Application of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology

Artificial intelligence is a general term that means to accomplish a task mainly by a computer, with the least human beings participation, and it is widely accepted as the invention of robots. With the development of this new technology, artificial intelligence has been one of the most influential information technology revolutions. We searched these English-language studies relative to ophthalmology published on PubMed and Springer databases. The application of artificial intelligence in ophthalmology mainly concentrates on the diseases with a high incidence, such as diabetic retinopathy, agerelated macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinopathy of prematurity, age-related or congenital cataract and few with retinal vein occlusion. According to the above studies, we conclude that the sensitivity of detection and accuracy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy ranged from 75% to 91.7%, for non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy ranged from 75% to 94.7%, for age-related macular degeneration it ranged from 75% to 100%, for retinopathy of prematurity ranged over 95%, for retinal vein occlusion just one study reported ranged over 97%, for glaucoma ranged 63.7% to 93.1%, and for cataract it achieved a more than 70% similarity against clinical grading.

Research progress on the role of connective tissue growth factor in fibrosis of diabetic retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy（DR） is one of the most important types of diabetic microangiopathy, which is a specific change of fundus lesions and is one of the most serious complications of diabetes. When DR develops to proliferative DR, the main factors of decreasing vision, and even blindness, include retinal detachment and vitreous hemorrhage caused by contraction of blood vessels by fiber membrane. Recent studies reported that the formation of fiber vascular membrane is closely related to retinal fibrosis. The connective tissue growth factor（CTGF） is a cytokine that is closely related to DR fibrosis. However, its mechanism is poorly understood. This paper summarizes the recent studies about CTGF on DR fibrosis for a comprehensive understanding of the role and mechanism of CTGF in PDR.

Incomplete fluid-air exchange technique for idiopathic macular hole surgery

AIM: To explore an improved procedure involving incomplete fluid-air exchange for idiopathic macular hole(IMH), and the closure rate, visual function, and the visual field of macular holes(MHs) were evaluated.METHODS: This prospective randomized controlled study, included 40 eyes of 40 patients with IMH who were treated with pars plana vitrectomy and peeling of the internal limiting membrane. They were grouped by random digital table. Twenty-one eyes underwent incomplete fluidair exchange(IFA) and 19 eyes underwent traditional complete fluid-air exchange(CFA) as the control group. Outcomes included best-corrected visual acuity(BCVA), intraocular pressure, and optical coherence tomography, light adaptive electroretinography, and visual field evaluations.RESULTS: All MHs <400 μm were successfully closed. BCVAs before and 6 mo after surgery were 0.82±0.41 logMAR and 0.28±0.17 logMAR in IFA group and 0.86±0.34 logMAR and 0.34±0.23 logMAR in CFA group, respectively. The electroretinogram analysis of patients in IFA group revealed increases in b-wave amplitudes at 1, 3, and 6 mo after surgery. Additionally, patients in IFA group showed an amplitude increase of 28.6% from baseline at 6 mo(P<0.05), while no obvious improvements were noted in CFA group. Although there were no statistically significant improvements in either group, the IFA group showed a slight increase in mean sensitivity(P>0.05).CONCLUSION: IFA is a reliable method that offers comparable closure rate to CFA and facilitates improvements in visual function.

A case report on Susac syndrome

To the Editor:Susac syndrome(SS),a syndrome affecting the brain along with retinal and cochlear microangiopathy,is characterized by acute multiple encephalopathy,branch retinal artery occlusion and sensorineural deafness.This disease was first described in 1979,but it was named formally in 1994.[1]As a rare disease,only approximately 300 cases have ever been reported.[2]In China,SS is seldom reported.This case report describes the clinical and imaging features of a female patient diagnosed with SS.