Age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is a well‐characterized and extensively studied disease. It is currently considered the leading cause of visual disability among patients over 60 years. The hallmark of early AMD is the formation of drusen, pigmentary changes at the macula, and mild to moderate vision loss. There are two forms of AMD: the “dry” and the “wet” form that is less frequent but is responsible for 90% of acute blindness due to AMD. Risk factors have been associated with AMD progression, and they are taking relevance to understand how AMD develops: (1) advanced age and the exposition to environmental factors inducing high levels of oxidative stress damaging the macula and (2) this damage, which causes inflammation inducing a vicious cycle, altogether causing central vision loss. There is neither a cure nor treatment to prevent AMD. However, there are some treatments available for the wet form of AMD. This article will review some molecular and cellular mechanisms associated with the onset of AMD focusing on feasible treatments for each related factor in the development of this pathology such as vascular endothelial growth factor, oxidative stress, failure of the clearance of proteins and organelles, and glial cell dysfunction in AMD.

The aim of our investigation was to examine the possible correlations between optical aberrations, angle kappa, angle alpha, and visual outcomes following cataract surgery. In total, 56 eyes of 28 patients were implanted with the Liberty 677MY trifocal intraocular lens (IOL). Pre- and postoperative higher-order aberrations, coma, astigmatism, angle alpha, and angle kappa were registered, along with uncorrected and corrected visual acuities at multiple distances. Visual acuity and contrast sensitivity defocus curves were plotted, and the areas under the curve were calculated 1 and 3 months postoperatively. Excellent visual outcomes were found at all distances. Patients reported low levels of dysphotopsia, and 96.4% of patients achieved complete spectacle independence. While angle kappa significantly decreased during cataract surgery (p = 0.0007), angle alpha remained unchanged (p = 0.5158). Angle alpha correlated with postoperative HOAs and had a negative impact on near vision (p = 0.0543). Preoperative corneal HOA and coma had a strong adverse effect on future intermediate and near vision. Residual astigmatism significantly affected postoperative intermediate vision (p = 0.0091). Our results suggest that angle kappa is not an optimal predictive factor for future visual outcomes, while angle alpha and the preoperative screening of optical aberrations might help patient selection prior to multifocal IOL implantation.

Prospective, randomized, comparative, and controlled study to estimate the association between angle κ distance and higher-order aberrations (HOAs) with postoperative visual acuity after presbyopia-correcting IOL implantation. Forty-three eyes from 43 patients were included and randomly assigned in two groups for either AT LISA tri 839MP or Acrysof IQ PanOptix IOL implantation. The OPD-Scan III analyzer was utilized to assess the angle κ distance and higher-order aberration (HOAs). Twenty-three eyes were in the Acrysof IQ PanOptix group and 20 patients in the AT LISA tri 839MP group. The uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) for the PanOptix group was 0.092 ± 0.10, whereas for AT LISA tri was 0.050 ± 0.06 (P=0.229). The uncorrected intermediate visual acuity (UIVA) for the PanOptix group was 0.173 ± 0.18, whereas for AT LISA tri, it was 0.182 ± 0.11 (P=0.669). Uncorrected near visual acuity (UNVA) was 0.068 ± 0.04 and 0.085 ± 0.07, respectively (P=0.221). Also, correlation coefficient between HOAs and the Strehl ratio for each group were −0.768 (P<0.0001) and −0.863 (P=0.0001). Patients implanted with both trifocal IOLs showed excellent postoperative visual performance at all distances at the six-month follow-up visit. No association was found between angle κ distance and postoperative visual acuity regardless of the angle κ magnitude or the two trifocal IOLs inner optical diameter. Also, internal aberrations demonstrated a significant inverse correlation with the Strehl ratio for both trifocal IOLs.

There are different pathologies associated with amyloidogenic processes caused by the increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and the overactivation of inflammatory responses. These alterations are present in different regions of the anterior segment of the eye, and they have been associated with the development and progression of ocular pathologies, such as glaucoma, dry eye syndrome, keratitis, and cataracts among other pathologies. Aim. To discuss briefly the anatomical characteristics of the anterior segment of the eye and describe the interaction between oxidative stress (OS) and inflammatory responses, emphasizing the misfolding of several proteins leading to amyloidogenic processes occurring in the anterior segment and their implications in the development of ocular diseases. We performed a search on PubMed, CINAHL, and Embase using the MeSH terms “eye,” “anterior segment”, “inflammation”, “oxidative stress”, and “amyloidosis”. The search encompassed manuscripts published up to April 2019. A hundred forty-four published studies met the inclusion criteria. We present the current knowledge regarding the interaction between OS and the activation of inflammatory processes and how both can cause conformational changes in several peptides and proteins in each compartment of the anterior segment. However, we found that there is no consensus about which factor is the first to cause amyloidosis. Our conclusions suggest that there is an interplay among these factors forming a vicious cycle that leads to the loss of protein structure in ocular pathologies, and multifactorial therapies should be developed to avoid protein misfolding and to stop the progression of ocular pathologies.

Purpose: To determine the energy expenditure in phacoemulsification surgery expressed as cumulative dissipated energy (CDE) among the divide and conquer, ultrachopper-assisted divide and conquer, and phaco-chop techniques for dense cataract removal. Patients and Methods: The clinical data were obtained from the medical charts of dense cataracts patients undergoing routine phacoemulsification employing any of three phaco-fragmentation techniques, including divide and conquer using the Kelman 0.9 mm tip, the ultrachopper tip, and the phaco-chop technique using the Kelman 0.9 mm tip. Cumulated dissipated energy (CDE), longitudinal ultrasound time (UST), and endothelial cell loss were compared among groups at the one-month postoperative. Results: Surgeries from 90 eyes were analyzed, among whom the conventional divide-and-conquer technique group included 30 patients, 32 in the ultrachopper group, and 28 in the phaco-chop technique group. The average CDE in the conventional divide and conquer group was 44.52 ± 23.00, the ultrachopper technique was 43.27 ± 23.18, and 20.11 ± 11.06 in the phaco-chop group. Phaco-fragmentation chop demonstrated significantly lower CDE than the other techniques (p= < 0.0001). The phaco-chop technique showed statistically significantly lower CDE when compared to the other two groups (p=< 0.0001) with 93.96 ± 39.71 seconds. There were no statistically significant differences in postoperative endothelial cell density between groups (p=0.4916). Conclusion: The use of the phaco-chop technique in hard cataract phacoemulsification represents a lower energy expenditure than divide and conquer and ultrachopper techniques; nevertheless, no differences regarding endothelial density loss were evidenced.