Introduction: Current studies suggest that tears and conjunctival secretions may be an important transmission route in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The study aims to evaluate the presence of severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus in tears and conjunctival secretion of patients with COVID-19. Methodology: A prospective interventional case series study was performed, and 32 patients with COVID-19 were selected at the Pamukkale University Hospital from 15 to 22 May 2020. The tear and conjunctival samples were collected by a conjunctival swab. Each specimen was sent to the laboratory for reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analyses. To avoid cross-infection, gloves and personal protective equipment were changed after collecting each sample. Results: 32 patients (18 male, 14 female) with Covid-19 were included in this cross-sectional study. The average age of the patients was 52.81 ± 16.76 years. By the time of the first collection of conjunctival-tear samples, the mean time of the onset of complaints was 6.84 ± 6.81 (1-35) days. Tear-conjunctival samples from 5 patients (16%) without conjunctivitis yielded positive PCR results, 3 of whom had positive and 2 negative nasopharyngeal PCR results. Conclusions: Five of 32 patients (16 %) without conjunctivitis or any eye symptoms had viral RNA in their tear-conjunctival samples. The possibility of transmission via tears and conjunctival secretions should be recognized even in the absence of conjunctivitis or other ocular manifestations.

The aim of this research is to evaluate the effect of online education on eye health in Covid-19 pandemic and to present a new scale on this subject. For this purpose, 402 students (257 females, 145 males) with a mean age of 20.26 from different faculties of Pamukkale university were asked about eye health by e-mail between 8-13 July 2020. Also, eye fatigue questionnaire was applied to evaluate eye fatigue. Corrected item-total correlations and Cronbach Alpha internal consistency coefficient techniques were used for reliability analysis. In this study, online education eye health scale in Covid-19 pandemic was found to be positively correlated with eye fatigue questionnaire. According to the results of simple linear regression analysis conducted to determine the predictive value of the online education eye health scale in Covid -19 pandemic to eye fatigue, it was found that the online education eye health scale in covid-19 pandemic significantly predicted eye fatigue. Data analysis were conducted with SPSS 21.0 statistical package program in 0.01 significance level.

Background: This study aimed to evaluate the scleral thickness and corneal parameters of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Methods: Forty-seven eyes of 47 SLE patients and 44 eyes of healthy controls were included in this cross-sectional study. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) was used to measure the corneal and scleral thickness. Scleral thickness (ST) was measured based upon the segmentation at 1000 to 5000 mu m from the scleral spur. Pentacam HR was used to measure corneal parameters. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between SLE group and control group according to age and sex (P > .05). The ST measurements at all distances from scleral spur were found to be thicker in patients with SLE (P < .05). Central corneal thickness (CCT), cornea volume (CV), corneal densitometry (CD), and peripheral corneal thickness (PCT) measurements were similar between the groups (P > .05). Conclusion: ST was thicker in SLE patients compared with healthy controls. AS-OCT seems helpful in selecting optimal sites for pharmaceutical or surgical intervention in SLE patients, since it shows thickness variations in anterior sclera.

Vitreous hemorrhage (VH) is one of the main causes of vision loss in diabetic retinopathy (DRP). Early surgery increases the visibility of the retina, allowing early recognition of DRP complications and additional treatments. One of the most important reasons affecting success after surgery is recurrent vitreous hemorrhage (RVH). We aimed to investigate the risk factors for RVH after early 25G vitrectomy in diabetic VH. Eighty eyes of eighty patients who underwent early 25G PPV surgery with a diagnosis of VH due to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) were included in this retrospective study. Vision acuity changes and intraocular pressure (IOP) changes were compared. The effect of arterial hypertension (HT), coronary artery disease (CAD), preoperative antiglaucomatous usage, and anticoagulant usage on RVH was investigated. A value of P < .05 was accepted as statistically significant. Postoperative RVH was observed in 18 (22.5%) patients. There was no correlation between the age of the patients and the development of postoperative RVH (r = −0.197, P = .08). The rate of HT and the mean HbA1C levels were found to be higher in the patients who developed RVH than in those who did not (P = .04 and < 0.001, respectively). The presence of CAD, preoperative glaucoma disease, and the use of anticoagulants did not have any effect on RVH (P = .229, 0.843, 0.932, respectively). HT and increased HbA1c were found to be risk factors for RVH in VH patients who underwent 25G vitrectomy in the early period in our study.

Purpose: The study aimed to investigate the relationship between iris thickness (IT) and choroidal thickness (CT) in healthy subjects. Materials and Methods: Forty-five healthy participants (24 women, 21 men) aged 18–62 years were included in the study. The iris thickness was measured by anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT). The iris thickness was measured at 750 μm (IT750T) and 2000 μm (IT2000T) from the temporal scleral spur. The iris thickness was measured at 750 μm (IT750N) and 2000 μm (IT2000N) from the nasal scleral spur. Choroidal thickness was measured by optical coherence tomography. Choroid thickness was measured at 750 μm (CT750N, CT750T) and 2000 μm (CT2000N, CT2000T) from the center of the fovea on both the nasal and temporal sides. Results: There were significant correlations between CT750T and IT750T, IT750N, IT2000N (r = 0.409, p=0.005; r = 0.396, p=0.007; r = 0.329, p=0.02, respectively). There were significant correlations between CT2000T and IT750T, IT750N, IT2000N (r = 0.383, p=0.009; r = 0.478, p=0.001; r = 0.331, p0=0.02, respectively). Conclusions: There was a significant correlation between CT and IT thicknesses at different points.

Objectives: To evaluate the effects of topically and subconjunctivally administered sesamol on experimentally induced corneal neovascularization in rats. Methods: Fifty-six right eyes of 56 Wistar Albino rats were chemically cauterized to induce corneal neovascularization in this experimental and comparative study. The subjects were divided into eight groups: topical sesamol (group 1), subconjunctival sesamol (group 2), topical bevacizumab (group 3), subconjunctival bevacizumab (group 4), topical bevacizumab+ sesamol (group 5), subconjunctival bevacizumab+ sesamol (group 6), topical Tween 80 (group 7), and control (group 8). The amount of subconjunctivally injected sesamol and bevacizumab was 1.25 mg each. Topical groups were administered 10 mg/mL drops twice daily. The control group was left untreated. To evaluate the degree of corneal neovascularization, digital photographs and corneal sections stained with hematoxylin–eosin and CD31 were used. Results: When photographs of neovascularization areas were examined, all treatment groups showed statistically significant differences when compared with the control group (P<0.001). Topical sesamol was found to be more effective when compared with subconjunctival sesamol (P=0.003). Topical sesamol+ bevacizumab was found to be more effective when compared with topical bevacizumab (P=0.018). The numbers of new corneal vessels were as follows: 12.28±6.29 in group 1, 36.85±12.8 in group 2, 18.85±7.71 in group 3, 16.85±8.70 in group 4, 19.57±8.56 in group 5, 22.57±7.43 in group 6, 45.00±11.29 in group 7, and 51.16±5.91 in group 8 (P<0.001). Conclusions: The outcomes of this study suggest antiangiogenic effects of sesamol. The use of topical sesamol monotherapy or sesamol combined with bevacizumab may be options for the prevention of corneal neovascularization.