Purpose: To investigate changes in meibomian gland morphology and impact of electronic device usage time on meibomian glands in pediatric age group. Methods: In this prospective study, 149 eyes of 149 children were enrolled. The participants also completed the Standard Patient Evaluation of Eye Dryness (SPEED) questionnaire and provided information regarding weekly hours spent in front of a digital screen. Meibography was performed in all subjects. Grading of images was evaluated using a previously validated 5-point meiboscale (0–4) for meibomian gland atrophy and a 3-point scale for meibomian gland tortuosity (0–2). Results: Of the 149 enrolled children, 83 (55.7%) were female and 66 (44.3%) male. The mean age was 13.0 ± 3.0 (range: 5–18) years. The mean loss of meibomian gland area was 20.80 ± 9.32%. The mean meiboscore was 1.20 ± 0.58 for gland atrophy and the mean tortuosity score was 0.99 ± 0.62. The mean screen time was 29.32 ± 16.18 hr/week. There was a weak and significantly positive correlation between loss of meibomian gland area and screen time (r = 0.210, p = 0.010). There was a weak and significantly positive correlation between meiboscore for gland atrophy and screen time (r = 0.188, p = 0.022). We found a weak but significantly positive correlation between meibomian gland tortuosity and screen time (r = 0.142, p = 0.033). Conclusion: Meibomian gland morphology may show changes in pediatric age group and excessive screen time may be a factor triggering these changes in gland morphology.

Purpose. We aimed at measuring the choroid and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness with optic coherence tomography (OCT) in patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Methods. A total of 60 patients with COPD and 23 healthy controls were evaluated in the scope of this prospective, observational study. COPD patients were divided into two groups as those that were stable and those with an exacerbation based on the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) classification. Subfoveal choroid thickness (SFCT) of the patients and the control group was compared by measuring the choroid thickness at points 1000 µm nasal and temporal to the fovea and the mean retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness. Results. The subfoveal choroid thickness of the COPD patients in both the exacerbation and stable groups was found to be statistically significantly thinner than the control group (p=0.047 and p=0.046, resp.). No statistically significant difference was found between the subfoveal choroid thickness of the patients that were stable and those that had an exacerbation (p=0.813). No statistically significant difference was found between the mean RNFL, 1000 µm nasal, or 1000 µm temporal choroid thicknesses of the COPD patients and the control group (p=0.263, p=0.455, and p=0.611, resp.). Conclusion. Decreased subfoveal choroid thickness was found in the COPD patients both during an exacerbation and in the stable period, when compared to the control group. The mean RNFL thickness was similar in the exacerbation and stable period of the stable COPD patients when compared to the control group. This suggests that ocular findings might be important in terms of COPD morbidity. This trial is registered with www.chictr.org.cn/enIndex.aspx.

To evaluate the results of conjunctival and nasopharyngeal swab tests in patients with confirmed COVID-19.This prospective study included 45 patients who were hospitalized for confirmed COVID-19. N...

This study was designed to assess the repeatability, reproducibility, and agreement of Noncontact Pachymetry (NPC) (Topcan TRK-2P) and the non-contact optical low coherence reflectometer (Lenstar LS 900) devices for measuring Central Corneal Thickness (CCT) of healthy corneas. A total of 82 healthy volunteers were evaluated. The first observer used both the TopconTRK-2P and Lenstar 900 devices while the second observer only used the TopconTRK-2P for the measurements. The measurements with either device were repeated three times for each patient, consecutively. The central corneal thickness measurements with the Topcon TRK-2P revealed mean ± Standard Deviation (SD) values of 553.1 ± 36.1 micrometer (µm) for the first observer and 552.3 ± 35.9µm for the second observer and the mean ± SD of CCT was 537.3 ± 34.8µm with the Lenstar 900. The difference between the CCT measurements of the observers using the Topcon TRK-2P (P = 0.142) was insignificant. However, significantly lower measurements were found with the Lenstar 900 compared with the Topcon TRK-2P (P ˂ 0.001). The central corneal thickness measurements obtained by the Topcon TRK-2P were found to have high repeatability for both observers with a lower SD, less than 1% Coefficient of Variation (CV) and higher than 0.99 Intra-Class Correlation Coefficient (ICC) (Observer 1: 3.77 SD, 0.68 CV and 0.995 ICC; the second observer: 3.58 SD, 0.65 CV and 0.995 ICC). There was an excellent inter-observer reproducibility between the two observers for Topcon TRK-2P with 2.71 SD, 0.49 CV, and 0.994 ICC. The Bland-Altman plot showed high agreement between the two devices. These results suggest that the TopconTRK-2P is a reliable device for evaluating CCT in healthy corneas compared with Lenstar 900.