Visual complaints during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain and Portugal

PURPOSE

This study reports visual health during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021 in Spain and Portugal, focusing on eye complaints and population habits.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Cross-sectional survey through an online email invitation to patients attending ophthalmology clinics in Spain and Portugal from September to November 2021. Around 3833 participants offered valid anonymous responses in a questionnaire.

RESULTS

Sixty percent of respondents identified significant discomfort related to dry eye symptoms for increased screen time and lens fogging using facemasks. 81.6% of the participants used digital devices for more than 3 h per day and 40% for more than 8 h. In addition, 44% of participants referred to worsening near vision. The most frequent ametropias were myopia (40.2%) and astigmatism (36.7%). Parents considered eyesight the most important aspect of their children (87.2%).

CONCLUSIONS

The results show the challenges for eye practices during the initial COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on signs and symptoms that lead to ophthalmologic conditions is an essential concern, especially in our digital society highly dependent on vision. At the same time, the excessive use of digital devices during this pandemic has aggravated dry eye and myopia.

Morphological and Biochemical Assessment of the Cornea in a Gaucher Disease Carrier with Keratoconus

Ocular abnormalities such as corneal opacities and some specific alterations in ocular movements have been described in the neuropathic forms of Gaucher disease. This study was designed to correlate the clinical, morphological and biochemical findings in the corneal button obtained after keratoplasty in a Gaucher disease carrier with keratoconus. Morphologically, the cornea showed keratocytes with marked dilatations of the rough endoplasmic reticulum and intracytoplasmic "dark inclusions"; the acidic lipid profiles presented alterations in the cornea of the Gaucher disease carrier when compared with healthy controls and a clear deficiency in beta-glucosidase activity was detected as well. Our data suggest that the cornea may serve as a good marker of an early target organ in lipid metabolism disorders such as Gaucher's disease.

[Circumferential viscocanalostomy with suture tensioning in Schlemm canal (canaloplasty)-one year experience]

PURPOSE

To study the efficacy and the safety of ultrasound biomicroscopy assisted canaloplasty in the treatment of open-angle glaucoma (OAG) METHODS: A prospective study of uncontrolled open-angle glaucoma patients, or patients with cataracts associated with controlled or uncontrolled OAG under maximal medical therapy who had been subjected to canaloplasty alone or combined with cataract surgery, respectively. Complications, Goldmann intraocular pressure (IOP) and mean number of drugs (ND) were evaluated at 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, and every 3 months.

RESULTS

Thirty five surgeries were performed (11 canaloplasties, 24 phaco-canaloplasties). The mean IOP (mmHg) dropped from 24.5±5.1, in canaloplasty, and from 19.8±6.4, in phacocanaloplasty, preoperatively, to medium-low levels at all follow-up periods (13.5±1.0 and 11.0±4.2, at 1 year in canaloplasty and phaco-canaloplasty, respectively). The number of grugs used dropped from 3.3±0.5 before surgery to less than of 1 in all follow-up periods (0.5±0.8 at 1 year). The complications were 2 microruptures of the trabeculodescemetic window, 5 entries in the collector channels, 5 choroidal space/anterior chamber passages, 10 hyphemas, 3 hypotonies, one peripheral Descemet detachment, one intracorneal hematoma, two peripheral anterior synechia, one internal iris prolapse, and two suture extrusions to the anterior chamber.

CONCLUSIONS

Ultrasound biomicroscopy assisted Canaloplasty, alone or combined, provided a sustained IOP reduction to medium-low levels, led to a decrease in the number of drugs and had a good safety profile, making this a good alternative to trabeculectomy.

Retinal changes induced by neonatal cocaine exposure in the rat

Retinal abnormalities have been described in both animals and humans exposed to cocaine during development. The present study was designed to examine the morphological repercussions of neonatal exposure to cocaine on the developing retina of the rat. Male Wistar rats were given 15 mg/kg body weight per day of cocaine hydrochloride subcutaneously on postnatal days (PND) 0-6, 13 and 29 and sacrificed at PND 7, 14 or 30; controls were given saline. The retinas were processed for electron microscopy. Retinal quadrants were embedded flat and vertical semithin and ultrathin sections obtained. PND 7 sections showed discrete intraretinal hemorrhages, PND 14 sections showed massive intraretinal hemorrhages and images of ischemic necrosis in the nerve fiber layer and PND 30 sections showed cavity lesions in the hemorrhagic areas, gliosis and pigmented macrophage-rich epiretinal membranes; photoreceptor rosettes were also found. These results are the first morphological demonstration of retinal hemorrhages and associated epiretinal membranes following neonatal exposure to cocaine in the rat. These changes are probably related to the ischemia/hypoxia induced by cocaine.

Primary lipid keratopathy: a morphological and biochemical assessment

Images

Changes in the retinal ganglion cell layer and optic nerve of rats exposed neonatally to cocaine

The effects of neonatal exposure to cocaine upon the structure of the visual system are poorly understood despite the evidence of eye abnormalities in infants exposed in utero to cocaine. We previously demonstrated alterations in the optic nerve of rats exposed neonatally to cocaine, although no changes were detected in the number of its axons. This study was undertaken to investigate the retinal ganglion cell layer and the size distribution of the optic axons, in an attempt to assess further changes in the visual pathways. Groups of rats (Wistar strain) were given subcutaneous injections of cocaine hydrochloride (15 mg kg-1 body weight day-1) divided into two daily doses, from the day following birth until postnatal day 30 Controls were given subcutaneous saline throughout the same experimental period. Per group, five animals from three different litters were evaluated morphometrically. Following perfusion with aldehydes, samples from the median ventral and dorsal parts of the retina and the optic nerves were processed for electron microscopy. Morphometric techniques at light and electron microscopic levels allowed us to determine the following. (a) In the optic nerve: (1) frequency size-distribution of myelinated nerve fibres; and (2) number of myelin sheaths per fibre. (b) In the retina: (1) thickness of the layers; (2) frequency size-distribution of ganglion layer neurons; (3) mean cell nuclear size; and (4) packing density of ganglion cell layer neurons.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Morphological changes in the optic nerve after chronic exposure of neonatal rats to cocaine and amphetamine

We determined the effects of cocaine hydrochloride (15 mg/kg body weight/day) or amphetamine sulfate (25 mg/kg body weight/day) on the optic nerve in groups of rats exposed from postnatal day 1 to 30. Qualitative and quantitative studies of cross-sections of the optic nerves showed different patterns of organization, namely the presence of degenerative features in drug-treated animals and significant differences in the proportion of the nerve occupied by glial cells and their processes and nerve fiber bundles. No significant differences of the total number of fibers were found. Taken together, these data indicate that the optic nerve is vulnerable to early exposure to cocaine and amphetamine which cause developmental changes in this link of the visual pathways.