Association of leucocyte telomere length with incident age-related macular degeneration: a prospective UK Biobank Study.

Purpose: There have been conflicting findings on the role of leucocyte telomere length (LTL) in the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, we evaluated the associations between LTL and the risk of incident AMD and explored whether age, sex and/or genetic predisposition to AMD can modify these associations.

Methods: We conducted a longitudinal cohort study involving 332 123 AMD-free participants with complete baseline covariates and LTL data from the UK Biobank.

Dietary omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids as a protective factor of myopia: the Hong Kong Children Eye Study.

Purpose: To evaluate the associations between omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) and other dietary factors with myopia.

Methods: A total of 1005 Chinese children, aged from 6 to 8 years, from a population-based Hong Kong Children Eye Study, were included in the analysis. Diet was assessed using a validated food-frequency questionnaire.

Detection rate of cataract-related gene variants in sporadic childhood cataract patients in Southern China.

Objective: To screen for disease-associated variants in the cataract-related genes in Chinese sporadic childhood cataract patients by whole exome sequencing analysis.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Subjects: Total 145 sporadic childhood cataract patients from southern China were recruited.

Association of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D with cataract: a cross-sectional and longitudinal analysis of the UK Biobank.

Background: The association between vitamin D deficiency and cataract is debated, with limited longitudinal data on serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in cataract development. This study aimed to examine both cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between serum 25(OH)D concentrations and cataract risk.

Methods: The cross-sectional analyses included 442 255 UK Biobank participants with available serum 25(OH)D data.

Association of secondhand smoke exposure with child astigmatism in the Hong Kong children eye study.

Backgrounds/aims: Any association of secondhand smoke (SHS) with refractive astigmatism (RA) and corneal astigmatism (CA) remains unknown. This study aims to investigate the associations of SHS exposure with RA and CA in schoolchildren.

Methods: We conducted a population-based, cross-sectional study involving 11 545 children aged 6-8 years from the Hong Kong Children Eye Study.

Functionally deficient UBOX5 variants and primary angle-closure glaucoma.

Primary angle-closure glaucoma is a major cause of irreversible blindness worldwide afflicting >20 million people. Through whole exome sequencing, we analysed the association between gene-based burden of rare, protein-altering genetic variants and disease risk in 4,667 affected individuals and 5,473 unaffected controls. We tested genes surpassing exome-wide significance (P < 2.

Sleep, physical activity, sedentary behavior, and risk of cataract: a cross-sectional and prospective study from UK Biobank.

Background: Cataract is a leading cause of visual impairment globally. Although daily behaviors such as sleep, physical activity (PA), and sedentary behavior (SB) have been associated with cataract risk, the evidence remains controversial and uncertain. This study aimed to examine the independent and combined effects of sleep, PA, and SB on cataract risk using data from the UK Biobank.

Association of Optic Nerve Head Metrics and Parapapillary Gamma Zone With Myopia Onset and Progression in Children: The Hong Kong Children Eye Study.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the associations of optic nerve head (ONH) metrics and parapapillary gamma zone with myopia onset and progression in school children aged 6 to 8 years over a 3-year period.

Methods: The ONH was imaged by spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) using an adopted scan protocol comprising 24 equally spaced radial B-scans.

Results: The study included 765 children (mean age = 7.

Association of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder With Myopia Among School Children.

Purpose: To determine the relationship of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with myopia among school children.

Methods: Children aged six to eight years in Hong Kong were recruited through a stratified, clustered randomized sampling frame and subsequently invited to undergo cycloplegic autorefraction and axial length measurements between 2016 and 2021. ADHD diagnoses were made by qualified physicians according to ICD-10 criteria.

Association of shared gene polymorphisms for refraction and axial length with corneal biomechanical properties in children.

Purpose: To investigate the associations of single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for axial length (AL) and spherical equivalent (SE) with corneal biomechanical parameters in children.

Methods: A cohort of 2535 Chinese children, 4-12 years old, underwent measurements of corneal biomechanical properties, including corneal hysteresis (CH), corneal resistance factor (CRF), deformation amplitude (DA), peak distance (PD), highest concavity radius, as well as first and second applanation lengths and velocities (V1 and V2). Fifteen candidate SNPs for AL and SE were genotyped for association analyses.

Enhancing diagnostic accuracy in rare and common fundus diseases with a knowledge-rich vision-language model.

Previous foundation models for fundus images were pre-trained with limited disease categories and knowledge base. Here we introduce RetiZero, a vision-language model that incorporates knowledge from over 400 fundus diseases. The model is pre-trained on 341,896 fundus images with accompanying text descriptions gathered from diverse sources across multiple ethnicities and countries.

Longitudinal evaluation of Bruch's membrane opening-minimum rim width in Chinese children: The Hong Kong Children Eye Study.

Purpose: To evaluate longitudinal changes in Bruch's membrane opening-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) and its associated factors in school children aged 6-8 years, over 3 years, based on the Hong Kong Children Eye Study.

Methods: In this longitudinal study, 740 children received comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations at baseline and at 3-year follow-up visits. Based on their refractive status, they were divided into groups of persistent non-myopia, newly-developed myopia, and persistent myopia.

Lipid metabolism disorder promoting retinal structural and functional damage in ApoE mice with age superposition.

This study aimed to establish a model of abnormal lipid metabolism in Apolipoprotein E (ApoE) knockout mice by feeding them a high-fat diet (HFD) and to investigate the impact of this abnormal lipid metabolism on retinal blood perfusion, structure, and function, particularly the retinal ganglion cell (RGC). Both HFD and regular diet (RD) feeding were conducted in C57BL/6J mice and ApoE mice. Lipid metabolism was assessed using hematoxylin-eosin (HE) staining, oil red staining, and blood lipid detection.

Explainable Deep Learning System for Automatic Detection of Thyroid Eye Disease Using Facial Images.

Purpose: To report an explainable deep learning (XDL) system to automatically detect thyroid eye disease (TED) using facial images.

Design: Prospective study to develop and evaluate a deep-learning diagnostic algorithm.

Methods: A dataset consisting of 302 and 289 facial images of newly diagnosed, treatment-naïve, TED patients and healthy subjects were compiled, annotated, and applied to train the XDL model.

Genome-wide association study identified novel loci and gene-environment interaction for refractive error in children.

To identify novel genetic loci for children refractive error, we performed a meta-analysis of two genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of spherical equivalent (SE) in 1,237 children from the population-based Hong Kong Children Eye Study (HKCES) and the Low Concentration Atropine for Myopia Progression (LAMP) study. Replication was conducted in 4,093 Chinese children and 1,814 Chinese adults. Four lead-SNPs (MIR4275 rs292034, TENM3 rs17074027, LOC101928911 rs6925312 and FAM135B rs4609227) showed genome-wide significant association (P ≤ 5.

Association of residential air pollution with visual impairment in adults: The UK Biobank study.

Purpose: To investigate the association of joint exposure to residential air pollutants with different severities of visual impairment (VI) in adults.

Methods: Exposure to particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen were evaluated in 95,246 adults aged 40-70 years. Joint exposure to the pollutants was calculated using principal component analysis to create an air pollution score.

Genetic association of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with thirteen ocular disorders.

Purpose: Although attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is linked to elevated risk of various ocular disorders, their genetic association and causality remain unclear.

Methods: This study performed linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) and pleiotropic analysis under composite null hypothesis (PLACO) to explore genetic associations, and bidirectional mendelian randomization (MR) to assess the causality between ADHD and thirteen ocular disorders.

Results: LDSC showed ADHD genetically correlated with corneal ulcer, keratitis, blepharochalasis, lacrimal system disorders, senile cataract, retinal vascular occlusion, and age-related macular degeneration.

Association between leukocyte telomere length and incident glaucoma: A prospective UK biobank study.

Background: Leukocyte telomere length (LTL) has been associated with various diseases, including age-related eye diseases such as cataract and age-related macular degeneration. However, the role of LTL in the longitudinal development of glaucoma is still unknown. Here we prospectively evaluate the association of LTL with glaucoma incidence and related traits, in the UK Biobank cohort.

Associations of Cardiovascular Health and New-Onset Age-Related Macular Diseases From UK Biobank.

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the correlation between cardiovascular health (CVH), evaluated through the Life's Essential 8 (LE8) score, and the risk of new-onset age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: This longitudinal analysis included 271,274 participants who were free of both cardiovascular diseases and AMD at baseline. The LE8 score was classified into three categories: low (<50 points), moderate (50 to <80 points), and high (≥80 points), with higher scores indicating better CVH.

Association of Retinal Microvasculature With Myopia Progression in Children: The Hong Kong Children Eye Study.

Purpose: To investigate the associations between optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) metrics and myopia progression in children.

Methods: This prospective, longitudinal cohort study recruited children ages 6 to 8 years for 2- to 6-year follow-ups. OCT-A captured macular images from the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP).

Genetic Association of Primary Angle-Closure Glaucoma and Disease Progression.

Background: To investigate single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) reported in the largest up-to-date systematic review and meta-analysis on primary angle-closure disease (PACD), on their associations with primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) and disease progression.

Methods: This study involved a case-control design for PACG risk and a case-only design for PACG progression risk, including 628 PACG patients and 564 controls for disease association and 386 PACG patients with up to 10-year follow-up for PACG progression analysis. Associations of 17 SNPs in 15 genes with PACG were analysed using logistic regression.

Prevalence and Severity of Astigmatism in Children After COVID-19.

Importance: Astigmatism can cause blurred vision at near and distance. It is common among schoolchildren and associated with ametropia. Although the COVID-19 pandemic generated a surge in myopia prevalence in children, the association with child astigmatism remains unknown.

Associations of long-term joint exposure to multiple ambient air pollutants with the incidence of age-related eye diseases.

Objectives: The associations between long-term joint exposure to low levels of multiple air pollutants and the incidence of common age-related eye diseases (AREDs), including cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), remain underexplored.

Methods: We conducted a prospective cohort study using UK Biobank data from 441,567 participants without cataract, glaucoma, or AMD at baseline. An air pollution score was constructed to assess the combined effect of multiple air pollutants, including PM, PM, PM, NO and NO.

Genome-wide association and multi-omics analyses provide insights into the disease mechanisms of central serous chorioretinopathy.

Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a major cause of vision loss, especially in middle-aged men, and its chronic subtype can lead to legal blindness. Despite its clinical importance, the underlying mechanisms of CSC need further clarification. In this study, we conducted a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWASs) for CSC consisting of 8811 Asians and Caucasians, followed by replication in an additional 4338 Asians.

Dacryoendoscopy in patients with lacrimal outflow obstruction: a systematic review.

Purpose: Dacryoendoscopy (DE) is an emerging, minimally invasive, surgical technique for lacrimal outflow obstruction (LOO). This is a systematic review on the diagnostic and therapeutic use, as well as the safety of DE in the lacrimal literature.

Methods: Up to 22nd November, 2024, 259 studies were retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Ovid MEDLINE.