Minimum Corneal Diameter and Anterior Steep Axis Curvature Share the Same Meridian: A Novel Finding.

PURPOSE: To define the external scleral sulcus (ESS) on a Scheimpflug image and use it for a morphometric analysis of corneal diameter (CD). DESIGN: Retrospective, cross-sectional study of pediatric Asian-Indian eyes. METHODS: One random eye of 353 subjects between 5 and 18 years underwent 25-scan Pentacam HR imaging. For all scans, densitometry values along the anterior corneal edge were recorded and differentiated. The peaks on the differentiated curve were chosen as the ESS points, and this distance between them was called CD. Vertical (vCD), maximum (maxCD), minimum (minCD) CD and their meridians were defined. Multiple regression models (MRMs) with CD and other Pentacam parameters were built to predict astigmatism and its axis, mean keratometry (Kmean), and Belin/Ambrósio enhanced ectasia display deviation (BAD-D). MRMs were validated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). Estimated horizontal CD (hCD) was validated against digital caliper measurement using ICC. RESULTS: The ICC (95% CI) between caliper and hCD was 0.96 (0.93, 0.97). MRM predictions (P < .001) used CD parameters, anterior chamber depth, corneal volume and distance from the corneal thinnest location to apex. These predictions achieved an ICC of 0.34 (0.18, 0.46), 0.82 (0.78, 0.86), 0.87 (0.84, 0.89), and 0.81 (0.76, 0.84), respectively. The astigmatism axis prediction depended on the minCD and maxCD meridians. Its within-subject SD (4.97°) was less than 2 consecutive Pentacam scan angles (7.2°). CONCLUSIONS: The CD metric strongly correlated with the astigmatism axis, keratometry, and BAD-D. Its spatial description may be significant in corneal treatment planning and disease diagnoses.

New simulation software to predict postoperative corneal stiffness before laser vision correction.

PURPOSE: To develop a new virtual surgery simulation platform to predict postoperative corneal stiffness (Kc mean ) after laser vision correction (LVC) surgery. SETTING: Narayana Nethralaya Eye Hospital and Sankara Nethralaya, India; Humanitas Clinical and Research Center, Italy. DESIGN: Retrospective observational case series. METHODS: 529 eyes from 529 patients from 3 eye centers and 10 post-small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) ectasia eyes were included. The software (called AcuSimX) derived the anisotropic, fibril, and extracellular matrix biomechanical properties (using finite element calculation) of the cornea using the preoperative Corvis-ST, Pentacam measurement, and inverse finite element method assuming published healthy collagen fibril orientations. Then, the software-computed postoperative Kc mean was adjusted with an artificial intelligence (AI) model (Orange AI) for measurement uncertainties. A decision tree was developed to classify ectasia from normal eyes using the software-computed and preoperative parameters. RESULTS: In the training cohort (n = 371 eyes from 371 patients), the mean absolute error and intraclass correlation coefficient were 6.24 N/m and 0.84 (95% CI, 0.80-0.87), respectively. Similarly, in the test cohort (n = 158 eyes from 158 patients), these were 6.47 N/m and 0.84 (0.78-0.89), respectively. In the 10 ectasia eyes, the measured in vivo (74.01 [70.01-78.01]) and software-computed (74.1 [69.03-79.17]) Kc mean were not statistically different ( P = .96). Although no statistically significant differences in these values were observed between the stable and ectasia groups ( P ≥ .14), the decision tree classification had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 1.0. CONCLUSIONS: The new software provided an easy-to-use virtual surgery simulation platform for post-LVC corneal stiffness prediction by clinicians and was assessed in post-SMILE ectasia eyes. Further assessments with ectasia after surgeries are required.

Unique corneal tomography features of allergic eye disease identified by OCT imaging and artificial intelligence.

The purpose of this study was to assess unique corneal tomographic parameters of allergic eye disease (AED) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and artificial intelligence (AI). A total of 57 eyes diagnosed with AED were included. The curvature and aberrations of the air-epithelium (A-E) and epithelium-Bowman's layer (E-B) interfaces were calculated. Random forest AI models were built combing this data with the parameters of healthy, forme fruste keratoconus (FFKC) and KC eyes. The AI models were cross-validated with 3-fold random sampling. Each model was limited to 10 trees. The AI model incorporating both A-E and E-B parameters provided the best classification of AED eyes (area under the curve = 0.958, sensitivity = 80.7%, specificity = 98.5%, precision = 88.2%). Further, the E-B interface parameters provided the highest information gain in the AI model. A few AED eyes (n = 9) had tomography parameters similar to FFKC and KC eyes and may be at risk of progression to KC.

Repeatability of OCT Anterior Surface and Bowman's Layer Curvature and Aberrations in Normal and Keratoconic Eyes.

PURPOSE: To study the repeatability of anterior surface and Bowman's layer curvature in normal and keratoconic eyes using optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: In this study, 96 normal and 96 keratoconic eyes underwent corneal imaging using Pentacam (Oculus Optikgeräte, Wetzlar, Germany) and OCT (Triton, Topcon Corporation, Tokyo, Japan). The elevation data from segmented air-epithelium (A-E) and epithelium-Bowman's layer (E-B) interfaces in OCT scans were used to quantify curvature and aberrations. The wavefront aberrations were evaluated with the ray tracing method and 6th order Zernike polynomials. The intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), within-subject standard deviation (Sw), and coefficient of variation (CoV) were used to assess repeatability. RESULTS: For curvatures, the Sw was less than 0.25 diopters (D) for the normal and keratoconic eyes. The Sw was highest for root mean square of lower order aberrations (0.14 µm) in keratoconic eyes. The CoV for curvatures was well below 0.5% for both groups. For some aberrations irrespective of groups, the CoV was greater because some individual aberrations (mean of three successive measurements) tended to be smaller in magnitude and even a small Sw resulted in a high CoV. For all variables, the ICC ranged between 0.80 and 0.99 for both the OCT and Pentacam measurements. Most variables were similar between the A-E and E-B interfaces (P > .05) for both groups. However, both differed significantly from all Pentacam variables (P < .05) in normal and keratoconic eyes. CONCLUSIONS: The repeatability of OCT curvatures and aberrations compared well with the Pentacam indices for normal and keratoconic eyes. [J Refract Surg. 2020;36(4):247-252.].

Temporal Regulation of Notch Signaling and Its Influence on the Differentiation of Ex Vivo Cultured Limbal Epithelial Cells.

Purpose: Notch signaling plays a vital role in the differentiation and proliferation of corneal epithelial cells from limbal stem cells. The temporal regulation of Notch signaling during this differentiation remains unknown. Hence, we investigated the importance of temporal activation/blockage of Notch signaling during corneal differentiation.Methods: Human limbal epithelial cultures were established with and without Notch activators (rec-Human Jagged1 Fc chimera) and pharmacological blockers (LY-411575). The modulation of Notch signaling was done at different time points during cell differentiation, which were collected on Day 14 for further analysis of differentiation, proliferation, maturation and apoptosis using RT-qPCR and immunofluorescence staining.Results: The activation of Notch signaling at Day 8 resulted in the highest number of mature corneal epithelial cells (p = .008) and pro-apoptosis marker BAX (p = .0001) with no increase in the number of corneal progenitors, and proliferation marker Ki67 compared to untreated controls. Cultures grown in the presence of Notch signaling blockers showed a significantly higher number of corneal progenitors (p = .0001) and proliferation marker Ki67 (p = .02) but lower corneal epithelial marker CK3/CK12 (p = .0007) and no difference in the pro-apoptotic marker BAX compared to untreated controls.Conclusion: During the differentiation of limbal epithelial cells to the corneal epithelial cell type, Day 8 seems to be a crucial window to modulate Notch signaling for a customized outcome.

Correlation between tear fluid and serum vitamin D levels.

BACKGROUND: Vitamin D deficiency is associated with a range of systemic diseases including ocular disorders. The objective of this study is to measure tear vitamin D levels and investigate the correlation between serum and tear vitamin D levels. METHODS: A total of 48 healthy volunteers without any systemic and ocular disease were recruited for this observational cohort study. Serum was collected using clot activator coated Vacutainer® Plus tubes. Tear fluid was collected using Schirmer's strips. Serum and tear total 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels were measured by competitive chemiluminescent ELISA and the correlation between the levels were studied. RESULTS: The measured serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level ranged between 3.3 and 27.5 ng/ml (Mean ± SEM, 9.4 ± 0.7 ng/ml; Median 8.4 ng/ml). Significantly (p < 0.0001) higher level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was detected in the tears (Mean ± SEM, 17.0 ± 1.6 ng/ml; Range 3.2-45.8 ng/ml; Median, 16.3 ng/ml) compared to serum. An average of ~2 fold (Mean ± SEM, 1.9 ± 0.2; Range 0.4-5.8; Median, 1.7) higher 25-hydroxyvitamin D was observed in tears compared to serum in the subjects. In addition, a positive correlation was observed between serum and tear 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels (r = 0.5595; p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: A higher level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D was observed in the tear fluid compared to that of the serum. It would be beneficial to consider tear vitamin D levels to study its role with reference to ocular surface diseases.