The utility of artificial intelligence in ophthalmic clinical trials.

Purpose Of Review: The current article provides an overview of the utility of artificial intelligence approaches to aid in the design, recruitment, execution, and dissemination of ophthalmic clinical trials.

Recent Findings: Within the last decade, artificial intelligence has heralded a new age for ophthalmology, with novel applications habitually appearing within the literature. Though clinical trials are considered the gold standard for driving evidence-based practice, remarkably few studies have examined the potential for machine learning to augment the clinical trial pipeline.

Time to incident ocular and extraintestinal manifestation in HLA-B27-Associated diseases: a comparative study of immunotherapies.

Objectives: This study compared the incidence and time-to-event outcomes of ocular extraintestinal manifestations (O-EIMs) and EIMs among patients with human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B27-associated diseases receiving different classes of immunotherapy.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted using aggregated electronic health records from the TriNetX network between January 1, 2014, and December 31, 2024. Patients with HLA-B27-associated diseases were included if they were newly prescribed tumor necrosis factor (TNF), janus kinase (JAK), or interleukin (IL) inhibitors on or after their initial diagnosis.

Low Occurrence of Ocular Adverse Events after CAR-T Cell Therapy.

Introduction: Chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapies have demonstrated remarkable therapeutic efficacy in leukemias and lymphomas that were previously considered incurable. However, concerns persist over potential risks related to toxicities, including those secondary to activation of the patient's immune system.

Methods: To investigate ocular adverse effects (o-AEs) associated with CAR-T cell therapy, a retrospective cohort study was designed in which data were obtained from the TriNetX aggregated electronic health records database through August 2024, with data analysis performed in August 2024.

Risk of developing thyroid eye disease in patients with thyroid dysfunction that received a COVID-19 vaccination.

Objective: To assess the risk of developing thyroid eye disease (TED) after mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in patients with thyroid dysfunction.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.

Participants: All patients with hyperthyroidism with no history of TED prior to March 2021 and no history of another orbital inflammatory disease.

Reduced rates of diabetic retinopathy complications with use of continuous glucose monitoring.

Elucidating the outcomes of patients using continuous glucose monitoring (continuous glucose monitoring) in day-to-day clinical practice could help expand optimal practice guidelines in prevention and mitigation of diabetic retinopathy (DR). Retrospective cohort study. Subjects, Participants, and/or Controls: 13,302 patients with NPDR initiated on continuous glucose monitoring, compared with 179,079 patients with NPDR not initiated on continuous glucose monitoring before propensity score matching (propensity score matching) at one year.

Gout and Risk of Age-related Macular Degeneration.

Purpose: To examine the association between gout and subsequent development and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, a multicenter healthcare research network was used to identify patients with an International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10 code) for idiopathic gout and a prescription for uric acid-lowering agent (Gout cohort) compared to a matched cohort of patients without a diagnosis of gout (Control cohort) for ophthalmic outcomes. Propensity score matching was applied to balance baseline demographics and health status between cohorts.

Long-Term Cannabis Use and Risk of Postoperative Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy.

Importance: Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is a major cause of retinal detachment (RD) repair failure, resulting in poor visual outcomes. Cannabis use continues to increase globally and may affect PVR development through its anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties, although this association remains unclear.

Objective: To assess the risk of developing PVR among patients with concomitant cannabis use who underwent primary RD repair.

Ophthalmic Outcomes and Management of Retinopathy in Patients With Sickle Cell Disease: A Comprehensive Health Registry Study and Review of Management Strategies.

Background And Objective: The purpose of this study was to report the rates of ophthalmic complications and interventions in patients diagnosed with sickle cell disease (SCD) and sickle cell retinopathy (SCR), while reviewing current management strategies within the literature.

Patients And Methods: This retrospective cohort study included patients ≥ 18 years of age with the diagnosis of SCD and SCR. The electronic health record system TriNetX was utilized to identify patients diagnosed with SCD and SCR.

Morbidity and Mortality Associated With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus and Retinal Vasculitis: A Multicenter Cohort Study.

Background And Objective: To determine the long-term rates of death, myocardial infarction (MI), dialysis, and stroke in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and retinal vasculitis (RV).

Patients And Methods: A total of 435 patients with SLE/RV were identified using TriNetX, a federated electronic health records network from January 1, 2004 to January 1, 2024. Patients were matched for age, sex, race, and propensity score, excluding those with MI, dialysis, or cerebrovascular complication in the year prior to diagnosis.

Types of strabismus and strabismus surgery after retinal detachment repair: a health registry database analysis.

Purpose: To examine the rate of diplopia, strabismus, and interventions for strabismus after pneumatic retinopexy, scleral buckle, and pars plana vitrectomy with and without scleral buckle for primary repair of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

Methods: This retrospective cohort study draws on deidentified EHR data of over 126 million patients in the TriNetX Analytics platform, a federated health research network. Subjects were assigned to three cohorts: pneumatic retinopexy (PR) alone, scleral buckle (SB) alone, or pars plana vitrectomy with or without scleral buckle (PPV+/-SB).

Short-term effects of tetracycline use in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

Objective: To investigate the association between tetracycline use and the development of short-term vision threatening complications (VTC) among patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: Using a deidentified database, 4 596 patients with severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) or proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) associated with tetracycline use versus 87,974 patients with NPDR or PDR but no tetracycline use, respectively, were included before propensity score matching (PSM). After PSM, 4 576 patients in each cohort were analyzed.

Risk of Cataract Surgery Complications in Patients With Prior Intravitreal Injection Therapy.

Objective: To compare cataract surgery complications in patients with and without prior intravitreal injection (IVI).

Design: A retrospective cohort study using the TriNetX aggregated research network.

Subjects: Patients with IVI therapy within twenty years of cataract surgery were compared to controls using propensity score matching (PSM) to balance for demographics, systemic, and ocular co-morbidities.

Association between Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Age-related Macular Degeneration Development and Progression.

Objective: To evaluate the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) development and progression in individuals with diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Subjects: Before propensity score matching (PSM), 60 652 and 1 173 723 individuals with OSA or not, respectively, were included in the study.

Curcuma-Based Nutritional Supplements and Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Importance: Curcuma-based nutritional supplements (CBNS) are natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents that may confer benefits against age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Objective: To examine the association between the use of CBNS and the risk of development or progression of AMD.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This was a retrospective cohort study with data collection in June of 2024.

Risk of Intestinal Complications, Extraintestinal Morbidity, and Mortality in Patients with Crohn's Disease and Ocular Involvement.

Purpose: Patients with Crohn's disease (CD) and subsequent ocular manifestations may have worse outcomes when compared to matched patients with CD without ocular disease.

Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, an aggregated electronic health records research network, TriNetX (Cambridge, MA, USA), was used to identify patients diagnosed with CD stratified by the presence or absence of ocular involvement with at least 1 year of follow-up. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to control for baseline demographics and medical comorbidities.

Ophthalmic Immune-Related Adverse Events and Association with Survival: Results From a Real-World Database.

Purpose: Assessing immune-related ocular toxicities from immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) is crucial, though rare. This study, utilizing real-world data, examines the occurrence of ophthalmic immune-related adverse events (irAEs) after ICI treatment and their impact on overall survival.

Design: A retrospective cohort study.