Effects of vitrectomy on age-related macular degeneration

Purpose To determine whether vitrectomy alters the long-term progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Design Retrospective case-control study. Participants Forty-four eyes of 22 patients with AMD who underwent vitrectomy in 1 eye were included in the study. The progression of AMD at follow-up in the 22 eyes that underwent vitrectomy was compared with the 22 fellow, nonvitrectomized eyes. Methods The charts and photographs of subjects with Age-Related Eye Disease Study category 3 AMD in both eyes who previously underwent vitrectomy surgery for an epiretinal membrane or macular hole were reviewed. Subjects were excluded if they had had a vitrectomy in both eyes, had <2 years of follow-up, had previous choroidal neovascularization (CNV), retinal detachment, diabetic retinopathy, angioid streaks, high myopia, vascular occlusions, or extensive macular scarring in either eye, or insufficient hospital records or photographs to determine the extent of AMD. Clinical notes throughout the follow-up interval were reviewed. Two vitreoretinal specialists independently graded pre- and postvitrectomy fundus photographs of all eyes in a masked fashion. Main Outcome Measures The development or progression of geographic atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium and the development of CNV. Results Twenty-two patients were included. The average follow up interval was 5.5 years (range, 2–15). Choroidal neovascularization developed in 5 control eyes and in 2 vitrectomized eyes, and atrophy developed in 7 control and 4 vitrectomized eyes. The difference between vitrectomized eyes and fellow eyes for the combined end points of RPE geographic atrophy or CNV was significant (P = 0.02). Conclusions In this pilot study, we did not detect that vitrectomy increased the progression of AMD. In fact, it was associated with a reduced progression to geographic atrophy or CNV. Additional studies are needed to confirm or refute this association

Teaching and Assessing Professionalism in Ophthalmology Residency Training Programs

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has mandated that all residency training programs teach and assess new competencies including professionalism. This article reviews the literature on medical professionalism, describes good practices gleaned from published works, and proposes an implementation matrix of specific tools for teaching and assessing professionalism in ophthalmology residency. Professionalism requirements have been defined by the ACGME, subspecialty organizations, and other certifying and credentialing organizations. Teaching, role modeling, and assessing the competency of professionalism are important tasks in managing the ACGME mandate. Future work should focus on the field testing of tools for validity, reliability, feasibility, and cost-effectiveness

Teaching and Assessing Systems-based Competency in Ophthalmology Residency Training Programs

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has mandated that residency programs, including ophthalmology, teach and assess specific competencies, including systems-based learning. We review the pertinent literature on systems-based learning for ophthalmology and recommend specific “good practices” to manage the ACGME mandate. Tools are required that both teach and assess systems based learning competency simultaneously, that are reliable and valid, that have low faculty burden, and that are affordable, practical, and fair. Future research should provide evidence that these interventions produce improved educational and patient outcomes and show proof of competence in systems based learning among residents and clinicians in practice

Incomplete Vitreomacular Traction Release Using Intravitreal Ocriplasmin

Purpose: To report the clinical course of our first 7 consecutive patients treated with intravitreal ocriplasmin (Jetrea®). Methods: Retrospective case series of the first 7 patients treated with ocriplasmin between January and December 2013 at an academic tertiary care center. Results: The average age was 78.4 years (range: 63-92). Five patients were pseudophakic and 2 patients were phakic in the injected eye. The median baseline visual acuity (VA) was 20/60 (range: 20/25 to 20/200). The median 1-month postinjection VA was 20/70, with a mean loss of 2 lines of VA among all patients. None of the patients had complete resolution of their vitreomacular traction or macular hole at 1 month of follow-up. Three patients had subsequent pars plana vitrectomy and membrane peeling surgery. The mean follow-up period for those who did not undergo vitrectomy was 9 months (range: 1-13). One patient with known ocular hypertension had an increase in intraocular pressure requiring topical pressure-lowering eyedrops. There were no cases of postinjection uveitis, endophthalmitis, retinal tears, or retinal detachment. Conclusions: While ocriplasmin may be a viable pharmacological agent for vitreolysis, we present a series of patients that all had incomplete resolution of vitreomacular traction with and without full-thickness macular hole. There was an associated reduction in VA after ocriplasmin treatment at 1 month of follow-up. Careful analysis of the vitreoretinal interface and comorbid eye conditions is required to optimize outcome success with ocriplasmin

The Iowa ophthalmology wet laboratory curriculum for teaching and assessing cataract surgical competency

Purpose To describe an ophthalmology wet laboratory (OWL) curriculum for residents in training. Methods Systematic literature review and selection of best practices for use in the OWL learning plan from a single academic ophthalmology program. Results A pretest and posttest of cognitive skills, objective wet laboratory structured assessment of skill and technique, and summative global evaluation form were developed as part of a systematic OWL curriculum. Conclusion The Iowa OWL curriculum may form the basis for successfully utilizing the wet laboratory to teach and assess aspects of resident surgical competence in cataract surgery

Assessing cataract surgical competency

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has mandated that all residency training programs teach and assess 6 general competencies.1 A.G. Lee and K.D. Carter, Managing the new mandate in resident education: A blueprint for translating a national mandate into local compliance, Ophthalmology 111 (2004), pp. 1807–1812. Article | PDF (94 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (40)[1] and [2] The American Board of Ophthalmology has recommended that a seventh competency in surgery be required. At the time of the writing of this letter, surgery still is included by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in the patient care competency

Assessing cataract surgical competency

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has mandated that all residency training programs teach and assess 6 general competencies.1 A.G. Lee and K.D. Carter, Managing the new mandate in resident education: A blueprint for translating a national mandate into local compliance, Ophthalmology 111 (2004), pp. 1807–1812. Article | PDF (94 K) | View Record in Scopus | Cited By in Scopus (40)[1] and [2] The American Board of Ophthalmology has recommended that a seventh competency in surgery be required. At the time of the writing of this letter, surgery still is included by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education in the patient care competency

Using the Journal Club to teach and assess competence in practice-based learning and improvement: a literature review and recommendation for implementation

The traditional journal club has historically been used to teach residents about critically reading and reviewing the literature in order to improve patient care. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education competencies mandate requires that ophthalmology residency programs both teach and assess practice-based learning and improvement. A systematically conducted review of the literature regarding the use of the journal club in resident medical education was performed to define specific recommendations for implementation of a journal club tool. Selected best practices for a successful journal club were gleaned from the existing medical literature. These include the following: 1) the use of a structured review checklist, 2) explicit written learning objectives, and 3) a formalized meeting structure and process. The journal club might prove to be an excellent tool for the assessment of competencies like practice-based learning which may be difficult to assess by other means. Future study is necessary to determine if journal club can improve educational outcomes and promote lifelong competence in practice-based learning