Bilateral Sequential Paracentral Acute Middle Maculopathy.

We aim to present a case with bilateral sequential paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM). A 57-year-old man presented with paracentral scotoma in the left eye. The patient's multimodal imaging findings were consistent with PAMM in the left eye. Extensive systemic work-up revealed hypertension and a history of cerebrovascular event. One year after initial presentation, the patient had a subsequent decrease in visual acuity in the right eye and developed optical coherence tomography findings consistent with PAMM, whereas the left eye showed resolved PAMM findings. Although rare, PAMM can occur bilaterally. Clinicians should monitor unilateral PAMM patients with systemic vasculopathy for involvement in the fellow eye.

New Insights into Diabetic and Vision-Threatening Retinopathy: Importance of Plasma Long Pentraxine 3 and Taurine Levels.

PURPOSE: To investigate diabetic retinopathy (DR), plasma long pentraxin-3 (PTX-3) and taurine levels, and systemic factors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patients with type 2 DM were categorized based on the presence of DR and maculopathy. Retinal findings (retinopathy, maculopathy, flame-shaped hemorrhage, intraretinal microvascular abnormalities, neovascularization of the optic disc, neovascularization elsewhere, and soft exudate); laboratory findings (fasting blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c], Taurine, PTX-3); systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were analyzed. RESULTS: In this study, 39 patients with a mean age of 59.5 ± 8.1 years were included. The mean taurine level was significantly lower (p = .025) and HbA1c values were significantly higher (p = .0001) in patients with and without DR, respectively. In patients with varying severity of DR, a significant difference in the plasma taurine level was found (p = .0001). The mean PTX-3 level decreased with the severity of retinopathy; however, there was no significant difference in levels among the grading groups (p = .732). Taurine and PTX-3 levels were significantly lower in patients with maculopathy (p = .001 and p = .022, respectively) and significantly higher in patients with grade 0 maculopathy than in those with grade 1, 2, or 3 maculopathy (p = .023, p = .01, and p = .01, respectively). Patients with flame-shaped hemorrhage had significantly lower PTX-3 levels (p = .009) and higher SBP and DBP levels (p = .003, p = .023) than those without the hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: No significant relation between PTX-3 level and severity of DR was found. HbA1c, taurine, and PTX-3 levels in patients with vision-threatening DR symptoms were significantly different from those without these symptoms. Management of systemic blood pressure and glycemic control is mandatory in the follow-up of DR, and increasing the plasma taurine levels can prevent vision loss.

VISUALIZATION OF MACULAR PUCKER BY MULTICOLOR SCANNING LASER IMAGING.

PURPOSE: To compare the visualization of the epiretinal membrane (ERM) using multicolor imaging (MCI) (Heidelberg Engineering, Carlsbad, CA) and conventional white light flood color fundus photography (FP) (Topcon). METHODS: The paired images of patients with ERM who underwent same-day MCI and FP examinations were reviewed. Visibility of the ERM was graded using a scale (0: not visible, 1: barely visible, and 2: clearly visible) by masked readers, and surface folds were counted to quantify the membrane visibility for each method. Images from individual color channels in MCI (green, blue, and infrared) were also graded using the same method to further investigate MCI images. RESULTS: Forty-eight eyes of 42 patients were included. The average ERM visibility score was 1.8 ± 0.37 for MCI and 1.01 ± 0.63 for FP (P < 0.001). The number of the surface folds detected per quadrant was signifi8cantly higher in MCI than that in FP (6.79 ± 3.32 vs. 2.85 ± 2.81, P < 0.001). The ERM was graded with similar scores on the two modalities in 43.8% of the eyes; in 56.2%, the ERM was better visualized on MCI than that on FP. Conventional FP failed to detect ERM in 11.4% of eyes when the mean central retinal thickness was <413 microns. Analysis of laser color reflectance revealed that green reflectance provided better detection of surface folds (5.54 ± 2.12) compared to blue reflectance (4.2 ± 2.34) and infrared reflectance (1.2 ± 0.9). CONCLUSION: Multicolor scanning laser imaging provides superior ERM detection and delineation of surface folds than conventional FP, primarily due to the green channel present in the combination-pseudocolor image in MCI.

Persistence of the Cone on the Posterior Corneal Surface Affecting Corneal Aberration Changes After Intracorneal Ring Segment Implantation in Patients With Keratoconus.

PURPOSE: To analyze the changes in anterior and posterior corneal surfaces and aberrations in patients who underwent intracorneal ring segment (ICRS) implantation for the treatment of keratoconus. METHODS: Eighty-nine eyes of 59 patients with keratoconus who underwent ICRS implantation were analyzed. All eyes were evaluated using a tomography system combining a Placido disc and Scheimpflug photography before and at least 6 months after surgery. Total, anterior, and posterior corneal aberrations, anterior and posterior sagittal and tangential anterior and posterior curve analysis, keratometry (K), minimum corneal thickness, and anterior chamber depth were analyzed before and after surgery. RESULTS: Flattening with a decrease in the cone shape on the anterior corneal surface and steepening in the paracentral area with persistence of cone appearance on the posterior corneal surface were noted in all cases after ICRS implantation. The total corneal higher-order aberrations (HOAs) significantly decreased from 1.09 ± 0.43 to 0.71 ± 0.32 µm, and anterior corneal HOAs significantly decreased from 0.98 ± 0.46 to 0.81 ± 0.37 µm, whereas the posterior corneal HOAs increased from 0.53 ± 0.29 to 0.66 ± 0.25 µm after ICRS implantation (P < 0.05). There was a significant decrease in anterior maximum keratometry, but there was a significant increase in posterior maximum keratometry after ICRS implantation (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The cone shape persists on the posterior corneal surface despite its correction on the anterior corneal surface, leading to a decrease in anterior corneal aberrations and an increase in posterior corneal aberrations after ICRS implantation in eyes with keratoconus.

Clinical Findings, Follow-up and Treatment Results in Patients with Ocular Rosacea.

OBJECTIVES: To report the clinical features, treatment options and complications in patients with ocular rosacea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The records of 48 eyes of 24 patients with ocular rosacea were retrospectively reviewed. Patients' ocular signs and symptoms were scored between 1 and 4 points according to disease severity; tear film break-up time (BUT) and Schirmer's test results were recorded before and after the treatment. Preservative-free artificial tears, topical antibiotic eye drops/ointments, short-term topical corticosteroids, topical 0.05% cyclosporine and oral doxycycline treatment were applied as a standard therapy to all patients. Additional treatments were given as needed. Complications were recorded. RESULTS: Twenty-four patients with a mean age of 48.5±35.4 (32-54) years were followed for a mean 15±9.4 (8-36) months. Ocular findings included meibomitis in 100% of cases, anterior blepharitis in 83% (40 eyes), punctate keratopathy in 67% (32 eyes), chalazia in 50% (24 eyes), corneal neovascularization in 50% (24 eyes) and subepithelial infiltrates in 16.6% (8 eyes). Significant improvement of symptoms and clinical findings were achieved in all patients with treatment. The increases in Schirmer's test and BUT were 3.3±1.5 and 4.5±2.8, respectively (p<0.05). Descemetocele and small corneal perforation occurred in 2 eyes; re-epithelialization was achieved in both eyes with tissue adhesive application (1 eye) and additional amniotic membrane transplantation (1 eye). Four eyes of three patients showed significant regression of corneal neovascularization with topical bevacizumab therapy. CONCLUSION: Ocular rosacea may present with a variety of ophthalmic signs. It is possible to control the ophthalmic disease with appropriate therapeutic modalities including topical corticosteroids, topical cyclosporine and systemic doxycycline.

A Case of Lyme Disease Accompanied by Uveitis and White Dot Syndrome.

In this case report we aimed to present a case of Lyme disease presenting as peripheral retinal vasculitis, intermediate uveitis and multifocal white dots in the posterior pole. The patient exhibited vitritis and snowball opacities in both eyes. A diagnosis of Lyme disease was made based on clinical, angiographic and laboratory findings. Fundus fluorescein angiography revealed optic nerve and retinal venous leakage as well as multiple hyperfluorescent foci in both eyes. The patient's symptoms and ocular findings significant improved after treatment with a combination of systemic antibiotics and steroids. Ophthalmologists should bear in mind that conditions presenting with uveitis and multifocal white dots may be related to Lyme disease.

Clinical Spectrum and Treatment Approaches in Corneal Burns.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical findings, treatment modalities and long-term prognosis of chemical and thermal burns of the cornea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-one patients (27 eyes) who were followed at two centers for corneal chemical and thermal burns between 2001 and 2013 were included. Eyes were grouped into four grades according to the severity of burn using Roper-Hall classification. Age, gender, type of burn, follow-up duration, corrected visual acuity before and after treatment, treatment modalities and complications were recorded. Patients received medical treatment or combined surgical treatment including amniotic membrane transplantation (AMT), conjunctivolimbal autograft/allograft (CLAU/CLAL) transplantation, keratolimbal allograft (KLAL) or penetrating keratoplasty (PKP). RESULTS: Patients had a mean age of 27.1±15.5 years (range, 6 months-56 years) and were followed for a mean 63.2±58.6 weeks (4-160 weeks). Significant improvement was achieved with medical treatment alone in patients with grade I (4 eyes) and 2 burns (8 eyes). Patients with grade III burns (11 eyes) underwent CLAU (6 eyes), combined AMT/CLAU (3 eyes), AMT/CLAL (1 eye), or CLAL+PKP (1 eye), while patients with grade IV burns (4 eyes) had keratectomy+CLAL/AMT (1 eye), keratectomy+CLAL+PKP after recurrence with CLAU/AMT (1 eye), CLAU+PKP (1 eye), and AMT/KLAL+PKP (1 eye). All patients except the latter showed ocular surface stabilization with these procedures. CONCLUSION: Ocular burns cause severe impairment of the ocular surface. It is possible to achieve good results with appropriate medical treatment and surgeries including ocular surface reconstruction.