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Background: Diabetic macular edema (DME) is the most common cause of visual deterioration in patients with diabetes mellitus. Various treatment options have been used for DME, including intravitreal injection of steroids and anti-vascular endothelial growth factors., Objectives: To evaluate and compare the functional and anatomical outcomes of intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) and intravitreal aflibercept (IVA) treatments in patients with DME., Design: Retrospective study., Methods: Four hundred three eyes of 235 naïve patients who underwent IVR or IVA treatment for DME followed up to 36 months included in the study. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and central macular thickness (CMT) were measured at baseline, year 1, 2 and 3. Primary endpoint of the study was the change in BCVA and CMT each year from baseline and requirement of additional treatment (laser/steroid injection)., Results: There were 198 eyes in IVR group and 205 eyes in IVA group. The changes in mean BCVA were 0.09 ± 0.32 versus 0.17 ± 0.41 Logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) ( p  = 0.042) at year 1, 0.09 ± 0.37 versus 0.12 ± 0.45 logMAR ( p  = 0.512) at year 2 and 0.13 ± 0.36 versus 0.15 ± 0.48 logMAR ( p  = 0.824) at year 3 in IVA and IVR groups, respectively. The baseline mean BCVA were lower ( p  = 0.004) in IVA group. The mean total number of injections was 7.93 ± 3.38 versus 7.42 ± 3.05 ( p  = 0.112)., Conclusion: At year 1, change in mean BCVA was statistically significantly higher in IVA group; however this difference did not persist at years 2 and 3. Although the mean total number of injections was similar between groups, the requirement for adjuvant steroid treatment was significantly higher in ranibizumab group, which may affect the number of visits and treatment costs. Both ranibizumab and aflibercept treatments achieved a good long-term visual and anatomical response in DME patients., Competing Interests: The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest., (© The Author(s), 2023.)

Purpose: To examine the efficacy of phototherapeutic keratectomy as a treatment for variable pathologies with anterior corneal opacities and evaluate the distribution of phototherapeutic keratectomy indications over the past 10 years., Methods: The records of 334 eyes from 276 patients who underwent phototherapeutic keratectomy between March 2010 and 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. Etiologies of the patients who underwent phototherapeutic keratectomy were noted, and their changes were examined. Refractive and visual acuity results before and after the operation were recorded and analyzed according to etiology., Results: The mean age of the patients was 40.7 ± 16.2 years (range: 19-84). The mean follow-up was 25.5 ± 19.1 months (range: 3-96). Phototherapeutic keratectomy was most frequently applied for corneal stromal dystrophies (44%, 151 eyes from 111 patients), and granular dystrophy was the most common phototherapeutic keratectomy indication among corneal dystrophies. Unlike other indications, there has been an increase in the application of phototherapeutic keratectomy for persistent subepithelial opacities due to adenoviral conjunctivitis in the past 10 years. There was a significant increase in visual acuity in all groups except for the recurrent epithelial defect group (p<0.05). The greatest improvement in visual acuity was detected for stromal dystrophies in the granular dystrophy subgroup., Conclusion: Despite changing indication trends, phototherapeutic keratectomy remains an effective and reliable treatment for anterior corneal lesions.

Objectives: This study evaluated anterior segment surgeries performed during the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Prevention of virus transmission is a critical consideration for surgeons, and includes assessment of etiology, the referral region, demographic characteristics, and the surgery to be performed., Methods: The data of 144 patients who underwent anterior segment surgery between March 19, 2020 and June 1, 2020 were retrospectively reviewed. The patient demographic data and details of ophthalmological examination findings, the region patients were referred from, and the type of surgery performed were recorded and analyzed., Results: A total of 144 patients, 49 women (34%) and 95 men (66%), were included in this study. The mean age of the patients was 31.30±25.88 years (range: 1-86 years). The presenting complaint was in the right eye in 43.7% of the cases, in the left eye in 52.8%, and in both eyes in 3.5% of the cases. While 94.4% of the applications were from Istanbul, the remaining 5.6% were from outside the province. Though 43.7% of the cases were patients seen previously at the study hospital in Istanbul, 56.3% presented for the first time. This hospital was the first referral center in only 39.6% of the cases. Evaluation of etiology indicated that corneal perforation (18.1%) was the most common, followed by keratitis (13.2%). The most common surgical intervention applied was amnion membrane transplantation (19.4%), followed by perforation repair (16.7%)., Conclusion: Ophthalmological surgeries continue to be performed during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, however, special algorithms must be used to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission and to ensure continuity of healthcare for ophthalmology patients., (Copyright © 2021 by Beyoglu Eye Training and Research Hospital.)

Purpose: To assess the role of inflammation in the pathogenesis of idiopathic epiretinal membrane (iERM) using the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and mean platelet volume (MPV) as indicators of inflammation and to compare these parameter levels between iERM and control subjects., Methods: We retrospectively analyzed the medical records of 36 patients who underwent vitrectomy-ERM peeling and 39 patients who had cataract surgery. We obtained blood samples from all individuals who participated in the study to investigate these parameters., Results: Seventy-five subjects were included in this study: 36 in the iERM group and 39 in the control group. The mean neutrophil and MPV levels were significantly higher in iERM subjects than in control subjects. The mean lymphocyte level was lower in the iERM group. The mean NLR, PLR, and MPV levels were higher in iERM subjects than in control subjects., Conclusion: The higher NLR, PLR, and MPV levels found in patients with iERM may indicate that subclinical systemic inflammation may associate with iERM., Competing Interests: Conflict of interest statement: The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s), 2021.)

Purpose: This study aimed to compare lamina cribrosa (LC) parameters obtained by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) of eyes with exfoliation syndrome (PXS), exfoliation glaucoma (PXG) and healthy subjects., Methods: In this cross-sectional comparative study, 206 eyes of 206 subjects were included. The Bruch's membrane opening distance (BMOd), the anterior and posterior borders of the LC (LC thickness) and the anterior laminar depth (ALD) were imaged using the enhanced depth imaging (EDI) mode of SD-OCT., Results: There were 96 eyes in the PXG group, 55 eyes in the PXS group, and 55 eyes in the control group. The LC thickness was the thinnest in the PXG group (151.10 ± 51.18 μm), followed in the PXS group (158.76 ± 49.62 μm), and the thickest in the control group (181.00 ± 39.10 μm) (p = 0.002). In PXG cases where LC was observed in the deepest location, the ALD value was highest (423.92 ± 111.75 μm) in the PXG group, followed by the control group (403.08 ± 63.56 μm), and PXS group (357.43 ± 80.87 μm) (p < 0.001). The BMOd values were largest in the PXG group (1542.43 ± 152.99 μm), followed by the control group (1506.52 ± 169.09 μm) and PXS group (1435.74 ± 141.06 μm) (p < 0.001). In the PXG group, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) thickness, BCVA, and cup to disc (C/D) ratio were also statistically different from the other groups (p < 0.001)., Conclusion: We found thinner LC thickness in PXG and PXS cases relative to the control group. Although its severity is associated with the diagnosis and severity of glaucoma, LC thinning can be encountered as an isolated condition in the presence of exfoliation., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Purpose/Aim of the study : The aim of this study was to compare the lamina cribrosa (LC) measurements obtained by Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) and Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography (SS-OCT) in the same eye and we also investigate how the differences in measurement will change in the presence of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEG). Materials and Methods : A total of 30 patients from one institution have accepted. Detailed medical case histories and clinical examination, optic nerve head imaging using the SD-OCT (Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) and SS-OCT (Triton; Topcon Medical Systems, Tokyo, Japan) for patients with pseudoexfoliation glaucoma and healthy volunteer. Results : Fifty-three eyes of the 30 patients (13 female, 17 male) were included in the study. Twenty-nine of eyes were healthy and 24 of eyes had pseudoexfoliation glaucoma. The mean age was 62 ± 7.3 years (range, 50-86 years). The difference between the mean Bruch's membrane opening distance measured by SD-OCT (1504.7 ± 154.2 µm) and by SS-OCT (1568.6 ± 193.3 µm) was statistically significant (p = .009). The difference between LC depth and LC thickness measurements between two OCT devices were not statistically significant. There was a negative correlation between the difference of two devices Bruch's membrane opening distance measurements and the cup/disc ratio (p = .007). Conclusion : Generally accepted belief is that lamina cribrosa visibility would be worse in healthy subjects who have thick prelaminar tissues, and better in individuals with glaucoma who had suffered the loss of prelaminar tissue. The difference between Bruch's membrane opening distance measurements taken with two devices was greater in normal eyes, and this difference was decreasing in glaucomatous eyes in our study. The Lamina Cribrosa measurement values shall not be directly compared between SD-OCT and SS-OCT.