OPHTHALMOLOGICA Vol 235 Issue 2 featuring multiple sclerosis and choroidal thickness

MS INCREASES CHOROIDAL THICKNESS The findings of a new study indicate that decreased choroidal thickness occurs in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients whether or not they have a history of optic neuritis (ON). The observational comparative study involved 68 eyes of 34 MS patients and 60 eyes of 30 healthy subjects who underwent enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). They found that mean subfoveal choroidal thickness was reduced significantly in MS patients (310.71μm) versus healthy controls (364.85μm) (p < 0.001), as was the choroidal thickness at six other measurement points. The study’s authors suggest that their findings provide evidence that vascular dysregulation may play a role in the pathophysiology of the disease. E Esen et al, “Evaluation of Choroidal Vascular Changes in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Using Enhanced Depth Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography”, Ophthalmologica 2016; Volume 235, Issue 2. REDUCING RISK OF HIGH MYOPIA IN CHILDREN Spending more time outdoors may reduce a child’s risk of high axial myopia, according to findings from the Shandong Children Eye Study. The population study involves 6,364 children aged 4-18 years, from an eastern Chinese province where the prevalence of high axial myopia is over 10 per cent. A multivariate analysis showed that independent risk factors for high axial myopia included more time spent indoors reading/writing (p < 0.001) and less time spent outdoors (p = 0.005). Other risk factors included having a parent with high myopia, (p < 0.001), residing in an urban area (p < 0.001), longer corneal curvature radius (p < 0.001) and higher intraocular pressure (p = 0.008). TL Lu et al, “Associated Factors in Children: The Shandong Children Eye Study”, Ophthalmologica 2016; Volume 235, Issue 2. SEVERE DIABETIC RETINOPATHY Diabetic users of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEIs), angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) and calcium channel blockers (CCBs), may be at a significantly higher risk for sight-threatening diabetic retinopathy (STDR) than are users of β-blockers, a new study suggests. The study involved hypertensive Type 2 diabetic patients aged 20-100 identified from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database (LHID) 2005. Using Cox proportional hazard models, their analysis indicated that the use beta-blockers posed the lowest risk of STDR, followed by CCBs, followed by ACEIs and ARBs. Lin J et al, “Antihypertensive Drugs and Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes”, Ophthalmologica 2016; Volume 235, Issue 2.