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PurposeTo study the relationship between fundus alterations, including retinal thickness and microvascular changes, and dermatomyositis (DM) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).MethodsA total of 16 patients with DM (32 eyes) and 16 healthy controls (HCs; 32 eyes) participated in this study. Based on the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study subzones, OCTA fundus data were divided into different layers and regions for comparison.ResultsThe full retinal thickness (RT) in the inner nasal (IN), outer nasal (ON), inner inferior (II), and outer inferior (OI) regions of patients with DM was significantly lower than that of HCs (P < 0.001). The inner layer RT was also significantly lower in the IN, ON, II, and OI regions in patients with DM (P < 0.001). The outer layer RT was lower only in the II region in patients with DM compared to HCs (P < 0.001). The full RT of the II region was more sensitive to the pathological changes of disease since its ROC curve had an AUC of 0.9028, 95% CI: 0.8159–0.9898. Meanwhile, the superficial vessel density (SVD) of patients with DM was significantly lower in the IN, ON, II, and OI regions compared to HCs (P < 0.001). The AUC for region II was 0.9634 (95% CI: 0.9034–1.0), which indicated good diagnostic sensitivity.ConclusionOptical coherence tomography angiography can be used to evaluate relevant ocular lesions and monitor disease progression in patients with DM and interstitial lung disease.

Objective To analyze the alterations in ophthalmic parameters in patients with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA), and find the possible eye surface recognition site of threatened abortion (TA) patients. Methods Fifty-two patients with RSA (104 eyes) were recruited. Analyzers were used to examine the parameters of MG and tear film. The distribution of the MG grades of the patients and the correlation between the MG and tear film were analyzed; tear film rupture was used as the grading standard for the MG grade. Results The grade for MG loss in the patients increased with the grade for tear film rupture. MG length (L) and MG area ratio (GA), MG diameter (D) and MG tortuosity index (TI), MG diameter deformation index (DI) and TI were positively correlated. L and TI was negatively correlated. The tear film rupture area was mainly concentrated in the fifth ring and quadrants 3 and 4. The intersection area was mainly located in the fifth ring of sixth and seventh regions. Conclusion In RSA patients, tear film stability is greater when MG loss is farther from the pupil. The degree of gland distortion may be a new diagnostic index for gland variation, and the probability of gland variation in patients with larger meibomian gland area can decrease. The tear film rupture area was mainly concentrated in the fifth ring of the sixth and seventh regions of the pupil, which is expected to become the eye surface recognition site for women with TA.

This study aimed to investigate the regional changes of brain white matter (WM) in DE patients using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI). A total of 25 dry eye patients (PAT) and 25 healthy controls (HC) were recruited. All subjects underwent DTI and NODDI, fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), radial diffusivity (RD), isotropic volume fraction (FISO), intra-cellular volume fraction (FICVF), and orientation dispersion index (ODI) were obtained respectively. Then complete Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), anxiety score (AS) or depression scores (DS) were obtained. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate the reliability of DTI and NODDI in distinguishing the two groups. DTI revealed that PAT had lower FA in both the left superior longitudinal fasciculus (LSLF) and the corpus callosum (CC), and higher MD in the LSLF, the right posterior limb of the internal capsule and the right posterior thalamic radiation. PAT had significant AD changes in regions including the genu of the CC, the right posterior limb of internal capsule, and the right splenium of the CC. From NODDI, PAT showed increased ODI in the LSLF and increased FISO in the right splenium of the CC. FICVF showed a significant decrease in the LSLF while increased in the left anterior corona radiata and the CC. Furthermore, the average values of MD and FICVF were significantly correlated with DS and AS. Hence the results of this study suggest that there are regional changes in WM in DE patients which may contribute to further understanding of the pathological mechanism of DE.

ObjectiveThe percent amplitude of fluctuation (PerAF) technique was utilized to evaluate the neural functions of specific cerebrum areas in patients with toothache (TA).Patients and MethodsAn aggregation of 18 patients with TA (eight males and 10 females) were included in the study. We also recruited 18 healthy controls (HCs; eight men and 10 women) aligned for sex and age. Resting functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans were obtained. Then, we utilized the PerAF method and a support vector machine (SVM) to analyze the image data and measure neural abnormalities in related cerebrum areas. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was utilized to appraise the two data sets.ResultsThe PerAF signals in the right dorsolateral superior frontal gyrus (RDSFG) and the right posterior central gyrus (RPCG) of TA sufferers were lower than HC signals. These results may reveal neural dysfunctions in relevant cerebrum regions. The AUC values of PerAF in the two areas were 0.979 in the RDSFG and 0.979 in the RPCG. The SVM results suggested that PerAF could be utilized to distinguish the TA group from HCs with a sensitivity of 75.00%, a specificity of 66.67%, and an accuracy of 70.83%.ConclusionPatients with TA had marked differences in PerAF values in some regions of the cerebrum. Changes in PerAF values represented distinctions in blood oxygen level dependent semaphore intensity, which reflected the overactivity or inactivation of some cerebrum areas in those suffering from TA. At the same time, we analyzed the PerAF values of TAs with ROC curve, which can be helpful for the diagnosis of TA severity and subsequent treatment. Our results may help to elucidate the pathological mechanism of TA.

Objective: To explore the correlation between dry eye and levels of the atmospheric pollutants ozone (O3) and nitric dioxide (NO2), and its application in the prediction, prevention and personalized medical treatment of dry eye.Methods: Clinical data of 75,279 patients with dry eye were selected and categorized according to age, gender, and season. We analyzed the concentrations of O3 and NO2 and used Pearson correlation analysis to study the effect of both pollutants on the outpatient rate of dry eye.Results: The concentrations of O3 and NO2 changed periodically over time. The number of outpatient visits for dry eye were significantly correlated with O3 and NO2 levels. The environmental concentration of NO2 was significantly related to dry eye in patients of all ages, and O3 levels were related to dry eye in patients younger than 60 years old. There was no significant relationship with gender There were significantly more dry eye clinic visits in the summer compared to other seasons.Conclusion: Ambient air pollution and weather changes may increase the incidence of dry eye. Air pollution may have a predictive effect on the occurrence of dry eye, and based on this, we can prevent and personalized treat the occurrence and aggravation of dry eye.

ObjectiveTo analyze the potential changes in brain neural networks in resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) scans by regional homogeneity (ReHo) in patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI).MethodsWe recruited and selected 24 volunteers, including 12 patients (6 men and 6 women) with MCI and 12 healthy controls matched by age, sex, and lifestyle. All subjects were examined with rs-fMRI to evaluate changes in neural network connectivity, and the data were analyzed by ReHo method. Correlation analysis was used to investigate the relationship between ReHo values and clinical features in different brain regions of MCI patients. The severity of MCI was determined by the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) scale.ResultsThe signals of the right cerebellum areas 4 and 5, left superior temporal, right superior temporal, left fusiform, and left orbital middle frontal gyri in the patient group were significantly higher than those in the normal group (P < 0.01 by t-test of paired samples). The signal intensity of the right inferior temporal and left inferior temporal gyri was significantly lower than that of the normal group (P < 0.01). The ReHO value for the left inferior temporal gyrus correlated negatively with disease duration, and the value for the right inferior temporal gyrus correlated positively with MMSE scores.ConclusionMild cognitive impairment in patients with pre- Alzheimer’s disease may be related to the excitation and inhibition of neural networks in these regions. This may have a certain guiding significance for clinical diagnosis.

Background. To investigate microstructural alterations of white matter in retinal vein occlusion (RVO) patients by tract-based spatial statistics (TBSS) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). Material/Methods. DTI was performed on 14 RVO patients and 14 normal controls (HCs). We measured and recorded fractional anisotropy (FA) and radial diffusivity (RD) of white matter fibers and classified them through the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve and correlation analysis, respectively. Results. The mean FA value of white matter in RVO patients is lower than the HCs, and the mean RD value in RVO patients increased, especially in the bilateral posterior thalamic, bilateral sagittal stratum, body of corpus callosum, cingulum, and fornix. The ROC curve of different brain regions showed high accuracy. Moreover, the mean FA and RD values were significantly correlated with visual and psychological disorders. Conclusion. TBSS could be regarded as an important method to reveal the alterations of white matter in RVO patients, indicating the underlying neurological mechanism of the RVO.

Diabetic optic neuropathy (DON) is a diverse complication of diabetes and its pathogenesis has not been fully elucidated. The purpose of this study was to explore dynamic cerebral activity changes in DON patients using dynamic amplitude of low-frequency fluctuation (dALFF). In total, 22 DON patients and 22 healthy controls were enrolled. The dALFF approach was used in all participants to investigate dynamic intrinsic brain activity differences between the two groups. Compared with HCs, DON patients exhibited significantly increased dALFF variability in the right middle frontal gyrus (P0.01). Conversely, DON patients exhibited obviously decreased dALFF variability in the right precuneus (P0.01). We also found that there were significant negative correlations between HADS scores and dALFF values of the right middle frontal gyrus in the DON patients (r = -0.6404, P0.01 for anxiety and r = -0.6346, P0.01 for depression; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Abnormal variability of dALFF was observed in specific areas of the cerebrum in DON patients, which may contribute to distinguishing patients with DON from HCs and a better understanding of DON, hyperintensities of right middle frontal gyrus may be potential diagnostic marker for DON.

Background: Numerous anterior neuroimaging researches have revealed that corneal ulcers (CU) are related to changes in cerebral anatomic structure and functional area. Nonetheless, functional characteristics of the brain’s network organization still show no definite research results. The study was designed to confirm CU-associated spatial centrality distribution functional network of the whole cerebrum and explore the mechanism through which the larvaceous changed the intrinsic functional hubs. Material and Methods: In this study, 40 patients with CU and 40 normal controls (matched in sex, age, and education level) were enrolled in this study to undergo resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans. The differences between the groups were determined by measuring the voxel-wise degree centrality (DC) throughout the whole cerebrum. For the purpose of assessing the correlation between abnormal DC value and clinical variables, the Linear correlation analysis was used. Results: Compared with normal controls (NCs), CU patients revealed high DC values in the frontal lobe, precuneus, inferior parietal lobule, posterior cingulate, occipital lobe, and temporal lobe in the brain functional connectivity maps throughout the brain. The intergroup differences also had high similarity on account of different thresholds. In addition, DC values were positively related to the duration of CU in the left middle frontal gyrus. Conclusions: The experimental results revealed that patients with CU showed spatially unnatural intrinsic functional hubs whether DC values increased or decreased. This brings us to a new level of comprehending the functional features of CU and may offer useful information to make us obtain a clear understanding of the dysfunction of CU.