Prevention and management of childhood progressive myopia: National consensus guidelines.

Myopia is a major public health problem worldwide, including India, with the global prevalence of myopia increasing rapidly over decades. The clinical and socioeconomic impact of myopia is also expected to rise with rising prevalence. Therefore, the focus has now been shifted to prevent the incidence and progression of myopia. However, there is lack of any standardized guidelines for myopia management. This document aims to generate a national-level expert consensus statement on the management of childhood myopia in the Indian scenario. The expert panel of pediatric ophthalmologists consisted of 63 members who met in a hybrid meeting. A list of topics deliberating discussion in the meeting was provided to the experts in advance and they were instructed to provide their opinions on the matter during the meet. The panel of experts then gave their views on each of the items presented, deliberated on different aspects of childhood myopia, and reached a consensus regarding the practice patterns in the Indian scenario. In case of opposing views or lack of a clear consensus, we undertook further discussion and evaluated literature to help arrive at a consensus. A written document is prepared based on recommendations explaining definition of myopia, refraction techniques, components and methods of workup, initiation of anti-myopia treatment, type and timing of interventions, follow-up schedule, and indications for revised or combination treatment. This article formulates evidence-based guidelines for progressing myopes and pre-myopes and also establishes uniformity in the management of childhood myopia in the country.

Current concepts in the management of childhood myopia.

Myopia or short-sightedness is an emerging pandemic affecting more than 50% population in South-Asian countries. It is associated with several sight-threatening complications, such as retinal detachment and choroidal neovascularization, leading to an increased burden of visual impairment and blindness. The pathophysiology of myopia involves a complex interplay of numerous environmental and genetic factors leading to progressive axial elongation. Environmental factors such as decreased outdoor activity, reduced exposure to ambient light, strenuous near work, and role of family history of myopia have been implicated with increased prevalence of this refractive error. While multiple clinical trials have been undertaken to devise appropriate treatment strategies and target the modifiable risk factors, there is no single treatment modality with ideal results; therefore, formulating a comprehensive approach is required to control the myopia epidemic. This review article summarizes the epidemiology, dynamic concepts of pathophysiology, and evolution of the treatment modalities for myopia such as pharmacological (atropine and other agents) and optical methods (spectacles, contact lenses, and orthokeratology).

Gonioscopy and Angle-Based Glaucoma Surgical Training on Human Eyes in the Wet Lab.

PRCIS: Human corneoscleral rims provide a low cost model and resource to enhance angle based glaucoma surgical training skills. PURPOSE: To understand the feasibility, utility, and efficacy of a low-cost model for performing anterior chamber angle gonioscopy and micro-surgery on human corneoscleral tissues in wet lab on resident skill enhancement. METHODS: Post-keratoplasty residual corneoscleral rims and/or the expired donor corneoscleral buttons were included for the purpose of this study. Initially, inverted rims were used to demonstrate the basic angle anatomy on a slit lamp bio-microscope. Central hazy cornea was then replaced with an artificial cornea and an artificial anterior chamber to simulate indirect gonioscopy, direct gonioscopy, goniotomy, and other angle-based surgeries. Direct gonioscopy and goniotomy exercises (as a means to simulate intraoperative gonioscopy and other angle-based surgeries respectively) were evaluated quantitatively, and the rest qualitatively. RESULTS: A total of 65 residents were included in the exercise. The mean age was 26.69±1.74 years. Amongst these, 55 ophthalmology residents performed the basic examination, that is, slit lamp mounted angle anatomy examination (n=55) and artificial chamber mounted indirect gonioscopic examination through artificial cornea (n=55). In the second exercise, 10 glaucoma fellows performed the direct gonioscopic and the goniotomy exercises on artificial chamber. The fellows demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in interpretation and surgical skill enhancement concurrent with reduction in time taken with increasing number of attempts ( P <0.05). In the third simulation exercise, micro-stent placement within the Schlemm's canal, subconjunctival space, and the suprachoroidal space was re-produced successfully on multiple occasions. CONCLUSIONS: The residual human corneoscleral rims proved to be an important resource for teaching both the basic examination skills and those required for transitioning to advanced intraoperative gonioscopy and goniotomy skills. These low cost, easy to adapt models can be incorporated within the curriculum for improved glaucoma training of both the residents and the glaucoma fellows.

Myopia in India.

India is a culturally and geographically diverse nation. Its vast demographic nature does not allow a single definition for any of the given medical conditions in its territory. One important clinical condition which has created an uproar in the rest of the world is myopia. Its cause, prevalence, etiopathogenesis and other factors are being explored constantly; however, data with respect to Indian subcontinent are genuinely missing. Hence, in this review, we enumerate the country's myopia journey from last 4 decades. The epidemiology, genetics, ocular/systemic association, quality of life, imaging, and management in myopia with necessary future directives are discussed to augment the overall management in future.

An Ophthalmologist's Insight Into The Viral Pandemics

In recent past, major pandemics and epidemics have occurred due to the emergence and resurgence of the novel strains of viruses like Influenza [HINI-A “Spanish Flu”, H1N1-Novel A “Swine flu”], Corona [Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2)] and Ebola virus [Ebola virus disease].These infectious diseases may have several ocular manifestations and rarely might be the presenting symptom of the underlying disease. The eyes can act as a portal of entry and/or route of viral transmission for these pathogens. Therefore, an ophthalmologist/optometrist needs to act with ample preparedness and responsibility. Establishing a standard of care in ophthalmic practice by modifying the conventional examination techniques and adopting tele-ophthalmology model to triage the patients can control the community spread of the disease. This article aims to elucidate the ocular manifestations in these pandemics and measures that should be adopted in ophthalmic practice to prevent the disease transmission. (AU)

An Ophthalmologist's Insight Into The Viral Pandemics.

In recent past, major pandemics and epidemics have occurred due to the emergence and resurgence of the novel strains of viruses like Influenza [HINI-A "Spanish Flu", H1N1-Novel A "Swine flu"], Corona [Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2)] and Ebola virus [Ebola virus disease]. These infectious diseases may have several ocular manifestations and rarely might be the presenting symptom of the underlying disease. The eyes can act as a portal of entry and/or route of viral transmission for these pathogens. Therefore, an ophthalmologist/optometrist needs to act with ample preparedness and responsibility. Establishing a standard of care in ophthalmic practice by modifying the conventional examination techniques and adopting tele-ophthalmology model to triage the patients can control the community spread of the disease. This article aims to elucidate the ocular manifestations in these pandemics and measures that should be adopted in ophthalmic practice to prevent the disease transmission.

Simulation of complex strabismus surgical procedures on goat eyes.

PURPOSE: To describe the possibility of complex strabismus surgical simulation on goat eyes. METHODS: The goat eyes were procured from local slaughterhouse with retained extra ocular muscle tissues. The obtained eyes were inspected for globe integrity, muscle quality, muscle length, and the surrounding teno-conjunctival layers. The included eyes were then segregated for surgical simulation based on their insertion and orientation (as oblique or recti), and they were mounted on a mannequin head, with a fixation suture at free end to simulate the resting tension. Additionally, as per necessary, extra muscles were also transplanted along desired sites to simulate human extra ocular muscle anatomy. RESULTS: The inferior oblique, superior oblique, and all other four recti were successfully simulated in varying proportions in more than 50 eyes. Primarily, by simulating the lateral rectus, inferior rectus, and the inferior oblique muscle, staged weakening procedures of inferior oblique were successfully practiced (Fink's recession, Park's recession, Elliot and Nankin procedure, total anterior positioning, and antero-nasal trans-position or Stager's procedure). Similarly, by simulating superior rectus, inferior rectus, lateral rectus, and the medial rectus muscles, half width transposition, full width transposition, and other complex procedures were practiced (Knapp's procedure, augmented Knapp's, Nishida's procedure, Faden operation, and Y splitting procedure). Furthermore, by simulating superior oblique and the superior rectus muscles, superior oblique tuck, posterior tenectomy, loop tenotomy, and Harada Ito procedures were successfully practiced. CONCLUSIONS: On goat eyes, the complex strabismus surgical procedures can be successfully simulated and practiced after re-organizing the existing muscles in different patterns.

Validating the use of U-tool as a novel method for measuring the corneal diameter in infants screened for congenital glaucoma.

PURPOSE: The Castroviejo caliper is routinely used for measuring the corneal diameter in patients with primary congenital glaucoma, but needs an examination under anesthesia (EUA) or sedation. A simple U-shaped tool was devised to aid in the estimation of the corneal diameters of patients in settings where an ophthalmic caliper is not available or EUA is not feasible. METHODS: Infants presenting to the congenital glaucoma clinic posted for EUA were recruited. The demographic details of the patients such as age, sex, and diagnosis were noted. A simple U-shaped tool was devised using three Schirmer strips or a printable ruler. Before the patient underwent a EUA, the corneal diameters were measured using the U-tool. During EUA, corneal diameters were measured using the Castroviejo caliper. RESULTS: The mean age of infants was 6.7 ± 3.39 months (R = 1-12). The mean corneal diameter measured using the U-tool was 13.29 ± 1.33 mm and with Castroviejo caliper was 13.18 ± 1.39 mm. The difference between the corneal diameters measured using the two techniques was -0.114 mm with the Bland-Altman plot 95% Limits of agreement (LoA) from -0.965 to 0.737 mm. Corneal diameters measured with both instruments had a good correlation (Pearson's correlation coefficient = 0.95, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: U-tool can be used for screening congenital glaucoma by first-contact physicians or optometrists. It can also be used by ophthalmologists when EUA is delayed.

Lifestyle modification in school-going children before and after COVID-19 lockdown.

Purpose: To evaluate the impact of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on lifestyle of school-going children. Methods: This was a questionnaire-based prospective study of 1237 school children aged 9-14 years enrolled from various private and government schools across Delhi in October-December 2020. These children were being followed-up over the previous 2 years (before pandemic) with details of their lifestyle like near/outdoor/reading activities using a questionnaire as a part of another study. The data during the COVID-19 lockdown was collected by telephonic interview. This was compared to similar information collected from this cohort in the pre-Covid period in 2019 when the students had a regular physical school curriculum. Results: A significant decline was noted in time spent on outdoor activity (from 8.5 hours/week in pre-COVID-19 time to 1.6 hours/week during COVID-19 lockdown; P < 0.001) and doing homework offline (from 15.3 hour/week to 14 hours/week; P < 0.001). A significant increase was noted in screen time spent on digital devices (from 6.2 hours/week to 19.8 hours/week; P<0.001), and watching television (from 12.2 hours/week to 13.4 hours/week; P < 0.001). The rise in the digital on-screen time was significantly more in boys (P < 0.001) and in students from private schools (P < 0.001). The rise in the duration of watching television was significantly more in girls than boys (P < 0.05). Conclusion: COVID-19 lockdown has markedly impacted the lifestyle of school children by significantly decreasing the outdoor activity and increasing the screen time, thereby pre-disposing them to ocular ill-health and myopia. This necessitates the adoption of guidelines for promoting healthy digital habits in children.

Traumatic avulsion of the globe with optic nerve transection: an unusual presentation.

Complete globe extrusion, whether traumatic or spontaneous, is a rare clinical entity and if associated with optic nerve avulsion, it has a worse visual outcome, though repositioning of the globe may be attempted. We report a case of road traffic accident, wherein the patient presented with an extrusion of the globe, along with a complete transection of the optic nerve, about 4 cm from the optic nerve head, with only a residual attachment to the orbital rim via the unsevered lateral conjunctival flap, where the enucleation was completed and the conjunctiva was sutured.

Extraocular muscle surgery on goats' eye: An inexpensive technique to enhance residents' surgical skills.

Hands-on resident surgical training for various ocular procedures is essential to impart good surgical skills to the budding ophthalmologists. Here in this report, we demonstrate a simple and inexpensive technique of performing extraocular muscle surgery on goats' eye. These animal eyes possess soft tissue resemblance to that of human eyes to a greater extent in terms of scleral rigidity, muscle elasticity, its width, thickness, and its insertion onto the sclera. Therefore, rectus muscle recession, resection, and plication surgeries can be performed repeatedly to improve an individual's orientation and practical experience before performing the procedure on human eyes.

Retinal Arteriovenous Malformation Assessment Using Swept-Source OCT Angiography.

Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) is a promising new imaging modality for assessing retinal and choroidal vasculature. Faster scanning speed, large number of A-scan acquisition, and enhanced depth penetration has enhanced the detailed analysis of retinal layers. The authors discuss SS-OCTA features of a rare case of retinal arteriovenous malformation. Image analysis revealed the anomalous large-caliber vessels occupying up to the entire retinal thickness with associated echolucent changes in the inner retinal layers surrounding the retinal vessels, along with disruption of the outer retinal layers, including the inner/outer segments of photoreceptors beneath the large tortuous vessels outside the foveola in absence of any capillary nonperfusion areas or lack of significant macular edema. At the fovea, the outer retinal layers were intact due to a smaller caliber and less-deep extension of the anomalous vessels. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2018;49:216-219.].

Torpedo maculopathy: A primary choroidal capillary abnormality?

A 26-year-old healthy male patient's fundus revealed findings consistent with torpedo maculopathy. Swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed a dome-shaped elevation of the retina at the level of ellipsoid zone. On OCT angiography segmented at the level of the choriocapillaris, a cluster of convoluted fine vessels was seen, and further, deeper scans of the larger choroidal vessels showed a slower flow. From these observations along with the embryological correlation of choriocapillaris development, a possibility of an abnormality preventing proper fenestration of the choriocapillaris along the horizontal raphe being responsible for this anomaly is suggested.