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ABSTRACT.Purpose: To compare lamina cribrosa (LC) and choroidal thicknesses using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) and healthy controls. Methods: A total number of 44 eyes of 22 patients with PD and 50 eyes of 25 healthy subjects were utilized in this institutional cross-sectional study. After a complete ophthalmic examination, all eyes were imaged with OCT (RTVue-100 version 5.1 Fourier-domain optical coherence tomography; Optovue Inc., Fremont, CA, USA); LC and choroidal thickness were assessed. Results: The mean LC thicknesses were 209.4 AE 40.2 lm in patients with PD and 292.5 AE 33.7 lm in control subjects. There was a significant difference in the mean LC thickness between the groups (p < 0.0001). The choroidal thickness measurements of the PD group at the subfoveal region and 1.5 mm temporal and 1.5 mm nasal to the fovea were 228.1 AE 44.3, 193.2 AE 41.4 and 188.4 AE 49.0 lm, respectively, whereas measurements for the controls were, respectively, 246.5 AE 38.2, 227.3 AE 34.7 and 216.7 AE 51.4 lm. The choroid was significantly thinner in eyes of the PD group compared to that of the controls (p = 0.001, p < 0.001, and p = 0.006). There was no significant correlation between the disease severity and OCT parameters. The duration of the disease showed a statistically significant negative correlation with LC (rs[94] = À0.700, p < 0.001), and average subfoveal and temporal and nasal choroid thicknesses Conclusions: Regardless of the disease severity, PD may cause atrophy and volume loss in the lamina cribrosa, and choroid. An enhanced depth imaging technique may be used as an additional modality in the diagnosis and follow-up of patients with PD.

IntroductionGlaucoma is among the leading causes of blindness worldwide. As an optic neuropathy, glaucoma is characterized by progressive retinal ganglion cell death. Elevated intraocular pressure is the only commutable risk factor for glaucoma. However, despite the effective control of intraocular pressure (IOP), the progression of visual field loss suggests that IOP-independent mechanisms may also play a role in glaucomatous degeneration in patients having normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) (1,2).Based on the similarities between glaucoma and neurodegenerative diseases, including the selective loss of neuron populations and common mechanisms of cell injury and death, a contemporary hypothesis has implicated glaucoma as a neurodegenerative disease (3). The IOP-independent mechanisms that cause degeneration in NTG may be similar to the mechanisms at work in neurodegenerative diseases. Some studies have Background/aim: To evaluate, in vivo, the optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) in patients with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG) and those with Alzheimer disease (AD) in comparison with healthy subjects. Materials and methods:This cross-sectional study included 18 patients with NTG, 20 with AD, and 20 control subjects. An ophthalmologic examination and OCT scans of both eyes were performed in all patients.Results: There was a significant reduction in peripapillary RNFL thickness and macular GCC thickness and a significant increase in the global loss volume (GLV) rate in both the NTG and AD patients when compared to the control subjects (P = 0.004, P = 0.006, P < 0.001, respectively). The statistical evaluation showed no difference in any RNFL or GCC parameters between the AD and NTG groups (P > 0.05). There was a negative correlation between disease duration and average RNFL and GCC thicknesses (r = −0.350, P = 0.027 and r = −0.471, P = 0.002, respectively) and a positive correlation between duration and GLV (r = 0.427, P = 0.006) in the AD group. Conclusion:The average RNFL thickness, GCC thickness, and GLV rates may help in the diagnosis of AD as an additional examination and may provide some important clues about the duration of the disease.

Although RNFL thickness and GLV changes may show the ganglion cell loss in both disease but none of the OCT parameters are correlated with the severity of PD. OCT may help to reveal the ganglion cell damage but may not help in determination of severity during the clinical follow-up of PD patients.

Objectives: To evaluate the quality, reliability, and educational content of YouTube videos related to soft contact lenses (CL). Methods: An online YouTube search was performed for the terms contact lens and other common CL-related terms contact lens insertion and removal, contact lens wearing, and contact lens care. The first 50 videos were evaluated for each term. Videos were evaluated using three checklists (the modified DISCERN criteria, the Journal of the American Medical Association [JAMA] criteria, and Global Quality Score [GQS]). Video popularity was also evaluated using the video power index (VPI). Videos were classified into three groups according to the source of the upload; group 1: universities/occupational organizations, group 2: medical ad/ profit-oriented companies, and group 3: independent users. Results: From among the 200 videos analyzed, 79 were included. The mean mDISCERN score of the videos was 2.3461.39, the mean JAMA score was 1.2060.99, and the mean GQS value was 3.4761.28. There were positive correlations between the three checklists (P,0.001). Video power index was not correlated with each score. The videos in group 1 (13.9%) had the highest scores whereas videos in group 3 (41.8%) had the lowest scores. There was no significant difference between the video sources according to the VPI. Conclusion: Although some YouTube videos contain useful information for CL wearers, most videos have poor quality and reliability and contain insufficient information. Eye care providers should be aware of these sources and steer CL users to information sources that provide accurate and reliable information and do not contain misleading information.