PURPOSE To evaluate the outcomes of intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) use in patients with a vitreous hemorrhage (VH) secondary to proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). DESIGN Retrospective, interventional case series. METHODS Patients who presented to Scheie Eye Institute between January 2008 and January 2015 with a new VH secondary to PDR and treated with IVB were included. Exclusion criteria consisted of IVB treatment prior to the study, a history of pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), and less than one year of follow-up. Outcomes of interest were additional treatments including PPV, injections, and panretinal photocoagulation (PRP), as well as visual acuity at baseline and one year. RESULTS Of the 111 eligible eyes, 55 (49.5%) had PRP, 35 (31.6%) were managed with injections alone, and 21 (18.9%) had PPV after one year. The overall average number of injections during this time was 2 (range 1–9), and 13 (11.7%) eyes were managed with a single injection alone. Of the 69 eyes with two years of follow up, 43 (62.3%) had PRP, 16 (23.2%) were treated with injections alone, and 10 (14.5%) had PPV. CONCLUSIONS This study underscores the potentially important role that IVB injections have in the management of patients with VH secondary to PDR. The results indicate that a proportion of patients may be treated with a minimal amount of intervention requiring one or two anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections only. Also, the rate of PPV at two years (27.9%, n=31) suggests that most patients may be managed non-surgically.

To increase participation of African Americans in genetic research studies, efforts should be made to raise comfort with DNA donation.

To identify global gene expression changes in the corneal epithelium of keratoconus (KC) patients compared to non-KC myopic controls. METHODS.RNA-sequencing was performed on corneal epithelium samples of five progressive KC and five myopic control patients. Selected results were validated using TaqMan quantitative PCR (qPCR) on 31 additional independent samples, and protein level validation was conducted using western blot analysis on a subset. Immunohistochemistry was performed on tissue microarrays containing cores from over 100 KC and control cases. WNT10A transcript levels in corneal epithelium were correlated with tomographic indicators of KC disease severity in 15 eyes. Additionally, WNT10A was overexpressed in vitro in immortalized corneal epithelial cells. RESULTS.WNT10A was found to be underexpressed in KC epithelium at the transcript (ratio KC/control = 0.59, P = 0.02 per RNA-sequencing study; ratio = 0.66, P = 0.03 per qPCR) and protein (ratio = 0.07, P = 0.06) levels. Immunohistochemical analysis also indicated WNT10A protein was decreased in Bowman's layer of KC patients. In contrast, WNT10A transcript level positively correlated with increased keratometry (Kmax ρ = 0.57, P = 0.02). Finally, WNT10A positively regulated COL1A1 expression in corneal epithelial cells. CONCLUSIONS.A specific Wnt ligand, WNT10A, is reduced at the mRNA and protein level in KC epithelium and Bowman's layer. This ligand positively regulates collagen type I expression in corneal epithelial cells. The results suggest that WNT10A expression in the corneal epithelium may play a role in progressive KC.