated as main clinical parameters. The aqueous Interleukin-8 (IL-8) level was also measured to assess the intraocular inflammation. RESULTS: Thirty-two eyes (32 patients) were involved. Among all involved cases, 24 had VZV-AU and 8 had HSV-AU. Common clinical features of HAU included the presence of KPs (90.6%), distorted pupil (83.3%), Iris atrophy (71.9%) and corneal edema (50%). The intraocular fluid analysis showed higher viral load and IL-8 level in VZV-AU. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with HSV-AU, the intraocular inflammation was more severe in VZV-AU. The intraocular fluid analysis was valuable for the etiological diagnosis and the evaluation of disease severity.

Three-dimensional digital visualization of phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the feasibility and safety of heads-up three-dimensional (3D) vision system for phacoemulsification and intraocular lens (IOL) implantation surgery. METHODS: In this prospective, randomized controlled study, 20 eyes with age-related cataract received phacoemulsification and IOL implantation and were randomly divided into "heads-up" 3D vision group and conventional surgery group. Ocular and surgical parameters such as surgery time, pre and postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and corneal endothelial cells density were recorded and statistically analyzed. RESULTS: The result showed significant postoperative improvement of BCVA in both groups. There was no difference in either mean surgery time or postoperative mean endothelial cell density between the 3D group and the conventional group. No major complication occurred during surgery in either group. CONCLUSION: The heads-up 3D vision system is suitable and safe for cataract phacoemulsification and IOL implantation. This technique can be of widespread use.