Eyeworld

156 | EYEWORLD | APRIL 2019 O UTSIDE THE OR and postoperative differences in central epithelial thickness were statistically significant, but there was not a significant difference in this measure- ment between the two techniques. Increased risk of COPD in patients with exfoliation syndrome Patients with exfoliation syndrome (XFS) are already at increased risk for glaucoma, cataracts, and other ocular issues, and recent research 7 is showing that they also have increased risk for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Despite this increased risk, the research found that those with exfoliation syndrome and COPD seem to live longer than those with just COPD. "This work strongly suggests that XFS provides some factor, as yet to be discovered, which pro- longs life and counterbalances the presence of the diseases mentioned above," Robert Ritch, MD, said in a press release statement. OCT-A scan used to detect retinal differences in patients with Alzheimer's Research suggests that a loss of retinal blood vessels, as viewed through an OCT-angiography (OCT-A) image, could indicate early Alzheimer's disease. According to a study by researchers at Duke Eye Center that compared OCT-A retinal images of healthy patients and patients with Alz- heimer's disease, there was a statistically signifi- cant reduction in retinal blood vessel density in the latter group. "We're measuring blood vessels that can't be seen during a regular eye exam and we're doing that with relatively new noninvasive technology that takes high-resolution images of very small blood vessels within the retina in just a few minutes," Sharon Fekrat, MD, said in a press release statement. "It's possible that these changes in blood vessel density in the retina could mirror what's going on in the tiny blood vessels in the brain, perhaps before we are able to detect any changes in cognition." a study 4 published in the journal Eye. The multi- center, nonrandomized, retrospective case series included 126 patients and found that more than 90% of patients without preexisting ocular pa- thology achieved UDVA of 6/12 or better in the IC-8 eye. Ninety-eight percent achieved UCDVA of 6/9 binocularly. Of those who did not achieve complete spectacle independence, glasses were only needed for near vision tasks or dim-light reading, according to the investigators. FLACS shows benefit in eyes with shallow ACs A prospective, randomized, masked clinical study 5 out of India compared FLACS and traditional phaco cataract surgery in eyes with shallow ante- rior chambers (less than 2.5 mm). The research evaluated central corneal thickness, corneal clarity, anterior chamber cells and flare, endothelial cell density, and other factors at 1 day, 1 week, and 1, 3, and 6 months postop. The average central corneal thickness was significantly lower in the FLACS group at 1 day and 1 week postop and fewer eyes had higher than Grade 2 anterior chamber cells and flare in this group. Endothe- lial cell density was higher in the FLACS group by 6 months postop, but the difference was not statistically significant. Overall, the study authors concluded that FLACS "maintained clearer cor- neas, showed a lesser increase in central corneal thickness, lower anterior chamber inflammation and better unaided visual acuity in the early post- operative period." Epithelial remodeling at 2 years: LASIK vs. SMILE A contralateral eye study 6 of LASIK vs. SMILE in 21 patients found similar results in epithelial re- modeling at 2 years postop. OCT images showed significant epithelial thickening in the corneas re- gardless of the refractive surgery technique, which A. John Kanellopoulos, MD, wrote "suggests that epithelial remodeling may correlate with relative curvature changes resulting after both techniques, rather than the obvious difference of subepitheli- al corneal denervation changes." The preoperative continued from page 154 References 1. Wu M, et al. Association be- tween sleep quality, mood status, and ocular surface characteristics in patients with dry eye disease. Cornea. 2019;38:311–317. 2. Hwang JS, et al. Vitamin D enhances the efficacy of topical artificial tears in patients with dry eye disease. Cornea. 2019;38:304–310. 3. Merle BMJ, et al. Mediter- ranean diet and incidence of advanced age-related macular degeneration: the EYE-RISK consortium. Ophthalmology. 2019;126:381–390. 4. Hooshmand J, et al. Small aperture IC-8 intraocular lens in cataract patients: achieving extended depth of focus through small aperture optics. Eye (Lond). 2019. Epub ahead of print. 5. Vasavada VA, et al. A compara- tive evaluation of femtosecond la- ser assisted cataract surgery and conventional phacoemulsification in eyes with shallow anterior chamber. J Cataract Refract Surg. 2019. Epub ahead of print. 6. Kanellopoulos AJ. Comparison of corneal epithelial remodeling over 2 years in LASIK versus SMILE: a contralateral eye study. Cornea. 2019;38:290–296. 7. Taylor SC, et al. Association between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and exfolia- tion syndrome. Ophthalmology Glaucoma. 2019;2:3–10. 8. Yoon SP, et al. Retinal micro- vascular and neurodegenerative changes in Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment compared with control partici- pants. Ophthalmol Retina. 2019. Epub ahead of print.

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