Macular perfusion parameters in different angiocube sizes: does the size matter in quantitative optical coherence tomography angiography?

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Quantifying Ocular Surface Inflammation and Correlating It With Inflammatory Cell Infiltration In Vivo: A Novel Method.

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to develop a novel, objective, and semiautomated method to quantify conjunctival redness by correlating measured redness with standard clinical redness and symptom scales and inflammatory cell infiltration. METHODS Eleven outpatients presenting with mild to severe conjunctival hyperemia were included in the study. Clinical examination included patient history; visual analogue score (VAS) for ocular symptoms; 25-item National Eye Institute Visual Function Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ 25) for quality of life/vision; photographs of the anterior segment graded for conjunctival hyperemia, using Efron, relative redness of image (RRI), and edge feature (EF) scales; and conjunctival impression cytology analyzed by flow cytometry. Differences between affected and unaffected eyes were evaluated, and correlations among questionnaire scores, ocular hyperemia grading scores, and assessment of biological markers were performed. RESULTS Visual analogue score (P < 0.0001), Efron scale (P = 0.0003), RRI scores (P = 0.0004), and EF scores (P < 0.0001) and the percentage of granulocytes (defined as cluster of differentiation [CD] 45dim; P = 0.0080) were significantly higher in affected eyes. Conversely, the percentage of CD45bright leukocytes was reduced in affected eyes (P = 0.0054). Both the RRIs and EFs were positively correlated with VAS, Efron scale, percentages of conjunctival granulocytes, and CD45brightCD3neg cells, whereas they were negatively correlated with the percentage of CD45brightCD3pos cells. Edge feature and RRI were correlated (Spearman r = 0.78, P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS Ocular redness is a cardinal sign driving clinical judgment in highly prevalent ocular disorders; hence, we suggest that our semiautomated and reproducible method may represent a helpful tool in the follow-up of these patients. Italian Abstract

VesselJ: A New Tool for Semiautomatic Measurement of Corneal Neovascularization

PURPOSE. To quantify blood and lymph angiogenesis in mouse corneal flat mounts by means of a novel plug-in for ImageJ, called VesselJ, based on a dynamic threshold algorithm. METHODS. Corneal neovascularization (CNV) was induced in the right corneas of 20 C57BL6/N mice by means of alkali burn (n ¼ 10) or intrastromal sutures (n ¼ 10). All corneal flat mounts were stained for blood vessels with CD31 and for lymphatics with LYVE1. Three independent operators measured blood and lymphatic CNV with both a published manual method (mCNV) and VesselJ (automatic method; aCNV). RESULTS. Both methods showed a strong reliability, defined as intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) &gt; 0.90, in quantifying hemangiogenesis for sutures and alkali burn. However, reliability of lymphatic mCNV varied from moderate in alkali burn (ICC: 0.700) to poor in sutures (ICC: 0.415), whereas it remained high in aCNV (alkali ICC: 0.996; sutures ICC: 0.959). Among sutures, a significant correlation between mCNV and aCNV was found among all the three operators for blood vessels and just for one operator for lymphatic vessels (P &lt; 0.001). In the alkali burn model, correlation between blood mCNV and aCNV was significant for all operators after excluding three noisy flat mounts (P &lt; 0.001), whereas no significant correlation was seen for lymphatic vessels. CONCLUSIONS. VesselJ is a semiautomatic, reliable, and fast method to quantify corneal hem-and lymphangiogenesis in corneal flat mounts. VesselJ can be easily used in the sutures model; it should be applied to other models (e.g., alkali burn) only after checking for background hyperfluorescence. Keywords: corneal neovascularization, blood vessels, lymphatics, plug-in, ImageJ SCOPO. Quantificare l&apos;angiogenesi e la linfangiogenesi su cornee murine tramite un nuovo plugin per ImageJ, chiamato VesselJ, basato su un algoritmo dinamico per la determinazione di un valore soglia. METODI. La neovascolarizzazione corneale (CNV)è stata indotta nella cornea destra di 20 topi C57BL6/N tramite ustione da alcali (n ¼ 10) o applicazione di suture intrastromali (n ¼ 10). Le cornee sono state marcate per i vasi sanguigni con CD31 e per i linfatici con LYVE1. Tre operatori indipendenti hanno misurato la CNV ematica e linfatica con un metodo manuale precedentemente pubblicato (mCNV) e con VesselJ (aCNV). RISULTATI. Entrambi i metodi hanno mostrato una forte riproducibilità, definita da valori di Coefficiente di Correlazione Intraclasse (ICC) &gt; 0.90, nel quantificare l&apos;angiogenesi in entrambi i modelli. Tuttavia, la riproducibilità del mCNV linfatico variava da moderata nell&apos;ustione da alcali (ICC: 0.700) a scarsa nelle suture (ICC:0.415), mentre rimaneva sempre alta nell&apos;aCNV (ICC alcali: 0.996; ICC suture: 0.959). Riguardo il modello suture,è stata osservata una correlazione significativa tra mCNV e aCNV per tutti gli operatori riguardo i vasi ematici e per solo un operatore per i vasi linfatici (P &lt; 0.001). Nel modello dell&apos;ustioneè stata osservata una correlazione significativa tra mCNV e aCNV ematici per tutti gli operatori dopo aver escluso 3 immagini con elevato rapporto segnale/rumore (P &lt; 0.001), viceversa nessuna correlazione significativaè stata osservata per i vasi linfatici. CONCLUSIONI. VesselJè un metodo semi-automatico, preciso e rapido per quantificare angiogenesi e linfangiogenesi su cornee murine. VesselJ può essere agevolmente impiegato nel modello suture, ma dovrebbe essere applicato ad altri modelli (es. ustione da alcali) solo dopo aver controllato l&apos;iperfluorescenza di fondo

optical coherence tomography angiography in the evaluation of geographic atrophy area extension

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Spotlight on reticular pseudodrusen

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in patients >50 years old. The hallmark of the disease is represented by the accumulation of extracellular material between retinal pigment epithelium and the inner collagenous layer of Bruch's membrane, called drusen. Although identified almost 30 years ago, reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) have been recently recognized as a distinctive phenotype. Unlike drusen, they are located in the subretinal space. RPD are strongly associated with late AMD, especially geographic atrophy, type 2 and 3 choroidal neovascularization, which, in turn, are less common in typical AMD. RPD identification is not straightforward at fundus examination, and their identification should employ at least 2 different imaging modalities. In this narrative review, we embrace all aspects of RPD, including history, epidemiology, histology, imaging, functional test, natural history and therapy

the safest approach to idiopathic epiretinal membrane removal

A case of symptomatic epiretinal membrane (ERM) is presented. The discussion revolves around key questions:1. What do we know about this disease entity?2. What is the traditional approach to sympto..