Optometry Commons^™

The Variety Of Mechanosensitive Ion Channels In R/Etinal Neurons, Ji-Jie Pang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Alterations in intraocular and external pressure critically involve the pathogenesis of glaucoma, traumatic retinal injury (TRI), and other retinal disorders, and retinal neurons have been reported to express multiple mechanical-sensitive channels (MSCs) in recent decades. However, the role of MSCs in visual functions and pressure-related retinal conditions has been unclear. This review will focus on the variety and functional significance of the MSCs permeable to K+, Na+, and Ca2+, primarily including the big potassium channel (BK); the two-pore domain potassium channels TRAAK and TREK; Piezo; the epithelial sodium channel (ENaC); and the transient receptor potential channels vanilloid TRPV1, TRPV2, and …

Burnout In Optometry.....How Do We Compare?, Jeffrey L. Weaver Od, Mba

Optometric Clinical Practice

Letter to the Editor

Book Review: Visual Secrets For School Success, Paul B. Freeman Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Book Review

Herpes Simplex Keratitis After Prk, Joshua Graf Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is a double stranded DNA virus that infects much of the world’s population. The World Health Organization estimates 67% of people under the age of 50 have HSV-1 and 11% of people under the age of 50 have HSV-2. While most systemic infections remain inactive and do not cause symptoms, the activation and appearance of ocular HSV can be a destructive and vision-threatening issue. HSV keratitis can be epithelial, stromal or a combination. Patients who have recently undergone photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) have a higher risk of HSV keratitis. Because of this, HSV keratitis should be …

Effectiveness Of Escoop® Lenses On A Select Group Of Veterans, Connie Chronister Od, Denise T. Wilcox Od, Stanley Hatch Od, Mph

Optometric Clinical Practice

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to perform a retrospective chart review to see if the use of EScoop® lenses improved the referred veterans' contrast acuity and subjective visual discomfort of glare, photophobia, or difficulty with night driving. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed examinations of 23 veterans aged 36 to 91 who chose EScoop ® for their spectacle prescription. The EScoop ® set available in our clinic included two shades, yellow or orange, two center lens thicknesses (LT), 6 or 9 mm, and with or without 4 prism diopters yoked base up (BU) prism. Results: The largest diagnostic group tested …

Results Of A Vosh Trip To Panama, Raelyn Ottenbreit Od, Aubrey Breithaupt Od, Allan Mccleary Od, Timothy Wingert Od, Emily Burnette Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Optometric services in many parts of the world are unavailable, or when available, limited to those individuals who have the resources and proximity to gain access to them. Recognizing this disparity in availability of eyecare services, teams from developed countries have been volunteering to provide eyecare in these areas with such a need for many years. Over time, these groups have also adopted a mission of enhancing the local infrastructure to create long-term improvement. Method: All records from a VOSH clinical trip to Panama were retrospectively analyzed to determine the prevalence of ocular conditions diagnosed. Results: As expected, the …

Headache And Vision Loss As Initial Symptoms For An Acute Invasive Rhino-Orbital-Cerebral Mucormycosis, Thanh Le Od, Gregg Wentworth Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Background: Acute invasive rhino-orbital-cerebral mucormycosis (ROCM) is a rare fungal infection commonly caused by Rhizopus species. It occurs in immune- compromised individuals who have acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), leukemia, uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, or organ transplant patients who are on immunosuppressive therapy. Diagnosing invasive ROCM is challenging because its clinical presentation can be nonspecific, and it is not frequently observed in ophthalmic practices. Case Report: A 66-year-old Hispanic male with poorly controlled diabetes mellitus presented with the complaint of severe headache and retrobulbar pain in the right eye. An ophthalmic examination revealed normal ocular health in both eyes. Computerized tomography …

Expanding Your Professional Experience Through The Fulbright Program, Timothy Wingert Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Expanding the Box

Sometimes There Is More To Reading Than Reading!, Paul Freeman Od

Optometric Clinical Practice

Editorial

Eye Infection Risks From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Via Hand Soap And Eye Drops, Anna Gitter, Kristina D Mena, Karla S Mendez, Fuqing Wu, Charles P Gerba

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Eye infections from bacterial contamination of bulk-refillable liquid soap dispensers and artificial tear eye drops continue to occur, resulting in adverse health outcomes that include impaired vision or eye enucleation. Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), a common cause of eye infections, can grow in eye drop containers and refillable soap dispensers to high numbers. To assess the risk of eye infection, a quantitative microbial risk assessment for P. aeruginosa was conducted to predict the probability of an eye infection for two potential exposure scenarios: (i) individuals using bacteria-contaminated eye drops and (ii) contact lens wearers washing their hands with …

Best Screening: Introducing The Neonatal Assessment Visual European Grid To Nicus In Tennessee, Gabrielle Sledge

OTD Capstone Projects

Blind Early Services Tennessee (BEST) is an early intervention agency that serves children ages 0-5 with visual impairments across Tennessee. BEST serves over 200 children and families across the state offering early intervention (BEST Start), parent empowerment (BEST Advocate), and family support (BEST Together) programming. The purpose of this project was to assist in the implementation of an early identification initiative (BEST Screening) using the Neonatal Assessment Visual European Grid (NAVEG). The NAVEG is a newborn vision screening shown to identify neurological risk for visual impairments. The long-term goal of this program is to promote the screening and early identification …

Safety And Cost Effectiveness Of Immediate Sequential Bilateral Cataracts Surgery, Miles Bowman, Abbie R. Bauer

Clinical Research in Practice: The Journal of Team Hippocrates

A clinical decision report using:

Rush SW, Gerald AE, Smith JC, Rush AJ, Rush RB. Prospective analysis of outcomes and economic factors of same-day bilateral cataract surgery in the United States. Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. 2015;41(4):732-739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrs.2014.07.034

for a patient with bilateral cataracts.

Inactivation Of Adenosine Receptor 2a Suppresses Endothelial-To-Mesenchymal Transition And Inhibits Subretinal Fibrosis In Mice, Qiuhua Yang, Yongfeng Cai, Qian Ma, Albert Xiong, Peishan Xu, Zhidan Zhang, Jiean Xu, Yaqi Zhou, Zhiping Liu, Dingwei Zhao, John Asara, Wei Li, Huidong Shi, Ruth B Caldwell, Akrit Sodhi, Yuqing Huo

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Anti–vascular endothelial growth factor therapy has had a substantial impact on the treatment of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), the leading cause of vision loss in older adults. Despite treatment, many patients with nAMD still develop severe and irreversible visual impairment because of the development of subretinal fibrosis. We recently reported the anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic effects of inhibiting the gene encoding adenosine receptor 2A (Adora2a), which has been implicated in cardiovascular disease. Here, using two mouse models of subretinal fibrosis (mice with laser injury–induced CNV or mice with a deficiency in the …

High Clinical Exome Sequencing Diagnostic Rates And Novel Phenotypic Expansions For Nonisolated Microphthalmia, Anophthalmia, And Coloboma, Bhavana Kunisetty, Bailey A Martin-Giacalone, Xiaonan Zhao, Pamela N Luna, Brian P Brooks, Robert B Hufnagel, Chad A Shaw, Jill A Rosenfeld, A J Agopian, Philip J Lupo, Daryl A Scott

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

PURPOSE: A molecular diagnosis is only made in a subset of individuals with nonisolated microphthalmia, anophthalmia, and coloboma (MAC). This may be due to underutilization of clinical (whole) exome sequencing (cES) and an incomplete understanding of the genes that cause MAC. The purpose of this study is to determine the efficacy of cES in cases of nonisolated MAC and to identify new MAC phenotypic expansions.

METHODS: We determined the efficacy of cES in 189 individuals with nonisolated MAC. We then used cES data, a validated machine learning algorithm, and previously published expression data, case reports, and animal models to determine …

Centriole And Transition Zone Structures In Photoreceptor Cilia Revealed By Cryo-Electron Tomography, Zhixian Zhang, Abigail R Moye, Feng He, Muyuan Chen, Melina A Agosto, Theodore G Wensel

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Primary cilia mediate sensory signaling in multiple organisms and cell types but have structures adapted for specific roles. Structural defects in them lead to devastating diseases known as ciliopathies in humans. Key to their functions are structures at their base: the basal body, the transition zone, the "Y-shaped links," and the "ciliary necklace." We have used cryo-electron tomography with subtomogram averaging and conventional transmission electron microscopy to elucidate the structures associated with the basal region of the "connecting cilia" of rod outer segments in mouse retina. The longitudinal variations in microtubule (MT) structures and the lumenal scaffold complexes connecting them …

The Self-Fitting Of Contact Lenses, Claire E. Mcdonnell

Articles

In this article Claire Mc Donnell discusses the phenomenon of first time contact lens wearers fitting themselves with contact lenses without any input from an eyecare professional.

Treatment Strategies For Anti-Vegf Resistance In Neovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration By Targeting Arteriolar Choroidal Neovascularization, Yingbin Fu, Zhao Zhang, Keith A Webster, Yannis M Paulus

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Despite extensive use of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) biologics for over a decade, neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) or choroidal neovascularization (CNV) continues to be a major cause of irreversible vision loss in developed countries. Many nAMD patients demonstrate persistent disease activity or experience declining responses over time despite anti-VEGF treatment. The underlying mechanisms of anti-VEGF resistance are poorly understood, and no effective treatment strategies are available to date. Here we review evidence from animal models and clinical studies that supports the roles of neovascular remodeling and arteriolar CNV formation in anti-VEGF resistance. Cholesterol dysregulation, inflammation, and ensuing …

A Reliable Diabetic Retinopathy Grading Via Transfer Learning And Ensemble Learning With Quadratic Weighted Kappa Metric, Sai Venkatesh Chilukoti, Liqun Shan, Vijay Srinivas Tida, Anthony S. Maida, Xiali Hei

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The most common eye infection in people with diabetes is diabetic retinopathy (DR). It might cause blurred vision or even total blindness. Therefore, it is essential to promote early detection to prevent or alleviate the impact of DR. However, due to the possibility that symptoms may not be noticeable in the early stages of DR, it is difficult for doctors to identify them. Therefore, numerous predictive models based on machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) have been developed to determine all stages of DR. However, existing DR classification models cannot classify every DR stage or use a computationally heavy …

Ectoine, From A Natural Bacteria Protectant To A New Treatment Of Dry Eye Disease, Xin Chen, Na Lin, Jin-Miao Li, Haixia Liu, Anmar Abu-Romman, Ebru Yaman, Fang Bian, Cintia S De Paiva, Stephen C Pflugfelder, De-Quan Li

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Ectoine, a novel natural osmoprotectant, protects bacteria living in extreme environments. This study aimed to explore the therapeutic effect of ectoine for dry eye disease. An experimental dry eye model was created in C57BL/6 mice exposed to desiccating stress (DS) with untreated mice as controls (UT). DS mice were dosed topically with 0.5-2.0% of ectoine or a vehicle control. Corneal epithelial defects were detected via corneal smoothness and Oregon Green dextran (OGD) fluorescent staining. Pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines were evaluated using RT-qPCR and immunofluorescent staining. Compared with UT mice, corneal epithelial defects were observed as corneal smoothness irregularities and strong …

Counterfeit Contact Lenses, Claire E. Mcdonnell

Articles

This article covers how counterfeit cosmetic and corrective contact lenses potentially reach the end user and the dangers of counterfeit lenses.

Biallelic Creld1 Variants Cause A Multisystem Syndrome, Including Neurodevelopmental Phenotypes, Cardiac Dysrhythmias, And Frequent Infections, Lauren Jeffries, Emily K Mis, Kirsty Mcwalter, Sandra Donkervoort, Nina N Brodsky, Jean-Marie Carpier, Weizhen Ji, Cristian Ionita, Bhaskar Roy, Jon S Morrow, Armine Darbinyan, Krishna Iyer, Ritu B Aul, Siddharth Banka, Katherine R Chao, Laura Cobbold, Stacey Cohen, Helena M Custodio, Margaret Drummond-Borg, Frances Elmslie, Erika Finanger, Bryan E Hainline, Ingo Helbig, Stacy Hewson, Ying Hu, Adam Jackson, Dragana Josifova, Monica Konstantino, Meganne E Leach, Bryan Mak, David Mccormick, Elisabeth Mcgee, Stanley Nelson, Joanne Nguyen, Kimberly Nugent, Lucy Ortega, Howard P Goodkin, Elizabeth Roeder, Sani Roy, Katie Sapp, Dimah Saade, Sanjay M Sisodiya, Karen Stals, Shelley Towner, William Wilson, Deciphering Developmental Disorders, Genomics England Research Consortium, Undiagnosed Disease Network, Mustafa K Khokha, Carsten G Bönnemann, Carrie L Lucas, Saquib A Lakhani

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

PURPOSE: We sought to delineate a multisystem disorder caused by recessive cysteine-rich with epidermal growth factor-like domains 1 (CRELD1) gene variants.

METHODS: The impact of CRELD1 variants was characterized through an international collaboration utilizing next-generation DNA sequencing, gene knockdown, and protein overexpression in Xenopus tropicalis, and in vitro analysis of patient immune cells.

RESULTS: Biallelic variants in CRELD1 were found in 18 participants from 14 families. Affected individuals displayed an array of phenotypes involving developmental delay, early-onset epilepsy, and hypotonia, with about half demonstrating cardiac arrhythmias and some experiencing recurrent infections. Most harbored a frameshift in trans with a missense …

Integrating Genetic Regulation And Single-Cell Expression With Gwas Prioritizes Causal Genes And Cell Types For Glaucoma, Andrew R Hamel, Wenjun Yan, John M Rouhana, Aboozar Monovarfeshani, Xinyi Jiang, Puja A Mehta, Jayshree Advani, Yuyang Luo, Qingnan Liang, Skanda Rajasundaram, Arushi Shrivastava, Katherine Duchinski, Sreekar Mantena, Jiali Wang, Tavé Van Zyl, Louis R Pasquale, Anand Swaroop, Puya Gharahkhani, Anthony P Khawaja, Stuart Macgregor, Rui Chen, Veronique Vitart, Joshua R Sanes, Janey L Wiggs, Ayellet V Segrè

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), characterized by retinal ganglion cell death, is a leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. However, its molecular and cellular causes are not well understood. Elevated intraocular pressure (IOP) is a major risk factor, but many patients have normal IOP. Colocalization and Mendelian randomization analysis of >240 POAG and IOP genome-wide association study (GWAS) loci and overlapping expression and splicing quantitative trait loci (e/sQTLs) in 49 GTEx tissues and retina prioritizes causal genes for 60% of loci. These genes are enriched in pathways implicated in extracellular matrix organization, cell adhesion, and vascular development. Analysis of single-nucleus RNA-seq …

The Ocular Sequelae Of Eyelash And Eyebrow Fashions, Claire E. Mcdonnell

Articles

This is an article on the possible adverse side effects of eyelash and eyebrow fashions e.g. fake eyelashes, eyelash tinting, eyebrow lamination, microblading. Advice is given to eyecare practitioners discussing these treatments with patients.

Myopia Progression Patterns Among Paediatric Patients In A Clinical Setting, Michael Moore, Gareth Lingham, Daniel Ian Flitcroft, James Loughman

Articles

Purpose

This retrospective analysis of electronic medical record (EMR) data investigated the natural history of myopic progression in children from optometric practices in Ireland.

Methods

The analysis was of myopic patients aged 7–17 with multiple visits and not prescribed myopia control treatment. Sex- and age-specific population centiles for annual myopic progression were derived by fitting a weighted cubic spline to empirical quantiles. These were compared to progression rates derived from control group data obtained from 17 randomised clinical trials (RCTs) for myopia. Linear mixed models (LMMs) were used to allow comparison of myopia progression rates against outputs from a predictive …

Aligning Eye Care Provider Beliefs With Behaviors: Exploring And Improving Ocular Surface Disease Decision-Making In A Cataract Surgery Clinic, Amy Hellem

Communication (PhD) Dissertations

Millions of cataract surgeries are performed every year in the United States, yet both surgeon reports and patient reports indicate that practices are not utilizing the diagnostic tests and treatments that are advocated in the medical literature to identify and manage ocular surface disease prior to surgery. As a result, patients risk suffering several significant consequences with regard to their vision, comfort and safety. Personal observations from my 25 years of experience working with ophthalmologists and optometrists led to curiosity regarding the root cause of undertreatment of ocular surface disease. Specifically, I had the impression that eye care providers held …

Exploring The Impact Of Caffeine, Alcohol, And Opioids On Intraocular Pressure: A Comprehensive Analysis Of Short-Term And Long-Term Effects On Vision, Jake Prieto

CMC Senior Theses

Coffee, alcohol, and opioids are addictive drugs commonly used in modern society, yet their impact on ocular health remains ambiguous. This systematic review aims to elucidate this ambiguity by examining their effects on intraocular pressure (IOP). Utilizing IOP as a metric, both short-term and long-term effects are evaluated across individuals with irregular IOP levels and healthy subjects. Furthermore, the study analyzes choroidal thickness as an additional measure to reinforce or challenge the findings regarding IOP, leveraging the inverse relationship between the two metrics concerning elevated IOP-related illnesses, such as open-angle glaucoma (OAG).

A comprehensive literature search was performed through Google …

Optical Coherence Elastography Measures The Biomechanical Properties Of The Ex Vivo Porcine Cornea After Lasik, Achuth Nair, Fernando Zvietcovich, Manmohan Singh, Mitchell P Weikert, Salavat R Aglyamov, Kirill V Larin

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

SIGNIFICANCE: The biomechanical impact of refractive surgery has long been an area of investigation. Changes to the cornea structure cause alterations to its mechanical integrity, but few studies have examined its specific mechanical impact.

AIM To quantify how the biomechanical properties of the cornea are altered by laser assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) using optical coherence elastography (OCE) in ex vivo porcine corneas.

APPROACH: Three OCE techniques, wave-based air-coupled ultrasound (ACUS) OCE, heartbeat (Hb) OCE, and compression OCE were used to measure the mechanical properties of paired porcine corneas, where one eye of the pair was left untreated, and the …

Atypical Haemorrhagic Presentation Of Neuro-Retinitis And Serous Retinal Detachment Secondary To Cat-Scratch Disease, Henry C Skrehot, Amer F Alsoudi, Ryan P Nolan, Adam J Cantor, Asad Loya, Rod Foroozan

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Cat-scratch disease (CSD) is a self-limited disease caused by Bartonella henselae, a fastidious gram-negative intracellular bacillus bacterium. Neuroretinitis, a form of optic neuropathy characterised clinically by optic disc swelling and a macular star, is an uncommon manifestation of CSD occurring in approximately 1-2% of cases. We report a case of a 14-year-old female who presented to the emergency department with a chief complaint of acute painless vision loss described as a large black spot in the centre of her right eye vision 2 weeks after being scratched by cats. Fundus examination revealed Frisen grade 5 disc oedema with an …

The Co-Expression Of The Depolarizing And Hyperpolarizing Mechanosensitive Ion Channels In Mammalian Retinal Neurons, Vivian Y Pang, Zhuo Yang, Samuel M Wu, Ji-Jie Pang

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Introduction

The elevation of the intraocular and extraocular pressures is associated with various visual conditions, including glaucoma and traumatic retinal injury. The retina expresses mechanosensitive channels (MSCs), but the role of MSCs in retinal physiology and pathologies has been unclear.

Methods

Using immunocytochemistry, confocal microscopy, and patch-clamp recording techniques, we studied the co-expression of K⁺-permeable (K-MSCs) TRAAK and big potassium channel BK with the epithelial sodium channel ENaC and transient receptor potential channel vanilloid TPRV4 and TRPV2 favorably permeable to Ca²⁺ than Na⁺ (together named N-MSCs), and TRPV4 activity in the mouse retina.

Results

TRAAK immunoreactivity …

Analysis Of Macular Pigment Carotenoids In Human Blood Serum Of Glaucoma Patients As A Measure Of Ocular Health: A Raman Spectroscopic Study., Joy Udensi, Ekaterina Loskutova, James Loughman, Hugh J. Byrne

Datasets

Carotenoids are a major component of the human diet and have been widely studied for their antioxidant, and vision protection roles in the human body, and dietary supplementation is promoted in particular for ocular health. An initial trial (European Nutrition in Glaucoma Management (ENIGMA)), which assessed macular pigment optical density (MPOD) as well as ocular structural, functional and perceptual parameters before and after the 18-month supplementation of glaucoma patients with macular pigment (MP) carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, meso-zeaxanthin), confirmed supplementation significantly improved the clinical ocular health of participants. Blood contains all major dietary carotenoids, presenting it as a suitable and efficient …