PURPOSE: To address the natural course of intermittent exotropia with small exodeviations (less than 20 prism diopters [PD]) according to the status of suppression, and to evaluate whether suppression testing at the initial visit can assist in predicting the progression of intermittent exotropia. METHODS: Clinical records of patients at the Korea University Anam Hospital, Seoul, Korea diagnosed between January 2014 and December 2018 with basic-type intermittent exotropia and initial distance deviations of less than 20 PD, older than four years of age and a minimum of three follow-up visits within a 6-month span were retrospectively reviewed. The participants were divided into two groups, the suppression group and the non-suppression group, based on the Vectogram results at the initial visit. Clinical characteristics, rate of surgery, and rate of progression were compared between the two groups. RESULTS: A total of 71 patients were included. Among them, 16 patients (22.5%) had visual suppression at the initial visit, while 55 patients (77.5%) had no suppression. At the initial visit, the mean distant angle of deviation was 13.7 ± 3.2 PD (range, 4 to 18 PD) in the suppression group and 12.7 ± 3.4 PD (range, 10 to 18 PD) in the non-suppression group. Ten patients (62.5%) underwent surgery in the suppression group and 12 patients (21.8%) underwent surgery in the non-suppression group (p < 0.01). Eleven patients (68.8%) in the suppression group and 13 (23.6%) in the non-suppression group developed progression (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Suppression testing was important to predict the progression of intermittent exotropia, in patients with exodeviation angles less than 20 PD at the initial visit.
Exotropia ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Seoul

Liver organoids have gained much attention in recent years for their potential applications to liver disease modeling and pharmacologic drug screening. Liver organoids produced In Vitro reflect some aspects of the in vivo physiological and pathological conditions of the liver. However, the generation of liver organoids with perfusable luminal vasculature remains a major challenge, hindering precise and effective modeling of liver diseases. Furthermore, vascularization is required for large organoids or assembloids to closely mimic the complexity of tissue architecture without cell death in the core region. A few studies have successfully generated liver organoids with endothelial cell networks, but most of these vascular networks produced luminal structures after being transplanted into tissues of host animals. Therefore, formation of luminal vasculature is an unmet need to overcome the limitation of liver organoids as an In Vitro model investigating different acute and chronic liver diseases. Here, we provide an overview of the unique features of hepatic vasculature under pathophysiological conditions and summarize the biochemical and biophysical cues that drive vasculogenesis and angiogenesis In Vitro. We also highlight recent progress in generating vascularized liver organoids In Vitro and discuss potential strategies that may enable the generation of perfusable luminal vasculature in liver organoids.