Cornea

Recent research suggests the need for routine HSV-1 and VZV PCR testing in all explanted corneas regardless of clinical suspicion to detect, treat, and prevent possible recurrence of herpes infection in corneal grafts and support graft survival.

Patients need to pay attention to their eye health over the long term.

Members of the Ophthalmology Times Europe® Editorial Advisory Board were asked to predict developments in their ophthalmic specialties and interests for 2023. A focus is our ageing population, while efficiency and productivity are also on their minds. The board members agree that one of the major challenges in the year to come will be the large number of patients awaiting diagnosis and treatment, which is only going to increase with the rising average life expectancy worldwide.

Corneal cross-linking (CXL) is improving all the time, although all protocols retain the basic requirements for oxygen, riboflavin and UV light. Recent developments mean that CXL at the slit lamp is feasible, which will improve access to the procedure.

An end-of-week review of what happened in ophthalmology from 29 October to 3 November 2022.

One clinician advises investigating prospective patients for history and evidence suggesting HSV keratitis, and monitoring for post-surgery epithelial defects.

Gentle eye drops, laser or minimally invasive surgery, advising patients on safe viewing of electronic devices, and addressing eyelid disorders can all help to minimise adverse effects.

Methods using a combination of non-invasive thermal treatments and meibomian gland expression seem to be particularly effective.

Patients appreciate the convenience and aesthetic improvements of light-based dry eye treatment, and it can also be applied elsewhere on the face.

Non-diffractive lenses offer alternative in challenging post-corneal refractive surgery cases.

Innovations in the design of rigid corneal lenses and scleral lenses have delayed the use of or eliminated the need for keratoplasty.

A combination of posters, podium presentations and instructional courses provided invaluable revelations to the ophthalmic community.

Those who used both traditional and electronic cigarettes reported severe to very severe ophthalmic symptoms.

Almost 5 million patients in the IRIS Registry had received at least one diagnosis of DED between 2013 and 2019; of those, 203,171 were children under 18 years of age and 4,592,808 were adults.

The epithelium adapts to compensate for changes in the cornea and these changes can be detected with high sensitivity, reducing both false positives and false negatives in the diagnosis of keratoconus.

Ophthalmologists should look past the eyes in patients presenting with a persistent ocular allergic response and be mindful that sight-threatening vernal keratoconjunctivitis is a possibility.

Members of the Ophthalmology Times Europe Editorial Advisory Board offer comments on the symposia they are most excited to attend at the 2022 ESCRS Congress in Milan, Italy.

Spanish investigators hypothesise that conjunctivitis plays a role in disease transmission.

A short course of a low-dose corticosteroid eye drop can relieve inflammation with only a low increase in intraocular pressure.

CAM encourages corneal healing in patients with ocular surface disease.

In a study, investigators found that no characteristics of inflammatory bowel disease are related to ocular manifestations of the disease.

Several issues may restimulate the virus in those patients with prior exposure.

The companies will jointly develop 4D bio-fabricated corneal transplants for diseases that require endothelial keratoplasty and natural lenticule transplants.

The threshold limit value is increased for virus and bacterial eradication.

RegeneRX Biopharmaceuticals and its US joint venture partner and licensee, HLB Therapeutics, signed a letter of intent this week with a global ophthalmology contract research organization to conduct a pair of Phase 3 clinical trials simultaneously beginning in the fall in the US and Europe for patients with neurotrophic keratitis.

Kiora Pharmaceuticals announced it has enrolled the first patient as a part of a Phase 2 study evaluating KIO-201 topical eye drops in patients with PCED, a rare ocular surface condition characterized by non-healing wounds on the eye surface.

Biologic treatments can be utilised to help the eye heal itself in inflammatory conditions such as dry eye disorder.

Eye rubbing is an essential factor in the development of keratoconus. “No rub, no cone” is the rule: a genetic predisposition for the disease will come to nothing without excessive eye rubbing.

In a paper, investigators identified strategies used by patients to reduce the cost of therapy and its impact on adherence to treatment. Patients may be reluctant to disclose challenges regarding adherence to dry eye disease therapy, as well as fears of worsening quality of life.