Progressive calcification of Bruch’s membrane (BM) causes considerable visual morbidity in patients with pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE). Since calcification is hyperreflective on optical coherence tomography (OCT), our aim was to measure BM calcification with OCT imaging.

Case-control study with 45 patients with PXE under 40 years (range, 11-39) and 25 controls (range, 14-39). Spectralis HRA-OCT imaging consisted of seven macular B-scans with 250-µm spacing. Retinal segmentation was performed with the IOWA Reference Algorithms. MATLAB was used to extract and average z-axis reflectivity profiles. Valproic acid datasheet Layer reflectivities were normalized to the ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers. Both median and peak layer reflectivities were compared between patients with PXE and controls. The discriminative value of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE)-BM peak reflectivity was analyzed using receiver operating characteristic analysis.

The reflectivity profile of patients with PXE differed from controls in the outer renical trials.

In patients with PXE, the OCT reflectivity of Bruch’s membrane may be the first biomarker for Bruch’s membrane calcification and a valuable ophthalmologic endpoint in clinical trials.

Evaluation of PnPP-19 safety and efficacy in reducing the intraocular pressure (IOP) of animals with healthy (normotensive) and ocular hypertensive eyes. PnPP-19 is a synthetic peptide designed from

spider toxin PnTx2-6.

Toxicity tests used chicken chorioallantoic membranes. Electroretinograms (ERGs) were recorded before and after administration of different doses of PnPP-19 on the eyes of Wistar rats. Histological sections of corneas and retinas were prepared. The efficacy of PnPP-19 in reducing IOP was evaluated for normotensive and ocular hypertensive animals using a tonometer. Ocular hypertension was induced in the right eye through injection of hyaluronic acid (HA) into the anterior chamber. ERG was recorded before and after glaucoma induction. The eyes were enucleated, and the corneas and retinas were histologically evaluated.

PnPP-19 showed no toxicity, being safe for ocular application. A single topical instillation of one eye drop of the peptide solution was able to reduce IOP, both in healthy and ocular hypertensive rats, for 24 hours, without eliciting any apparent toxicity. PnPP-19 is a nitric oxide inducer and the results suggest that it may improve the conventional outflow of aqueous humor (AH), preventing the progression of optic nerve degeneration.

PnPP-19 has great potential to emerge as a promising drug for the treatment of ocular hypertension.

We regard our findings as exciting progress in translational glaucoma research, combining drug discovery, natural product research, and pharmacology, which may contribute to the establishment of new therapies for the treatment of this disease.

We regard our findings as exciting progress in translational glaucoma research, combining drug discovery, natural product research, and pharmacology, which may contribute to the establishment of new therapies for the treatment of this disease.

To analyze the epidemiological pattern, demographics, risk factors, and treatment outcomes of filamentous fungal keratitis at a tertiary hospital in Taiwan.

We recruited 65 patients (65 eyes) with culture-proven filamentous fungal keratitis who received diagnosis and treatment at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital between 2015 and 2018. All isolates were examined through conventional morphological identification and subjected to molecular identification with internal transcribed spacer sequencing. Data on patient demographics, predisposing factors, and treatment outcomes were collected.

In total, filamentous fungi belonged to 16 genera were identified.

spp. (29 cases [44.6%]) was the most commonly isolated organism overall, followed by

spp. and

(seven cases [10.8% for each]), and

spp. (six cases [9.2%]). Some fungi that have not been regarded as human pathogens were also identified, such as

and

. Among 52 (80%) patients with predisposing factors, 30 (46.2%) had trauma. The ulcers of 33 (50.8%) patients resolved with medical treatment only. Additionally, six patients (9.2%) had corneal perforation, and nine patients (13.9%) required therapeutic/destructive surgical interventions including therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty (seven patients) or evisceration (two patients). Only 16 patients (24.6%) had final visual acuity of 20/40 or better.

Through molecular diagnosis, a high diversity of fungal pathogens was revealed along with an increasing incidence of

and

in Taiwan. The most common risk factor for filamentous fungal keratitis was trauma. The visual outcomes were guarded.

The molecular diagnosis provides insight into accurate identification, which affects the epidemiology and diversity of pathogens of filamentous fungal keratitis.

The molecular diagnosis provides insight into accurate identification, which affects the epidemiology and diversity of pathogens of filamentous fungal keratitis.

To explore the feasibility of using various easy-to-obtain biomarkers to monitor non-compliance (measurement error) during visual field assessments.

Forty-two healthy adults (42 eyes) and seven glaucoma patients (14 eyes) underwent two same-day visual field assessments. An ordinary webcam was used to compute seven potential biomarkers of task compliance, based primarily on eye gaze, head pose, and facial expression. We quantified the association between each biomarker and measurement error, as defined by (1) test-retest differences in overall test scores (mean sensitivity), and (2) failures to respond to visible stimuli on individual trials (stimuli -3 dB or more brighter than threshold).

In healthy eyes, three of the seven biomarkers were significantly associated with overall (test-retest) measurement error (

= 0.003-0.007), and at least two others exhibited possible trends (

= 0.052-0.060). The weighted linear sum of all seven biomarkers was associated with overall measurement error, in both healthy eyes (

= 0.51,

< 0.001) and patients (

= 0.65,

< 0.001). Five biomarkers were each associated with failures to respond to visible stimuli on individual trials (all

< 0.001).

Inexpensive, autonomous measures of task compliance are associated with measurement error in visual field assessments, in terms of both the overall reliability of a test and failures to respond on particular trials (“lapses”). This could be helpful for identifying low-quality assessments and for improving assessment techniques (e.g., by discounting suspect responses or by automatically triggering comfort breaks or encouragement).

This study explores a potential way of improving the reliability of visual field assessments, a crucial but notoriously unreliable clinical measure.

This study explores a potential way of improving the reliability of visual field assessments, a crucial but notoriously unreliable clinical measure.