To assess the impact of COVID-19 on refractive amblyopia risk factors (rARFs), among 5-year-old children in Israel. We conducted a nationwide, community-based cross-sectional study to evaluate and compare trends in refractive amblyopia risk factors (rARFs) in more than 100,000 children aged 5 years, from urban kindergarten in Israel. The study was conducted from 2013 to 2023, using the PlusOptiX S12 autorefractor, a photo-screening device, to collect refractive measurements. The main outcome was the annual prevalence of rARFs across the ten-year study period. Overall, 101,626, 5 year-old children were included. The prevalence of rARFs declined from 11.4
To develop and validate a novel semi-automated Python-based pipeline for multi-dimensional analysis of macular neovascularization (MNV) on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) images. The system provides standardized biomarkers, rule-based morphological categorization, and morphology-derived interpretive labels. It also incorporates an automated morphological classification scheme to objectively distinguish active, mature quiescent, transitional, and arteriolarized states. We developed an advanced image-processing pipeline incorporating hybrid multiscale vessel enhancement using Frangi/tubeness and Laplacian of Gaussian filters, hybrid binarization (LoG–Otsu and tubeness–Sauvola with small-particle removal), dynamic region-of-interest refinement, and boundary-branch exclusion. The system generates a Standardized Vascular Complexity Score, a Standardized Caliber Uniformity Score, and a Standardized Maturity Index on a 0–100 scale, and performs rule-based classification into Medusa, Seafan, Glomerular, Tree in bud, and Dead tree patterns using predefined percentile and trunk-pattern thresholds. Morphology-derived interpretive categories - Active pattern, Maturequiescentpattern, Transitional-pattern, and Arteriolarized pattern - were assigned using quantitative thresholds and published morphological criteria. A total of 112 MNV lesions acquired on three OCTA platforms (Zeiss PlexElite 6 × 6 mm, Zeiss CIRRUS AngioPlex HD 3 × 3 mm, and Optovue Solix 6 × 6 mm) were analyzed. Masked expert–automated morphological agreement was assessed in a stratified subset (n = 54). Inter-observer reproducibility was evaluated with three operators in 46 lesions using ICC(2,1), and same-operator intra-observer test–retest reproducibility was assessed as a supplement (n = 46). Between-stratum score differences were summarized using Kruskal–Wallis tests and ε² effect sizes with bootstrap 95
To compare the refractive accuracy of six intraocular lens (IOL) power calculation formulas in pediatric aphakia managed with anterior iris-claw (Artisan) IOL implantation. Children aged 18 years or younger with ectopia lentis or microspherophakia who underwent lensectomy and anterior Artisan Aphakia IOL implantation between 2013 and 2024 at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, were reviewed retrospectively. Optical biometry was obtained using the IOLMaster (version 5.4). Predicted refraction was calculated using SRK/T, Holladay 1, Hoffer Q, T2, Barrett Universal II, and EVO 2.0 formulas, with lens constants iteratively optimised to zero mean prediction error. The primary analysis used first-operated eyes; cumulative data for all eyes are presented separately. Twenty-six first-operated eyes of 26 children were analysed. With manufacturer-supplied constants, SRK/T showed the least systematic bias (mean prediction error − 0.18 D), a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.75 D, and the highest observed proportion of eyes within ± 0.50 D (61.5
To measure the retinal vessel oxygen saturation function with retinal oximetry (RO) and correlate these findings with structural retinal photoreceptor adaptive optics (AO) imaging in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and controls. Prospective observational study examining 43 eyes of 23 subjects: 22 eyes from 12 patients with RP (4♀ 8♂; 46.4 ± 15.0 years) and 21 eyes from 11 controls (5♀ 6♂; 38.1 ± 12.7 years). Main outcome measures were the mean arterial (A-SO2;
To evaluate static and dynamic pupillometric parameters in patients with Graves’ disease (GD) compared with healthy controls, and to examine their relationships with thyroid functional status, thyroid hormone levels, clinical activity, thyrotropin receptor antibody (TRAb) levels, and orbitopathy. In this prospective cross-sectional study, 51 patients with GD and 45 healthy controls underwent automated pupillometry. Static pupil diameters were measured under scotopic, mesopic, and photopic conditions, and mean pupil dilation speed (MPDS) was assessed during redilation. Associations with clinical and biochemical variables were assessed using Spearman correlation with Benjamini–Hochberg correction and multiple linear regression. Significant group differences were further assessed using age- and sex-adjusted analysis of covariance, and thyroid hormone–pupillometry correlations were compared between groups using Fisher’s r-to-z transformation. Compared with controls, patients with GD exhibited larger mesopic (p = 0.032) and photopic (p = 0.021) pupil diameters and lower MPDS (p = 0.034), with differences remaining significant after age and sex adjustment. Among patients with GD, no statistically significant differences in pupillometric parameters were detected between euthyroid and hyperthyroid patients or according to orbitopathy status (all p > 0.05). Clinical Activity Score (CAS) correlated with scotopic (ρ = 0.498, p < 0.001) and mesopic pupil diameters (ρ = 0.442, p = 0.006) and inversely with MPDS (ρ=−0.561, p < 0.001); TRAb correlated with mesopic (ρ = 0.431, p = 0.006) and photopic pupil diameters (ρ = 0.502, p = 0.001) and inversely with MPDS (ρ=−0.538, p = 0.001). Continuous free triiodothyronine (fT3) correlated with all static pupil diameters and MPDS in GD, most strongly with mesopic pupil diameter (ρ = 0.598, p < 0.001). Between-group comparisons confirmed stronger fT3 correlations with scotopic (p = 0.047) and mesopic (p = 0.023) pupil diameters in GD than in controls. Multivariable analyses identified CAS as an independent predictor of scotopic pupil diameter (p = 0.006) and MPDS (p = 0.028), TRAb of photopic pupil diameter (p = 0.001), and fT3 of mesopic pupil diameter (p = 0.010). Age independently predicted scotopic (p < 0.001), photopic pupil diameter (p = 0.016), and MPDS (p = 0.003). In this study of patients with GD, no statistically significant differences in pupillometric parameters were detected according to categorical thyroid functional status or orbitopathy status. However, fT3 independently predicted mesopic pupil diameter, while CAS and TRAb demonstrated independent, parameter-specific associations with static and dynamic pupillometric measures. As comparable hormone–pupillometry associations were not demonstrated in healthy controls, pupillometric alterations in GD may reflect disease-related clinical and biochemical influences beyond categorical thyroid status alone.
