uveitis – Computational Ophthalmology

June 23, 2020October 7, 2020

Evolving consensus for immunomodulatory therapy in non-infectious uveitis during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this report of results from a survey of international uveitis experts, the authors provide guidance on the use of immunomodulatory therapy for systemic treatment of non-infectious uveitis during the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Noninfectious uveitis is usually treated with corticosteroids and conventional immunosuppressive agents. Biologics are used when long-term treatment is required and a corticosteroid-sparing approach is necessary. One of the most important concerns related to immunomodulatory therapy is the increased risk of infections, as these drugs act by limiting the patient's immune responses. Patients who may be at additional risk of infection with coronavirus and/or a more severe course of, or even fatality from, COVID-19. Therefore, during the pandemic, there is an urgent need for guidance on how to manage patients with uveitis.

March 23, 2020October 15, 2020

Prognostic utility of whole genome sequencing and polymerase chain reaction tests of ocular fluids in post-procedural endophthalmitis

Pubmed

Journal

Citation

Endophthalmitis is a rare but significant potential complication of eye surgery that can result in a substantial loss of vision. Microbial culture remains the gold standard for detecting organisms associated with endophthalmitis, but in 30% of cases no organism is identified. Molecular testing such as PCR or deep DNA sequencing have been increasingly used in ophthalmology, and can identify and characterize pathogens with unprecedented detail. We sought to apply these techniques to a prospective cohort of patients with endophthalmitis and correlate the findings with clinical outcomes, to determine whether they provide additional prognostic information for the management of post-procedure endophthalmitis.

February 5, 2020July 9, 2020

Logistic Regression Classification of Primary Vitreoretinal Lymphoma Versus Uveitis by Interleukin 6 and Interleukin 10 Levels

Pubmed

Journal

Citation

In this study published in the journal Ophthalmology, the authors evaluated the use of a logistic regression model for early diagnosis of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma. Primary vitreoretinal lymphoma is a rare disease with a generally poor prognosis. Early diagnosis of local ocular disease has been shown to prolong survival significantly, but because the disease is rare and the ocular symptoms are nonspecific, it is often misdiagnosed. In addition, although cytologic analysis of aqueous or vitreous samples is diagnostic, there are often problems with lymphoma cell detection in the sample. As a result, the diagnosis of PVRL is often delayed, taking on average 1 to 2 years from the onset of symptoms and typically requiring multiple biopsies.

Figure 4. Graph showing vitreous classification performance by interleukin 10 (IL-10)-to-interleukin 6 (IL-6) ratio, Interleukin Score for Intraocular Lymphoma Diagnosis (ISOLD), and logistic regression (LR). AUC = area under the receiver operating characteristic curve.

August 10, 2016September 28, 2020

Patterns of Laboratory Testing Utilization Among Uveitis Specialists

Pubmed

Journal

Citation

The purpose of this interesting study by Dr. Lee and her co-authors was to better understand how ophthalmologists order tests when evaluating patients with uveitis. There are about 150,000 cases of uveitis (inflammation of the uvea) in the United States each year, and testing for treatable diseases as well as other health issues that might be associated with uveitis is an important part of the workup when patients present with this condition. However, unlike many other ophthalmic conditions, there is no "standard laboratory workup" for uveitis, and unfocused ordering of diagnostic tests can be difficult to interpret and costly.