The Preserflo MicroShunt represents a novel glaucoma treatment device, necessitating long-term follow-up data to accurately assess its efficacy. The aim of this study is to report real-world data of a heterogenous glaucoma cohort who received Preserflo implantation at a specialized glaucoma clinic. A total of 160 eyes of 160 patients who underwent Preserflo MicroShunt implantation were retrospectively enrolled in this study. Patient characteristics, as well as success and failure rates, were assessed. The numbers of adverse events and revision procedures were recorded, along with any reduction in supplementary medication. The progression of intraocular pressure (IOP) was assessed over the course of 12 months, and fluctuations were analyzed. The overall success rate was 61.9% (complete success: 51.3%, qualified success: 10.6%). Revision surgery was performed in 25% of cases. Excessive hypotony occurred postoperatively in 54.4% of patients and regressed after 7 days in 88.8% of all cases. Median IOP decreased from 22 (interquartile range (IQR): 17–27) mmHg preoperatively to 14 (IQR 12–16) mmHg at 12 months postoperatively (p < 0.01). The median number of antiglaucomatous agents decreased from three to zero at latest follow-up. The Preserflo MicroShunt achieved a noticeable reduction in IOP over the course of 12 months in glaucoma patients, irrespective of disease severity or disease subtype. The frequency of postoperative adverse events and number for revision surgeries over the course of the follow-up period were low.

To evaluate the effect of topical mydriatic eye drops on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) parameters in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). 27 eyes of 27 patients suffering from AMD were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients with ≥-4.5 diopters spherical equivalent, corneal opacities or dense cataract preventing high-quality imaging were excluded. Whole-en-face scans of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) in the central 3x3mm foveal region as well as whole-en-face and peripapillary scans of the radial peripapillary capillaries (RPC) were generated using OCTA (AngioVue®, Optovue). Imaging was first conducted with patients’ eyes in miosis, then in mydriasis after instillation of a dilating eye drop (0.5% tropicamide, 2.5% phenylephrine-HCl). Main outcome measures were flow density (FD), foveal avascular zone (FAZ), signal strength index (SSI) and motion artifact score (MAS). Our results reveal that in AMD patients there is no significant difference between FD measurements taken in miosis and those taken in mydriasis around the SCP (p = 0.198), DCP (p = 0.458), RPC whole-en-face (p = 0.275) and RPC peripapillary (p = 0.503). Measurements taken in these two states appear to be equivalent for assessment of FD (90%CI within ± 0.05). No significant difference was found either in the area of the FAZ (p = 0.338) or in the SSI (p = 0.371) before and after the instillation of tropicamide/phenylephrine. MAS was significantly lower after the application of mydriatic eye drops (p = 0.003). Our findings reveal that neither measurements of FD nor measurements of the FAZ area changed significantly in AMD patients after the application of tropicamide/phenylephrine. Since MAS improved significantly in dilation, mydriatic examination is recommended. Nevertheless, a comparison of OCTA metrics from images taken with different pupil states (miosis versus mydriasis) is valid for clinical trials.

We compare the short- and mid-term postoperative outcomes of the iStent inject^® with its successor, the iStent inject^® W. A retrospective monocentric study was performed to compare the iStent inject^® used for cataract surgery with the iStent inject^® W, also used for cataract surgery. The primary study endpoint was intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction six months after surgery. Six-month follow-up results were available for 35 eyes from 27 patients in the iStent inject^® group and for 32 eyes from 25 patients in the iStent inject^® W group. IOP reduction at six months post surgery was significantly greater in the iStent inject^® W group (−2.2 mmHg [iStent inject^® W] vs. −0.06 mmHg [iStent inject^®], p = 0.037). There was a statistically greater decrease in glaucoma medication administration at six months in the iStent inject^® group than in the iStent inject^® W group (−1.28 agents vs. −0.62 agents, p = 0.007). These findings support the hypothesis that the superior positioning of the iStent inject^® W (due to its larger base diameter) compared to the iStent Inject^® leads to greater IOP reduction. Because of the short follow-up period, small study cohort, and differences in the number of glaucoma patients, the study results must be interpreted carefully.

To analyse the distribution of macular ganglion cell layer thickness (GCLT) in patients with foveal hypoplasia (FH) with or without albinism to obtain new insights into visual pathway anomalies in albinos. Patients with FH who presented at our institution between 2013 and 2018 were retrospectively drawn for analysis. Mean GCLT was calculated after automated segmentation of spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans. Patients with FH due to albinism (n = 13, termed ‘albinism FH’) or other kinds (n = 10, termed ‘non-albinism FH’) were compared with control subjects (n = 15). The areas: fovea (central), parafovea (nasal I, temporal I) and perifovea (nasal II, temporal II) along the horizontal meridian were of particular interest. Primary endpoints of this study were the ratios (GCLT-I- and GCLT-II-Quotient) between the GCLT measured in the temporal I or II and nasal I or II areas. There was a significant difference between the GCLT-I-Quotient of healthy controls and albinism FH (p<0.001), as well as between non-albinism FH and albinism FH (p = 0.004). GCLT-II-Quotient showed significant differences between healthy controls and albinism FH (p<0.001) and between non-albinism FH and albinism FH (p = 0.006). The best measure for distinguishing between non-albinism FH and albinism FH was the calculation of GCLT-II-Quotient (area temporal II divided by area nasal II), indicating albinism at a cut-off of <0.7169. The estimated specificity and sensitivity for this cut-off were 84.6% and 100.0%, respectively. The estimated area under the curve (AUC) was 0.892 [95%CI: 0.743–1.000, p = 0.002]. Macular GCLT-distribution showed a characteristic temporal to central shift in patients with FH due to albinism. Calculation of the GCLT-II-Quotient at a cut-off of <0.7169 presents a new diagnostic criterion for identification of ocular albinism.