Lee YH, et al. J Korean Med Sci. 2020 Aug;35(35):e322. https://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2020.35.e322

Rationale: Ocular siderosis is arrested by the removal of intraocular foreing body (IOFB). The progression of ocular siderosis is very rare and few reports demonstrate the optical coherence tomographic (OCT) findings. Patient concerns: A 55-year-old Asian man presented to our clinic with the chief complaint of decreased vision in his left eye for 5 months. On slit lamp examination of the left eye, the corneal stroma had a rust-colored hue, and the retina was not visible due to vitreous opacity. An orbital computed tomography was ordered considering the possibility of left IOFB, which confirmed the presence of a vitreous IOFB. On the next day, he had a continuous curvilinear capsulorrhexis with phacoemulsification and intraocular lens implantation, pars plana vitrectomy, and removal of IOFB in the left eye. Six years later, he revisited our clinic. On slit lamp examination, the corneal haziness had worsened, and the iris showed heterochromia resembling the spokes of a wheel in the left eye. Diagnosis: Ocular siderosis. Intervention: Anterior and posterior segment OCT was performed. Outcomes: The anterior segment OCT showed linear hyperreflectivity on the anterior corneal stroma just beneath the Bowman's layer. The posterior segment OCT showed inner retinal degeneration observed at the parafoveal area. Lessons: Ocular siderosis progression can happen after the removal of IOFB. The swept source OCT might be useful to assess the cornea and retina in ocular siderosis patient with corneal haziness.

Background: Ocular infections can cause severe complications, including blindness, and distinguishing bacterial from fungal keratitis based on clinical features alone is difficult. This study compared broad-range conventional PCR and real-time PCR methods targeting the 16S rRNA gene with traditional culture for diagnosing bacterial ocular infections. Methods: We analyzed 160 ocular specimens from 111 patients, categorizing them as septic or aseptic. The results of both conventional PCR and real-time PCR methods targeting the 16S rRNA gene were compared with traditional culture outcomes. Results: Real-time PCR demonstrated higher sensitivity than conventional PCR, and receiver operating characteristic analysis determined optimal ΔCT cutoff values of −2.13 and −4.09 for septic and aseptic specimens, respectively. Delays in specimen processing significantly affected real-time PCR accuracy. The 16S rRNA meta-taxonomic analysis using nanopore sequencing only validated the PCR results when the DNA concentration was sufficient. Conclusions: Broad-range real-time PCR proved to be a valuable diagnostic tool, particularly in aseptic specimens, with greater sensitivity and specificity than conventional PCR. The established ΔCT cutoff values improved diagnostic accuracy and showed that standardized specimen collection and processing are crucial for maximizing PCR efficacy.

Pregnancy-related ocular diseases develop mostly in the third trimester of pregnancy. Here, we describe a case of a pregnant woman with a choroidal mass that caused a serous retinal detachment during the first trimester of pregnancy. The patient's condition resolved spontaneously after an abortion.

Fabry disease (FD) is an X-linked, recessively inherited, rare, progressive, disorder of glycosphingolipid metabolism affecting multiple organs resulting in organ dysfunction. It is rare to find only one FD affected subject with a de novo mutation. Here we report a case of a 41-year-old Asian male diagnosed with de novo FD. Comprehensive ophthalmological evaluation was performed using slit lamp, color fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, and indocyanine green angiography. On slit lamp examination, cornea verticillata and slightly tortuous, and aneurysmal dilatation of inferior bulbar conjunctival vessels were observed. Other imaging modalities showed unremarkable findings. Cornea verticillata and inferior bulbar conjunctival vascular abnormalities may be detected earlier than other ocular abnormalities in de novo FDs like hereditary FDs.

Intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB), often injected during cataract surgery, is currently the main treatment for diabetic macular edema. This retrospective study aimed to compare the effectiveness of IVB injections alone and during cataract surgery in patients with diabetic macular edema. We examined 43 eyes in 40 patients who underwent cataract surgery with simultaneous IVB injections 3–12 months after IVB injections alone. Best-corrected visual acuity and central subfield macular thickness (CMT) were measured 1-month post-injection. The CMTs of the same eyes with IVB-only first and combined-treatment procedures later were 384 ± 149 vs. 315 ± 109 μm pretreatment (p = 0.0002), and after 1 month, they were 319 ± 102 vs. 419 ± 183 μm (p < 0.0001). In the IVB-only procedure, 56.1% of eyes had CMT < 300 μm 1 month after the injection compared to 32.5% after the combined treatment. Therefore, on average, when IVB was administered during cataract surgery, CMT increased, whereas after IVB injection alone, it effectively decreased. More prospective trials with large sample sizes are needed to evaluate the effectiveness of IVB injection performed simultaneously with cataract surgery.