No abstract

Visual field defects that do not improve by increased myopic correction in TDS may be due to the severe bending of the retinal nerve fiber tissue, which would impair axonal flow.

Background Infectious keratitis is a major cause of global blindness. We tested whether standalone photoactivated chromophore corneal cross-linking (PACK-CXL) may be an effective first-line treatment in early to moderate infectious keratitis, compared with standard antimicrobial treatment. Methods This is a randomized, controlled, multinational phase 3 clinical trial. Participants in five centers in Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, and China, aged ≥ 18 years, with infectious keratitis of presumed bacterial, fungal, or mixed origin, were randomly assigned (1:1) to PACK-CXL, or antimicrobial therapy. Outcomes measures included healing, defined as time to re-epithelialization of the corneal epithelial defect in the absence of inflammatory activity in the anterior chamber and clearance of stromal infiltrates. Treatment success was defined as the complete resolution of signs of infection. Results Between July 21, 2016, and March 4, 2020, participants were randomly assigned to receive PACK-CXL (n = 18) or antimicrobial therapy per American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) guidelines (n = 21). No participants were lost to follow-up. Four eyes were excluded from the epithelialization time analysis due to treatment failure: two in the antimicrobial therapy group, and two in the PACK-CXL group. Success rates were 88.9% (16/18 patients) in the PACK-CXL group and 90.5% (19/21 patients) in the medication group. There was no significant difference in time to complete corneal re-epithelialization (P = 0.828) between both treatment groups. Conclusions PACK-CXL may be an alternative to antimicrobial drugs for first-line and standalone treatment of early to moderate infectious keratitis of bacterial or fungal origin. Trial registration This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, trial registration number: NCT02717871

BackgroundMacular edema is a known complication even after uneventful cataract surgery. The chronic use of prostaglandin analogs is a risk factor for the development of pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (CME). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are considered first-line therapy but refractory postsurgical CME represents a therapeutic challenge, as there is not an evidence-based treatment.ObjectiveTo report the use of a single implant of intravitreal dexamethasone for tafluprost-associated pseudophakic CME refractory to NSAIDs and to sub-Tenon’s corticosteroid injections.Case reportA 64-year-old female with ocular hypertension treated with tafluprost experienced decreased vision (visual acuity 20/60) and metamorphopsia 2 months after uneventful cataract extraction. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) revealed CME. After 1 month of topical and oral NSAIDs, CME was still evident on SD-OCT (visual acuity 20/50). Two sub-Tenon’s betamethasone injections were performed at a 2-week interval. As CME was still present, 2 months after the diagnosis of CME (visual acuity 20/40), the patient underwent a single dexamethasone intravitreal implant. One month later, macular appearance was normal, and visual acuity increased to 20/30. This result was maintained throughout the 6 months of follow-up.ConclusionIn this report, a single implant of intravitreal dexamethasone successfully treated pseudophakic CME associated with the use of prostaglandin analogs unresponsive to NSAIDs and sub-Tenon’s betamethasone. The results of this report need to be corroborated by powered, prospective, randomized trials. The need for repeated treatments as well as the retreatment interval in patients requiring more than a single injection are issues still needing further investigations.