Corrigendum: Pilot report: objective quantification of trabecular meshwork pigmentation using densitometry and the NIDEK GS-1 gonioscope in glaucoma patients.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.3389/fopht.2023.1322178.].

Preventing blindness from glaucoma with patient education, the NIDEK GS-1 Gonioscope, lensectomy and microinvasive glaucoma surgery.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this report is to demonstrate the patient education ability and benefits in treating glaucoma and preventing blindness with the NIDEK GS-1 Gonioscope and earlier surgical intervention with cataract surgery/lensectomy and microinvasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS). METHODS: This data was collected using a NIDEK GS-1 Gonioscope. Informed consent was obtained from all participants following explanation of possible risks. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: NIDEK GS-1 automated gonioscopy offers many advantages, including (1) the ability to capture high quality, 360-degree chromatic documentation of the iridocorneal angle and trabecular meshwork, (2) improved patient education on the condition at hand through images; and (3) visualization of the change in the angle and trabecular meshwork before and after surgical intervention in patients with glaucoma. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Gonioscopic imaging is helpful in educating patients on the anatomy of the angle and how its anatomical configuration can contribute to glaucoma. It also gives clinicians a supplementary tool to document features of the ICA; to evaluate anatomical changes before and after surgical treatment of glaucoma and cataracts; and to demonstrate to patients how a specific surgical device or technique is controlling their intraocular pressure (IOP).

Pilot report: objective quantification of trabecular meshwork pigmentation using densitometry and the NIDEK GS-1 gonioscope in glaucoma patients.

In this case series, we present a methodology for a proof of principle for the development of a unique biomarker for pigmentary glaucoma to detect progression before nerve fiber layer loss. Out of the five patients in this case series, one was excluded because of an outlier due to pseudoexfoliation syndrome with excessively dense pigmentation of the trabecular meshwork. The remaining patients displayed a decreased visual field loss with increased superior to inferior trabecular meshwork ratios. This methodology, though limited due to small sample size, shows that in a limited number of patients, visual field loss is positively correlated with increased superior to inferior trabecular meshwork ratios. The next steps would be to look at patients without glaucoma and patients with pigmentary glaucoma, along with complete inter-eye comparisons for patients with unilateral exfoliation syndrome to act as controls. To our knowledge, this is a novel methodology, and if the pattern holds, it can act as proof of principle for the development of a novel early biomarker for pigmentary glaucoma to improve early intervention and delay vision loss.

A CTGF-YAP Regulatory Pathway Is Essential for Angiogenesis and Barriergenesis in the Retina.

Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) or cellular communication network 2 (CCN2) is a matricellular protein essential for normal embryonic development and tissue repair. CTGF exhibits cell- and context-dependent activities, but CTGF function in vascular development and barrier function is unknown. We show that endothelial cells (ECs) are one of the major cellular sources of CTGF in the developing and adult retinal vasculature. Mice lacking CTGF expression either globally or specifically in ECs exhibit impaired vascular cell growth and morphogenesis and blood barrier breakdown. The global molecular signature of CTGF includes cytoskeletal and extracellular matrix protein, growth factor, and transcriptional co-regulator genes such as yes-associated protein (YAP). YAP, itself a transcriptional activator of CTGF, mediates several CTGF-controlled angiogenic and barriergenic transcriptional programs. Re-expression of YAP rescues, at least partially, angiogenesis and barriergenesis in CTGF mutant mouse retinas. Thus, the CTGF-YAP regulatory loop is integral to retinal vascular development and barrier function.