1
|
Balal S, Ansari AS, Sim PY, Juwale H, Ismailjee MA, Hussain R, Ahmad S, Sharma A. The incidence and prevalence of recurrent corneal erosion syndrome in London, UK. Eye (Lond) 2023; 37:3213-3216. [PMID: 36899109 PMCID: PMC10564719 DOI: 10.1038/s41433-023-02490-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2022] [Revised: 02/28/2023] [Accepted: 03/03/2023] [Indexed: 03/12/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Recurrent corneal erosion syndrome (RCES) is caused by repeated episodes of corneal epithelial breakdown due to improper adherence of the corneal epithelium to the underlying basement membrane. The most common aetiologies are corneal dystrophy or previous superficial ocular trauma. The incidence and prevalence of the condition is currently unknown. This study aimed to determine the incidence and prevalence of RCES within the London population over a 5-year period in order to better inform clinicians and evaluate how this condition affects ophthalmic service provision. METHODS A retrospective cohort study over a 5-year period reviewed 487,690 emergency room patient attendances at Moorfields Eye Hospital (MEH) London between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2019. MEH caters for a local population comprising of around ten regional clinical commissioning groups (CCGs). The data for this study were collected using OpenEyesTM electronic medical records including demographics and comorbidities. The CCGs encompass 41% (3,689,000) of London's total 8,980,000 inhabitants. Using these data the crude incidence and prevalence rates of disease were estimated with results reported per 100,000 population. RESULTS Out of 330,684 patients, 3623 patients were given a new diagnosis of RCES by the emergency ophthalmology services, and from these, 1056 patients attended outpatient follow-up. The crude annual incidence of RCES was estimated at 25.4 per 100,000, with a crude prevalence rate of 0.96%. There was no statistical difference in annual incidence across the 5-year period. CONCLUSIONS The period prevalence of 0.96% shows that RCES is not uncommon. There was also a stable annual incidence over the 5-year period, showing no changing trend over the study period. However, identifying the true incidence and period prevalence is a challenging task, as minor cases may heal prior to examination by an ophthalmologist. It is highly likely that RCES is underdiagnosed and therefore underreported.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shafi Balal
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, 162 City Road, London, UK.
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, 11-43 Bath St, Greater London, UK.
| | - Abdus Samad Ansari
- Section of Academic Ophthalmology, School of Life Course Sciences, FoLSM, King's College London, London, UK
| | | | - Harun Juwale
- The University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, UK
| | | | | | - Sajjad Ahmad
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, 162 City Road, London, UK
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, 11-43 Bath St, Greater London, UK
| | - Anant Sharma
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, 162 City Road, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Balal S, Din N, Ashton C, Ahmad S. Healing of Chemical Injury-Related Persistent Corneal Epithelial Defects With Topical Insulin. Cornea 2023; 42:1000-1004. [PMID: 36729695 DOI: 10.1097/ico.0000000000003145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/01/2022] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of insulin eye drops for treating refractory persistent epithelial defects (PEDs). METHODS A prospective, single-center, case series was performed from March 2020 to September 2021. All patients were prescribed insulin eye drops for refractory PEDs that failed on maximum standard medical treatment (including serum eye drops). The drops were used 4 times/day. Patients were followed up at 2 weekly intervals with full slitlamp examination and serial anterior segment photography. The primary end point was resolution of the epithelial defect. RESULTS Eleven eyes of 10 patients were treated with insulin eye drops. The mean age of the cohort was 45.4 + 25 years with a mean follow-up of 195.7 + 114.3 days after re-epithelization. The most common causative condition was chemical injury (n = 5, 60%). Mean baseline PED defect was 41.3 + 55.2 mm 2 . Nine of 11 eyes (82%) fully re-epithelized within a mean time of 62.3 + 34.6 days (range 14-112). In 2 patients who did not achieve re-epithelization, one had a reduction in size from 12.25 mm 2 to 4.5 mm 2 and the other had no response. No recurrence in defect was observed in the group that had fully re-epithelized. CONCLUSIONS This study showed that the use of topical insulin eye drops led to a successful resolution of PED in 9 of 11 cases. We demonstrate the use of insulin for closure of PEDs in chemical eye injury. Larger controlled studies are required to further evaluate this novel therapy.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shafi Balal
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom; and
- UCL Institute of Ophthalmology, London, United Kingdom
| | - Nizar Din
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom; and
| | | | - Sajjad Ahmad
- Moorfields Eye Hospital, London, United Kingdom; and
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Wagner SK, Liefers B, Radia M, Zhang G, Struyven R, Faes L, Than J, Balal S, Hennings C, Kilduff C, Pooprasert P, Glinton S, Arunakirinathan M, Giannakis P, Braimah IZ, Ahmed ISH, Al-Feky M, Khalid H, Ferraz D, Vieira J, Jorge R, Husain S, Ravelo J, Hinds AM, Henderson R, Patel HI, Ostmo S, Campbell JP, Pontikos N, Patel PJ, Keane PA, Adams G, Balaskas K. Development and international validation of custom-engineered and code-free deep-learning models for detection of plus disease in retinopathy of prematurity: a retrospective study. Lancet Digit Health 2023; 5:e340-e349. [PMID: 37088692 PMCID: PMC10279502 DOI: 10.1016/s2589-7500(23)00050-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/20/2022] [Revised: 01/08/2023] [Accepted: 02/14/2023] [Indexed: 04/25/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), a leading cause of childhood blindness, is diagnosed through interval screening by paediatric ophthalmologists. However, improved survival of premature neonates coupled with a scarcity of available experts has raised concerns about the sustainability of this approach. We aimed to develop bespoke and code-free deep learning-based classifiers for plus disease, a hallmark of ROP, in an ethnically diverse population in London, UK, and externally validate them in ethnically, geographically, and socioeconomically diverse populations in four countries and three continents. Code-free deep learning is not reliant on the availability of expertly trained data scientists, thus being of particular potential benefit for low resource health-care settings. METHODS This retrospective cohort study used retinal images from 1370 neonates admitted to a neonatal unit at Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK, between 2008 and 2018. Images were acquired using a Retcam Version 2 device (Natus Medical, Pleasanton, CA, USA) on all babies who were either born at less than 32 weeks gestational age or had a birthweight of less than 1501 g. Each images was graded by two junior ophthalmologists with disagreements adjudicated by a senior paediatric ophthalmologist. Bespoke and code-free deep learning models (CFDL) were developed for the discrimination of healthy, pre-plus disease, and plus disease. Performance was assessed internally on 200 images with the majority vote of three senior paediatric ophthalmologists as the reference standard. External validation was on 338 retinal images from four separate datasets from the USA, Brazil, and Egypt with images derived from Retcam and the 3nethra neo device (Forus Health, Bengaluru, India). FINDINGS Of the 7414 retinal images in the original dataset, 6141 images were used in the final development dataset. For the discrimination of healthy versus pre-plus or plus disease, the bespoke model had an area under the curve (AUC) of 0·986 (95% CI 0·973-0·996) and the CFDL model had an AUC of 0·989 (0·979-0·997) on the internal test set. Both models generalised well to external validation test sets acquired using the Retcam for discriminating healthy from pre-plus or plus disease (bespoke range was 0·975-1·000 and CFDL range was 0·969-0·995). The CFDL model was inferior to the bespoke model on discriminating pre-plus disease from healthy or plus disease in the USA dataset (CFDL 0·808 [95% CI 0·671-0·909, bespoke 0·942 [0·892-0·982]], p=0·0070). Performance also reduced when tested on the 3nethra neo imaging device (CFDL 0·865 [0·742-0·965] and bespoke 0·891 [0·783-0·977]). INTERPRETATION Both bespoke and CFDL models conferred similar performance to senior paediatric ophthalmologists for discriminating healthy retinal images from ones with features of pre-plus or plus disease; however, CFDL models might generalise less well when considering minority classes. Care should be taken when testing on data acquired using alternative imaging devices from that used for the development dataset. Our study justifies further validation of plus disease classifiers in ROP screening and supports a potential role for code-free approaches to help prevent blindness in vulnerable neonates. FUNDING National Institute for Health Research Biomedical Research Centre based at Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and the University College London Institute of Ophthalmology. TRANSLATIONS For the Portuguese and Arabic translations of the abstract see Supplementary Materials section.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Siegfried K Wagner
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Bart Liefers
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
| | - Meera Radia
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Gongyu Zhang
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK
| | - Robbert Struyven
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Livia Faes
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Jonathan Than
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Shafi Balal
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | | | | | | | | | | | - Periklis Giannakis
- Institute of Health Sciences Education, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK
| | - Imoro Zeba Braimah
- Lions International Eye Centre, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Accra, Ghana
| | - Islam S H Ahmed
- Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt; Alexandria University Hospital, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Mariam Al-Feky
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ain Shams University Hospitals, Cairo, Egypt; Watany Eye Hospital, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Hagar Khalid
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; Department of Ophthalmology, Tanta University, Tanta, Egypt
| | - Daniel Ferraz
- Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; D'Or Institute for Research and Education, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Juliana Vieira
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Rodrigo Jorge
- Department of Ophthalmology, Ribeirão Preto Medical School, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
| | - Shahid Husain
- The Blizard Institute, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK; Neonatology Department, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Janette Ravelo
- Neonatology Department, Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | | | - Robert Henderson
- UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, UK; Clinical and Academic Department of Ophthalmology, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children, London, UK
| | - Himanshu I Patel
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK; The Royal London Hospital, Barts Health NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Susan Ostmo
- Department of Ophthalmology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - J Peter Campbell
- Department of Ophthalmology, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, USA
| | - Nikolas Pontikos
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Praveen J Patel
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Pearse A Keane
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Gill Adams
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Konstantinos Balaskas
- NIHR Moorfields Biomedical Research Centre, London, UK; Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK; Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Balal S, J'Bari AS, Hassan A, Sharma A, Wagner SK, Pasu S. Capturing the Occult Central Retinal Artery Occlusion Using Optical Coherence Tomography. Curr Eye Res 2021; 46:1762-1767. [PMID: 33882770 DOI: 10.1080/02713683.2021.1921219] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/21/2022]
Abstract
Aims: To report spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings in cases of impending or occult central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) in which a diagnosis other than CRAO was made on initial presentation.Methods: Retrospective, observational case series of patients diagnosed with CRAO for whom on initial presentation fundal examination and OCT findings were deemed unremarkable and/or a diagnosis other than CRAO was made. OCT images from the initial presentation were then reviewed for evidence of inner retinal ischaemia.Results: In total, 214 cases of CRAO were identified. Eleven patients (5.14%) had been given an alternative initial diagnosis at their first presentation in casualty and were included. The age range was 20-84 years and 81% (9/11) were male. On review of initial OCT imaging performed in casualty, all cases had evidence of inner retinal ischaemia.Conclusions: CRAO is an ophthalmic emergency which leads to vision loss which is often irreversible. Examination of the fundus may be normal early in the course of the disease and therefore a timely diagnosis may be missed. This case series reports the OCT findings of inner retinal ischaemia in patients with occult or impending CRAO which may aid in the early diagnosis and referral to stroke services.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shafi Balal
- Ophthalmology Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK.,Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Ahmed Said J'Bari
- Ophthalmology Department, The Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Ali Hassan
- Ophthalmology Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK.,Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Anant Sharma
- Ophthalmology Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Siegfried Karl Wagner
- Ophthalmology Department, Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Trust, London, UK.,Institute of Ophthalmology, University College London, London, UK
| | - Saruban Pasu
- Ophthalmology Department, East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, East Sussex, UK
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Balal S, Udoh A, Pappas Y, Cook E, Barton G, Hassan A, Hayden K, Bourne RRA, Ahmad S, Pardhan S, Harrison M, Sharma B, Wasil M, Sharma A. The feasibility of finger prick autologous blood (FAB) as a novel treatment for severe dry eye disease (DED): protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open 2018; 8:e026770. [PMID: 30385451 PMCID: PMC6252631 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-026770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION Patients with severe dry eye disease (DED) often have limited treatment options with standard non-surgical management focused on the use of artificial tears for lubrication and anti-inflammatory drugs. However, artificial tears do not address the extraordinary complexity of human tears. Crudely, human tears with its vast constituents is essentially filtered blood. Blood and several blood-derived products including autologous serum, have been studied as tear substitutes. This study proposes to test the use of whole, fresh, autologous blood obtained from a finger prick for treatment of severe DED. METHODS AND ANALYSIS The research team at the two participating sites will approach patients with severe DED for this study. Recruitment will take place over 12 months and we expect to recruit 60 patients in total. The primary outcome of this feasibility study is to estimate the proportion of eligible patients approached who consent to and comply with study procedures including treatment regimen and completion of required questionnaires. The secondary outcome measures, although not powered for in this feasibility, include corneal inflammation (assessed by the Oxford corneal staining guide), patient pain and symptoms scores (assessed by the Ocular Surface Disease Index Score), and objective signs of DED as indicated by visual acuity (assessed by Schirmer's test, tear break-up time, lower and/or upper tear meniscus height measurement). Other secondary outcomes include patients' quality of life (assessed using the validated EQ-5D-5L Questionnaire), cost to the National Health Service (NHS) and patient (assessed via use of NHS services and privately purchased over-the-counter treatment related to DED) and safety measure of pressure within the eye (assessed by the Intraocular Pressure (IOP) Score). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION This protocol and any subsequent amendments, along with any accompanying material provided to the participant in addition to any advertising material used in this trial have been approved by the East of England - Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire Research Ethics Committee (REC reference: 17/EE/0508). Written approval from the committee was obtained and subsequently submitted to the respective Trust's Research and Development (R&D) office with final NHS R&D approval obtained. Data obtained from this study will be published in a suitable peer-review journal and will also presented at international ophthalmic conferences including the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Royal College of Ophthalmology Annual Congress, the Association for Research and Vision and Ophthalmology, and the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery. Information will be provided to patient groups and charities such as the Sjogren's Society and the Royal National Institute of Blind People. This will also be shared with the study participants as well as with relevant patient groups and charities. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER NCT03395431; Pre-results.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Shafi Balal
- Bedford Hospital NHS Trust, Bedford, UK
- Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, London, UK
| | - Arit Udoh
- Clinical Trial Unit, School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK
| | - Yannis Pappas
- The Research Centre for Health Organisation and Delivery, Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK
| | - Erica Cook
- The Research Centre for Health Organisation and Delivery, Institute for Health Research, University of Bedfordshire, Luton, UK
| | - Garry Barton
- Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK
| | - Ali Hassan
- Bedford Hospital NHS Trust, Bedford, UK
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Karen Hayden
- Clinical Trial Unit, School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK
| | - Rupert Richard Alexander Bourne
- Vision and Eye Research Unit (VERU), School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
- Ophthalmology, Cambridge University Hospitals, Cambridge, UK
| | - Sajjad Ahmad
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| | - Shahina Pardhan
- Vision and Eye Research Unit (VERU), School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK
| | - Michael Harrison
- Clinical Trial Unit, School of Medicine, Anglia Ruskin University, Chelmsford, UK
| | | | | | - Anant Sharma
- Bedford Hospital NHS Trust, Bedford, UK
- Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, London, UK
| |
Collapse
|