Retinopathy is one of the most severe diabetes-related complications, and macular edema is the major cause of central vision loss in patients with diabetes mellitus. Significant progress has been made in recent years in optical coherence tomography and angiography technology. At the same time, various parameters have been attributed the role of biomarkers creating the frame for new monitoring and treatment strategies and offering new insights into the pathogenesis of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema. In this review, we gathered the results of studies that investigated various specific OCT (angiography) parameters in diabetic macular edema, such as central subfoveal thickness (CST), cube average thickness (CAT), cube volume (CV), choroidal thickness (CT), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), retinal thickness at the fovea (RTF), subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), central macular thickness (CMT), choroidal vascularity index (CVI), total macular volume (TMV), central choroid thickness (CCT), photoreceptor outer segment (PROS), perfused capillary density (PCD), foveal avascular zone (FAZ), subfoveal neuroretinal detachment (SND), hyperreflective foci (HF), disorganization of the inner retinal layers (DRIL), ellipsoid zone (EZ), inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junctions, vascular density (VD), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and superficial capillary plexus (SCP), in order to provide a synthesis of biomarkers that are currently used for the early diagnosis, assessment, monitoring, and outlining of prognosis.

Intraocular foreign bodies (IOFBs) are an important cause of visual loss within the group of working age population. We aim to present the clinical features and the algorithm according to which we manage the foreign bodies that are located in the posterior segment of the eye. We define the outcomes and the prognostic factors that influenced the final visual acuity and globe survival in patients with IOFBs that we extracted by pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) over a 5-year period. We reviewed the medical records of all the cases with IOFBs that we removed by PPV, over 5 years (2009–2013). We extracted the following parameters: age, gender, wound anatomy, IOFB characteristics, ocular lesions, initial and final visual acuities. We used the program SPSS version 20.0.0. for the statistical analysis of our data. During 5 years, we treated 21 IOFBs by PPV, representing 12.20 % of all the open globe injuries. All the patients were males with the median age of 36 years. The foreign body was located in the vitreous - 11 cases (52.38 %), retina - seven cases (33.33 %) and perforating - three cases (14.28 %). Retinal detachment (RD) at presentation was identified in eight cases (38.09 %) and endophthalmitis, in six cases (28.57 %). The visual outcome was significantly worse in patients with RD at presentation (p = 0.012) and with IOFBs larger than 3 mm (p = 0.042). Endophthalmitis did not influence the visual outcome. The worse prognostic factors were: RD at presentation and large foreign body. IRCT2015040418966N3 / Apr. 9/2015

Malfunction of outer retinal barrier and choroid in the occurrence and progression of diabetic macular edema

Purpose. To evaluate the outcome and identify the prognostic factors of traumatic endophthalmitis over a 5-year period.Methods. We reviewed the medical records of all the traumatic endophthalmities that we treated in our department over the last 5 years (2009–2013). We extracted the following parameters: age, gender, wound anatomy, associated ocular lesions, treatment, and initial and final visual acuities. We used the program SPSS version 20.0.0. for the statistical analysis of our data.Results. During the last 5 years, we treated 14 traumatic endophthalmities, representing 46.66% of all types of endophthalmities. The infection rate in open globe injuries was 8.13% and 34.78%, if an intraocular foreign body (IOFB) was associated. All the patients were males with the median age of 37 years. Initial visual acuities varied between light perception and 0.4 and the timing of treatment from a few hours to 10 days. We administered antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs, systemically and intravitreally, in all cases. We performed pars plana vitrectomy in 64.28% of cases. In 57.14% of cases, the final visual acuity was 0.1 or more.Conclusions. IOFBs increased significantly the risk for endophthalmitis. The worse prognostic factors were retinal detachment at presentation and delayed treatment. This trial is registered withIRCT2014082918966N1.

BACKGROUND:Retinopathy is a serious complication related to prematurity and a leading cause of childhood blindness. The aggressive posterior form of retinopathy of prematurity (APROP) has a worse anatomical and functional outcome following laser ther...

The era of artificial intelligence (AI) has revolutionized our daily lives and AI has become a powerful force that is gradually transforming the field of medicine. Ophthalmology sits at the forefront of this transformation thanks to the effortless acquisition of an abundance of imaging modalities. There has been tremendous work in the field of AI for retinal diseases, with age-related macular degeneration being at the top of the most studied conditions. The purpose of the current systematic review was to identify and evaluate, in terms of strengths and limitations, the articles that apply AI to optical coherence tomography (OCT) images in order to predict the future evolution of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) during its natural history and after treatment in terms of OCT morphological structure and visual function. After a thorough search through seven databases up to 1 January 2022 using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, 1800 records were identified. After screening, 48 articles were selected for full-text retrieval and 19 articles were finally included. From these 19 articles, 4 articles concentrated on predicting the anti-VEGF requirement in neovascular AMD (nAMD), 4 articles focused on predicting anti-VEGF efficacy in nAMD patients, 3 articles predicted the conversion from early or intermediate AMD (iAMD) to nAMD, 1 article predicted the conversion from iAMD to geographic atrophy (GA), 1 article predicted the conversion from iAMD to both nAMD and GA, 3 articles predicted the future growth of GA and 3 articles predicted the future outcome for visual acuity (VA) after anti-VEGF treatment in nAMD patients. Since using AI methods to predict future changes in AMD is only in its initial phase, a systematic review provides the opportunity of setting the context of previous work in this area and can present a starting point for future research.