Objectives: Staphylococcal blepharitis is a common ocular condition that can cause significant visual morbidities due to corneal complications. This study described the clinical profile of patients with staphylococcal blepharitis seen in a tertiary referral eye center, and determined the frequency and the type of corneal complications, the possible reasons for the delay in diagnosis, and the management prior to the consult. Methods: This study was a single-center, five-year retrospective case series design. The charts of all patients from January 2016 to December 2021 with the diagnosis of staphylococcal blepharitis seen at the External Disease and Cornea Clinic of the Philippine General Hospital that have fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. The data extracted were age, sex, chief complaint, laterality, time of onset of symptoms to consult, previous consults, lid and lid margin findings, conjunctival and corneal findings, pre- and post-treatment uncorrected distance visual acuity, duration of follow-up, and treatments received. Results: Fifty-five (55) charts out of 107 charts with a diagnosis of staphylococcal blepharitis were included. Eighty percent (80%) or 44 patients had bilateral disease. Ninety-nine (99) eyes of 55 patients were analyzed. The median age of the study population was 19 years. Sixty-seven percent (67%) were female, and 33% were male. The mean duration of follow-up at the External Disease and Cornea Clinic was 10.8 ± 14.61 months. Corneal opacity, eye redness, and blurring of vision comprised 70% of the reasons for consult. The mean time from the onset of symptoms to consult was 18.36 ± 25.69 months. Sixty-seven percent (67%) had prior consults elsewhere and 45% came in with a different diagnosis. Seventy-eight (78) eyes had fibrin or crust on the lashes. Fifty percent (50%) of the eyes had concomitant conjunctivitis, while 30% had meibomitis. Fifty-eight percent (58%) of patients had corneal complications. Seventy-two percent (72%) of eyes had bilateral involvement. The median age of patients with corneal complications subgroup was 13 years. The most common corneal complications noted were neovascularization, phlyctenulosis, pannus formation, and marginal infiltrates or ulcers. Twenty-two percent (22%) of all study eyes had visually disabling corneal complications like corneal ulcer, descemetocele, corneal perforation, and corneal scar. Ninety percent (90%) of the patients received standard medical treatment and three patients underwent penetrating keratoplasty. The mean uncorrected distance visual acuity at initial consult of eyes with corneal complication was 20/55 (LogMAR 0.43 ± 0.51) and 20/35 (LogMAR 0.25 ± 0.40) after treatment (p = 0.032). Conclusion Staphylococcal blepharitis was most prevalent among young female patients, and it affected both eyes. Almost all patients manifested the typical lid margin lesions. Nearly 60% of the patients presented with corneal complications and 22% had corneal lesions that were potentially blinding. Close to 50% had delay in treatment due to misdiagnosis.
blepharitis ; staphylococcus ; cornea ; blindness

Humans ; Intervertebral Disc Displacement/surgery* ; Skull ; Lumbar Vertebrae/surgery* ; Blindness ; Treatment Outcome ; Intervertebral Disc Degeneration/surgery*

OBJECTIVE: To explore the genetic etiology of a child with microcephaly-cortical blind syndrome. METHODS: Clinical data of the child was collected. The child and her parents were subjected to whole exome sequencing (WES). Candidate variants were validated by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: WES revealed that the child has harbored compound heterozygous variants c.1051C>T and c.609delA of the DIAPH1 gene. CONCLUSION The compound heterozygous variation c.1051C>T (p.R351X) and c.609delA (p.E203Efs*19) of the DIAPH1 gene probably underlay the microcephaly-cortical blindness syndrome in this child.
Blindness/genetics* ; Child ; Female ; Formins/genetics* ; Genetic Testing ; Humans ; Microcephaly/genetics* ; Mutation ; Pedigree ; Exome Sequencing

Diabetic retinopathy (DR), one of the chronic complications of diabetes, is a serious and irreversible blinding disease. It is difficult to detect in the early stage, to control in the progressive stage, to operate in the advanced stage of DR. Recently, the "14th Five-year plan" for National Eye Health proposed to "improve the management mode of chronic eye disease, and build a chronic disease management system". The project team used artificial intelligence technology based on cloud platform, joint outpatient service, virtual ward to explore the comprehensive management of DR from the aspects of early screening, multidisciplinary collaborative diagnosis and treatment, and refined blood glucose management during perioperative period. In the future, it is urgent to integrate DR chronic disease management with other systemic chronic diseases to reduce the blindness caused by DR.
Humans ; Diabetic Retinopathy/diagnosis* ; Artificial Intelligence ; Mass Screening ; Blindness/prevention & control* ; Diabetes Mellitus

Objective: To assess the association of socioeconomic status with the burden of cataract blindness in terms of year lived with disability (YLD) rates and to determine whether ultraviolet radiation (UVR) levels modify the effect of socioeconomic status on this health burden. Methods: National and subnational age-standardized YLD rates associated with cataract-related blindness were derived from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study 2017. The human development index (HDI) from the Human Development Report was used as a measure of socioeconomic status. Estimated ground-level UVR exposure was obtained from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) dataset of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Results: Across 185 countries, socioeconomic status was inversely associated with the burden of cataract blindness. Countries with a very high HDI had an 84% lower age-standardized YLD rate [95% confidence interval ( Conclusion Long-term high-UVR exposure amplifies the association of poor socioeconomic status with the burden of cataract-related blindness. The findings emphasize the need for strengthening UVR exposure protection interventions in developing countries with high-UVR exposure.
Blindness/etiology* ; Cataract/etiology* ; Female ; Global Burden of Disease/statistics & numerical data* ; Humans ; Male ; Quality-Adjusted Life Years ; Social Class ; Socioeconomic Factors ; Ultraviolet Rays/adverse effects*

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is an important cause of blindness globally, and its prevalence is increasing. Early detection and intervention can help change the outcomes of the disease. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) in recent years has led to new possibilities for the screening and diagnosis of DR. An AI-based diagnostic system for the detection of DR has significant advantages, such as high efficiency, high accuracy, and lower demand for human resources. At the same time, there are shortcomings, such as the lack of standards for development and evaluation and the limited scope of application. This article demonstrates the current applications of AI in the field of DR, existing problems, and possible future development directions.
Artificial Intelligence ; Blindness ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Diabetic Retinopathy/diagnosis* ; Humans ; Mass Screening

Background and Objectives: The study determined the prevalence and causes of childhood blindness and visual impairment (VI) in the hospital and determined the association between risk factors and dimensions affecting eye care utilization and VI severity. Methodology This is a retrospective cross-sectional study which included 318 records of pediatric patients who consulted at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) in 2018.
Vision Disorders ; Blindness ; Cataract ; Refractive Errors

Endoscopic sinus surgery (ESS) is a generally benign, minimally invasive procedure used for management of paranasal sinus diseases, although complications may occur due to proximity of vital structures such as the brain, orbit and great vessels.1 The overall ESS major complication rate is 0.5-1%, of which orbital injury accounts for 0.09% due to direct trauma.2 We report a case of unilateral delayed sudden visual loss without orbital trauma observed intraoperatively or on post[1]operative imaging studies, following a seemingly routine endoscopic sinus surgery for chronic rhinosinusitis.
Ophthalmic Artery ; Blindness

OBJECTIVE: To detect potential variants in a family affected with Usher syndrome type I, and analyze its genotype-phenotype correlation. METHODS: Clinical data of the family was collected. Potential variants in the proband were detected by high-throughput sequencing. Suspected variants were verified by Sanger sequencing. RESULTS: The proband developed night blindness at 10 year old, in addition with bilateral cataract and retinal degeneration. Hearing loss occurred along with increase of age. High-throughput sequencing and Sanger sequencing revealed that she has carried compound heterozygous variants of the MYO7A gene, namely c.2694+2T>G and c.6028G>A. Her sister carried the same variants with similar clinical phenotypes. Her daughter was heterozygous for the c.6028G>A variant but was phenotypically normal. CONCLUSION The clinical features and genetic variants were delineated in this family with Usher syndrome type I. The results have enriched the phenotype and genotype data of the disease and provided a basis for genetic counseling.
Child ; Female ; Genetic Variation ; Genotype ; Heterozygote ; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ; Humans ; Mutation ; Myosin VIIa ; genetics ; Night Blindness ; etiology ; Pedigree ; Phenotype ; Usher Syndromes ; genetics ; pathology

BACKGROUND: Retinal degeneration causes blindness, and cell replacement is a potential therapy. The purpose of this study is to formation of pigmented neurospheres in a simple medium, low-cost, high-performance manner over a short period of time while expressing markers of RPE cells and the activation of specific genes of the pigment cells. Also, these neurospheres have the ability to produce a monolayer of retinal pigment epithelium-like cells (RPELC) with the ability of photoreceptor outer segment phagocytosis. METHODS: BMSC were isolated from pigmented hooded male rats and were immunoreactive to BMSC markers, then converted into neurospheres, differentiated into pigmented spheres (PS), and characterized using Retinal pigment epithelium-specific 65 kDa protein (RPE65), Retinaldehyde-binding protein 1 (CRALBP) and orthodenticle homeobox 2 (OTX2) markers by immunocytochemistry, RT-PCR and RT-qPCR. The PS were harvested into RPELC. The functionality of RPELC was evaluated by phagocytosis of fluorescein-labeled photoreceptor outer segment. RESULTS: The BMSC immunophenotype was confirmed by immunostained for fibronectin, CD90, CD166 and CD44. These cells differentiated into osteogenic and lipogenic cells. The generated neurospheres were immunoreactive to nestin and stemness genes. The PS after 7–14 days were positive for RPE65 (92.76–100%), CRALBP (95.21–100%) and OTX2 (94.88–100%), and after 30 days RT-PCR, qPCR revealed increasing in gene expression. The PS formed a single layer of RPELC after cultivation and phagocyte photoreceptor outer segments. CONCLUSION: Bone marrow stromal stem cells can differentiate into functional retinal pigmented epithelium cells in a simple, low-cost, high-performancemanner over a short period of time. These cells due to expressing theRPELCgenes andmarkers can be used in cell replacement therapy for degenerative diseases including age-relatedmacular degeneration as well as retinitis pigmentosa.
Animals ; Blindness ; Bone Marrow ; Epithelium ; Fibronectins ; Gene Expression ; Genes, Homeobox ; Humans ; Immunohistochemistry ; Male ; Nestin ; Phagocytes ; Phagocytosis ; Rats ; Retinal Degeneration ; Retinal Pigment Epithelium ; Retinaldehyde ; Retinitis Pigmentosa ; Stem Cells