Aqueous microRNA profiling in age-related macular degeneration and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy by next-generation sequencing.

Although many studies demonstrated the differences of clinical features, natural course, and response to treatment between typical age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), differential microRNAs (miRNAs) expression in the aqueous humor (AH) between them has not been reported yet. We investigated the roles of miRNAs in the AH of patients with typical AMD and PCV using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and quantitative PCR (qPCR). Target genes and predicted pathways of miRNAs were investigated via pathway enrichment analysis using the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database.

Comparison of lamina cribrosa depth shallowing after trabeculectomy between primary open-angle glaucoma and exfoliation glaucoma.

The lamina cribrosa (LC) becomes shallower as intraocular pressure (IOP) decreases after trabeculectomy. The LC in eyes with exfoliation syndrome has distinctive properties in the connective tissue and extracellular matrix, but how these affect the changes in LC depth in response to IOP reduction after trabeculectomy is unknown. We analyzed pre- and postoperative spectral-domain optical coherence tomography of exfoliation glaucoma (XFG) and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) patients who underwent trabeculectomy and investigated whether LC depth differed between XFG and POAG eyes after trabeculectomy.

Risk factors for early-onset exfoliation syndrome.

Although exfoliation syndrome (XFS) is an age-related, late-onset disease, early-onset XFS has been reported, and its associated factors remain unknown. In this study, we investigated the clinical features and risk factors of early-onset XFS. The participants were divided into two groups according to age at the time of XFS diagnosis: early-onset (< 60 years) or late-onset (≥ 70 years) group.

Cytokine and Growth Factor Analysis in Exfoliation Syndrome and Glaucoma.

Purpose: We compared cytokines, chemokines, and growth factors in the aqueous humor (AH) of patients with exfoliation syndrome (XFS), with exfoliation glaucoma (XFG), with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), and healthy controls.

Methods: AH samples were collected from 21 patients with XFS, 28 with XFG, 14 with POAG, and 17 healthy controls during routine cataract surgery. The protein levels of 21 cytokines and growth factors, together with TGF-β1, 2, and 3, were quantified using the multiplex immunoassay.

Factors Associated with Increased Neuroretinal Rim Thickness Measured Based on Bruch's Membrane Opening-Minimum Rim Width after Trabeculectomy.

Purpose: To investigate the factors associated with an increase in the neuroretinal rim (NRR) thickness measured based on Bruch's membrane opening-minimum rim width (BMO-MRW) after trabeculectomy in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).

Methods: We analyzed the BMO-MRW using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) of patients with POAG who underwent a trabeculectomy for uncontrolled intraocular pressure (IOP) despite maximal IOP reduction treatment. The BMO-MRW was measured before and after trabeculectomy in patients with POAG.

Open-angle Glaucoma and Sensorineural Hearing Impairment in the Korean Population.

Purpose: This study identifies the prevalence and risk factors of sensorineural hearing loss and primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).

Materials And Methods: Patients aged 19 years or older who had undergone both ophthalmologic examination and audiometry as part of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey V (2010-2012) were analyzed. Hearing loss was defined as the pure-tone average over 40 decibels based on the automatic hearing test to determine the threshold of airway hearing for each frequency.

Comparison of the retinal nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell complex thickness in Korean patients with unilateral exfoliation syndrome and healthy subjects.

Purpose: To compare retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and ganglion cell complex (GCC) thickness in patients with unilateral exfoliation syndrome (XFS) and age-matched controls using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Materials And Methods: This prospective case-control study included 54 eyes (the XFS-affected and the fellow eyes) of 27 unilateral XFS patients and 27 eyes of 27 age-matched control subjects. The RNFL and GCC thicknesses were measured using SD-OCT (RT-Vue 100, Optovue, Fremont, CA) after pupillary dilation.

A Path Analysis of Effects of Patients' Underlying Conditions, Treatment Satisfaction, and Adherence on Quality of Life Among Korea Glaucoma Patients.

Unlabelled: PRéCIS:: This observed patient-specific features and treatment-driven conditions that were significantly associated with the impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among glaucoma patients. The results suggest that more systematic strategies should be implemented to improve an HRQOL.

Purpose: To determine factors contributing to an HRQOL and assess total, direct and indirect, effects that may exist between the determinants using path analysis.

Treatment patterns and medication adherence of patients with glaucoma in South Korea.

Background/aims: This study aimed to investigate treatment patterns and medication adherence of glaucoma. It also identified key factors associated with non-adherence.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional, observational study.

Prevalence of Pseudoexfoliation Syndrome and Associated Factors in South Koreans: The Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Purpose: To investigate the prevalence of pseudoexfoliation syndrome (PXS) and factors associated with PXS in South Koreans by analyzing data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES).

Methods: Using the KNHANES database of 2009-2012, 13,223 participants aged 50 years or older were included. Participants underwent standardized interviews and systemic and ocular examinations.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma in a highly myopic patient secondary to Weill-Marchesani syndrome: histopathologic lens features.

The authors describe a case of acute angle-closure glaucoma in a highly myopic patient secondary to Weill-Marchesani syndrome (WMS) and histopathologic features of his lens. A 37-year-old male patient visited our clinic for ocular pain with elevated intraocular pressure (19/57 mmHg). The slit-lamp examination showed an inferiorly subluxated lens in the right eye, and anterior dislocated microspherophakia with corneolenticular contact in the left eye.

Long-term Outcomes of Mitomycin-C Trabeculectomy in Exfoliative Glaucoma Versus Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma.

Purpose: To compare long-term surgical outcomes in exfoliative glaucoma (XFG) versus primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) after primary trabeculectomy with mitomycin-C.

Methods: This retrospective, case-control study included 32 eyes of XFG and 64 eyes of POAG matched by propensity score analysis. Surgical success was defined according to 3 different criteria: (1) intraocular pressure (IOP)<18 mm Hg and IOP reduction ≥20% without medication; (2) IOP<15 mm Hg and IOP reduction ≥25% without medication; and (3) IOP<18 mm Hg and IOP reduction ≥20% with or without medication.

Recurrent symptomatic intraocular pressure spikes during hemodialysis in a patient with unilateral anterior uveitis.

Background: The relationship between intraocular pressure (IOP) changes and hemodialysis has been evaluated for several decades. However, no report on an IOP rise in uveitis patients during hemodialysis has been previously documented. This report describes the case of an uveitis patient with repetitive IOP spikes associated with severe ocular pain during hemodialysis sessions, which resolved after glaucoma filtering surgery.

Association of lysyl oxidase-like 1 gene polymorphisms with exfoliation syndrome in Koreans.

Purpose: To evaluate the association of the lysyl oxidase-like 1 (LOXL1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the Korean population with exfoliation syndrome (XFS) and to investigate the association between the SNPs and phenotypes of XFS.

Methods: Eighty-nine unrelated patients with XFS and 146 unrelated control subjects were recruited. LOXL1 SNPs, rs1048661, rs3825942, and rs2165241, were genotyped by direct DNA sequencing.