Repeatability of biometry in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction before and after vectored thermal pulsation therapy: A randomized, controlled trial.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effect of vectored thermal pulsation therapy (VTPT) on the repeatability of biometry readings of two different optical biometers in patients with meibomian gland dysfunction (MGD). METHODS: Patients affected by MGD were included in this prospective, randomized, controlled, investigator-masked study. One eye was randomized to VTPT (LipiFlow®, Johnson & Johnson), and the contralateral eye served as a control. Three visits were scheduled at baseline, 2 weeks and 3 months after the treatment. The main outcome parameter of the study was the repeatability of three calculations of emmetropic intraocular lens power (EIOLP) at the 3 months visit as compared to baseline using an optical biometer (IOLMaster® 700, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG). Repeatability of different keratometry values obtained by the optical biometer and a Placido-disc topographer (MS-39®, CSO) served as secondary outcome parameters. RESULTS: Twenty-nine patients were included in the final analysis. While tear film parameters improved in the study eyes, there were no significant differences regarding the repeatability of three EIOLP measurements between baseline and 3-months-visit in both eyes (p > 0.05) and keratometry measurements in both the optical biometer and the Placido-disc topographer. Remarkably, throughout all study visits, there were some outliers regarding the repeatability of measurements. CONCLUSION: While both devices showed high repeatability regarding EIOLP and keratometry, future studies are needed to detect high-risk patients for poor repeatability.

Anterior chamber depth variability between 2 hydrophobic acrylic 1-piece intraocular lenses: randomized trial.

PURPOSE: To analyze the difference in anterior chamber depth (ACD) after uneventful cataract surgery between 2 hydrophobic acrylic 1-piece intraocular lenses (IOLs) with different material properties. SETTING: Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria. DESIGN: Single-center, bilateral randomized paired-eye controlled study. METHODS: Patients scheduled for bilateral cataract surgery were randomized to receive the Clareon IOL in 1 eye and the AcrySof IQ IOL (both Alcon Laboratories, Inc.) in the contralateral eye. Preoperatively, a slitlamp examination, optical biometry (IOLMaster 700, Carl Zeiss Meditec AG), refraction, and visual acuity measurements were performed. ACD was assessed 1 hour and 1 week postoperatively and with additional measurement of uncorrected (UDVA) and corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) 6 months postoperatively. RESULTS: 80 eyes of 40 patients were analyzed in this study. ACD at the 6-month follow-up was 3.94 ± 0.30 mm for the Clareon IOL and 3.91 ± 0.32 mm for the AcrySof IQ IOL (P = .08). Statistically significant differences in the ACD shift between both IOLs were detected between 1 week and 6 months (P = .04) and 1 hour and 6 months (P = .04). There were no statistically significant differences between both IOLs in UDVA (P = .78), CDVA (P = .59), and spherical equivalent (SE, P = .39) at the 6-month visit. The mean absolute error between the measured and the aimed SE was not significant (P = .97). CONCLUSIONS: There was no clinically relevant difference in ACD between the Clareon IOL and the AcrySof IQ IOL in patients after uneventful cataract surgery. Both IOLs yielded good refraction and visual acuity outcomes.

Repeatability of intraoperative Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensing in cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the repeatability of aphakic intraoperative wavefront aberrometry and compare it with preoperative and postoperative aberrometry. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, Hanusch Hospital, Vienna, Austria. DESIGN: Prospective case series. METHODS: Patients scheduled for cataract surgery were each measured 3 consecutive times using Hartmann-Shack wavefront sensing (HS-WFS) preoperatively, intraoperatively in aphakia, and 2 months postoperatively after intraocular lens implantation by a single examiner. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) of spherical equivalent (SE) values were evaluated for each timepoint. Intrasubject standard deviation (Sw) as repeatability (Sr) with corresponding repeatability limit () and mean SE differences with corresponding limits of agreement (LoA) were calculated for comparison. RESULTS: A high consistency of repeated measurements was found with ICCs above 0.9 for each of the 3 timepoints. Intraobserver repeatability (Sr) and repeatability limit (r) of intraoperative aberrometry SE measurements (30 eyes of 30 patients) were 0.34 diopters (D) and 0.95 D, respectively. The LoA for intraoperative aphakic SE across 3 consecutive measurements were -0.71 to +0.85 D. For comparison, Sr and r for phakic preoperative measurements in the cataractous state (30 eyes of 30 patients) and postoperative measurements in the pseudophakic state (24 eyes of 24 patients) were 0.33 D and 0.93 D and 0.23 D and 0.64 D, respectively. Similarly, the LoA for preoperative and postoperative SE measurements were -0.66 to +0.60 D and -0.27 to +0.45 D, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: HS-WFS test-retest reliability was high for all 3 timepoints, but the intraoperative setting resulted in a lower repeatability and broadened the agreement range.

NONICHEMIC CENTRAL RETINAL VEIN OCCLUSION ASSOCIATED WITH HEREDITARY THROMBOPHYLIA.

Retinal vein occlusion (RVO) is the second most common retinal vein disease with significant visual loss via thrombus or compression of vein wall. Thrombophilia is the predisposition to vascular thrombosis with the existence of genetic defect that leads to blood hypercoagulability. This report describes the case of a 55 year old male patient, with an active life who presented himself at the emergency room with acute visual lose, insidious and progressive visual field constriction, without any known history of neurological or vascular diseases. The examinations revealed unilateral optic nerve head edema, the fluorescein angiography was specific for nonischemic central retinal vein occlusion CRVO complicated with macular edema. Blood examinations has emphasized the presence of the heterozygous mutation A1298C in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene (MTHFR), the only one presented from the thrombophilia screen panel and a slightly elevated cholesterol level. During the follow-up period, the patient received anti-VEGF treatment (Bevacizumab, 3x 0.1 ml intravitreal injections) with improved visual acuity and amendment of macular edema. The complex etiology calls for interdisciplinary approach to determine better the cause of this ophthalmological disease. Although studies have found a correlation between some thrombophilia mutations and retinal vein occlusion, more studies that contain a larger number of patients are necessary in order to determine the final role of these gene variants.