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Background Methods Results Conclusions To explore the role of gut microbiota in preterm infants at high risk of developing retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).Preterm infants with gestational age (GA) < 32 weeks and/or birth weight (BW) < 1500 g born between 2020 and 2021 were prospectively enrolled. Their faecal samples were collected and analysed at different postnatal ages of life using 16S rRNA gene sequencing on the Miseq platform. The main outcome measures were the microbial diversity, taxonomy, relative abundance, bacterial predicted functional analysis, and their associations with different ROP groups. Subgroup analyses were performed by matching their GA and BW across different ROP groups.A total of 268 stool samples were collected from 110 preterm infants, including 13 with type 1 ROP, 44 with type 2 or mild ROP, and 53 without ROP. Type 1 ROP showed no significant difference in microbial diversity up to 8 postnatal weeks (p = 0.057), while type 2 and no ROP groups displayed increased diversity (p = 0.0015 and p = 0.049, respectively). Bifidobacterium genera was notably less abundant in type 1 ROP group at first postnatal week (p = 0.022) and remained low in subsequent weeks. Predicted functional analysis revealed enriched pathways in membrane transport, carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid metabolism, and replication and repair.Reduced gut microbial diversity may be associated with ROP development in high‐risk preterm infants. Further research is needed to comprehend how early‐life Bifidobacterium reduction affects metabolism and how targeting microbiome may help for ROP prevention and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gut microbiota undergoes substantial development from birth, and its development in the initial years of life has a potentially lifelong effect on the health of the individual. However, various factors can disrupt the development of the gut microbiota, leading to a condition known as dysbiosis, particularly in preterm infants. Current studies involving adults have suggested that the gut microbiota not only influences the gut but also has multidimensional effects on remote organs; these pathways are often referred to as the gut–organ axis. Imbalance of the gut microbiota may lead to the development of multiple diseases. Recent studies have revealed that gut dysbiosis in preterm infants may cause several acute morbidities—such as necrotizing enterocolitis, late‐onset sepsis, bronchopulmonary dysplasia, and retinopathy of prematurity—and it may also influence long‐term outcomes including neurodevelopment and somatic growth. This review mainly presents the existing evidence regarding the relationships between the gut microbiota and these morbidities in preterm infants and explores the role of the gut–organ axis in these morbidities. This paper thus offers insights into the future perspectives on microbiota interventions for promoting the health of preterm infants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 53-year-old male with newly diagnosed acromegaly came to our clinic with the chief complaint of diplopia. He had the past ocular history of uneventful phacoemulsification cataract surgery with intraocular lens (IOL) implantation in the right eye 17 years ago and left eye 15 years ago. Postoperative examination showed remarkable improvement in visual acuity. Two years ago, he developed elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) in both eyes, which was well-controlled with the use of travoprost 0.004%/timolol 0.5%. At the clinic, slit-lamp examination revealed inferiorly subluxated IOL bilaterally. The patient received IOL repositioning with pars plana vitrectomy and scleral fixation in the left eye smoothly. We hypothesize that excess growth hormone is associated with dysregulation of fibrillin, resulting in zonular weakness, which causes late bilateral IOL subluxation. Elevated IOP may also be related to acromegaly. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to describe the association between IOL subluxation and acromegaly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aims: The aims of this study is to evaluate the anatomic, visual outcomes and associated prognostic factors in patients with advanced retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) following vitrectomy., Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients with ROP who underwent vitrectomy from 2005 to 2016 was conducted. All the patients had a follow-up period of at least 5 years. Univariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to explore the factors related to unfavourable outcomes., Results: In total, 81 eyes of 51 patients were included. The mean age at last follow-up was 10.2 years. The anatomic success rate was 96.3% (26/27) for stage 4A, 90.9% (20/22) for stage 4B and 31.3% (10/32) for stage 5 ROP (p<0.01). The mean logMAR best corrected visual acuity of the stage-4A eyes was the highest, followed by those of stage-4B and stage-5 eyes (0.8, 1.5 and 2.6 for stages 4A, 4B and 5, respectively; p<0.01). High myopia (≤ -5.0 D) was noted in 70.8% and 71.4% of stage-4A and stage-4B eyes, respectively. Cataract was the most common complication (25.9%), followed by corneal opacity (17.3%), strabismus (16.1%), and phthisis (16.1%). Stage of the disease was a poor prognostic factor in all vitrectomised eyes (p<0.01). Vitrectomy combined lensectomy was a significant predictor for poor anatomic outcomes for stage-4 eyes (p=0.03). Presence of plus disease was also a possible factor affecting the surgical outcomes., Conclusion: The long-term surgical outcomes of the eyes with stage 4A and 4B ROP were favourable. Management of stage 5 ROP remained challenging., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)