In Hong Kong, the authors of the following study examined the changes in retinal electrophysiology in children during myopia progression over a 1-year period.

They recruited 26 children aged from 9 to 13 years for the global flash multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) measured at 49% and 96% contrasts, in two visits one year apart. They analyzed and compared the amplitudes and implicit times of both direct component (DC) and induced component (IC) measured at these two visits and used Pearson's correlation to study the association between the changes of mfERG response and myopia progression over the test period.

The study authors noted that myopia increased by –0.48 ± 0.32 D (p<0.001) over the year, with 24 of 26 children becoming more myopic (range=0.00 ~–1.38D); axial length increased by 0.25 ± 0.11 mm (p<0.001) over the year. They found that the increased myopia was highly correlated with increase in axial length (r=–0.70; p<0.001) and that the central DC and IC amplitudes at 49% contrast reduced significantly as myopia progressed and the paracentral implicit times of these two components were reduced considerably. However, the high-contrast responses were virtually unaffected.

The authors' findings suggest that the inner retinal functions in the central retina, with some involvement of the paracentral region, were decreased as myopia progressed.

To describe the associations of visual impairment and major age-related eye diseases with cognitive function in an older Asian population, researchers conducted this population-based, cross-sectional study of 1,179 participants aged 60 to 80 years from the Singapore Malay Eye study.

They measured visual acuity using the logMAR vision chart and graded cataract and age-related macular degeneration using the Wisconsin Cataract Grading System and the Wisconsin Age-Related Maculopathy Grading System, respectively. Glaucoma was diagnosed using the International Society Geographical and Epidemiological Ophthalmology criteria and diabetic retinopathy was graded using the modified Airlie House classification system. Additionally, cognitive dysfunction was defined as a locally validated Abbreviated Mental Test using education-based cutoff scores.

After adjusting for age, sex, education level, income, and type of housing, the researchers found that persons with visual impairment before refractive correction (odds ratio [OR]=2.59; 95% CI, 1.89–3.56) or after refractive correction (OR=1.96; 95% CI, 1.27–3.02) and those with visual impairment due to cataract (OR=2.75; 95% CI, 1.25–5.63) were more likely to have cognitive dysfunction. They reported that only moderate to severe diabetic retinopathy was independently associated with cognitive dysfunction (OR=5.57; 95% CI, 1.56–19.91) after controlling for concurrent age-related eye diseases. They observed no significant independent associations between cataract, age-related macular degeneration, or glaucoma and cognitive dysfunction.

In conclusion, older persons with visual impairment, particularly those with visual impairment due to cataract, were more likely to have cognitive dysfunction. Furthermore, among the major age-related eye diseases, only diabetic retinopathy was associated with cognitive dysfunction.

The following cohort study evaluated the posterior corneal surface response at a very early stage following myopic laser in-situ keratomileusis (LASIK) with different ablation depths and observed posterior steepening and a shift toward prolateness of the posterior surface very early after myopic LASIK, with a tendency to return toward the preoperative level between 1 month and 3 months.

Healthy myopic eyes were divided based on the achieved ablation depth as follows: Group 1, >100 µm; Group 2, between 50 µm and 99 µm; Group 3, less than 50 µm. Posterior eccentricity and central (0.0 mm to 4.0 mm), paracentral (4.0 mm to 7.0 mm), and peripheral (7.0 mm to 10.0 mm) posterior corneal curvatures were measured with the Galilei system preoperatively and postoperatively after 1 day, 1 week, and 1 and 3 months.

A total of 80 eyes were evaluated. Posterior surface steepening and a shift toward prolateness occurred in all groups, with a peak within the first week before returning toward the original level after 1 month. The maximum change in the central posterior cornea occurred after 1 day in Group 1 and reached –0.106 D. This change was statistically significant (p=.03) and statistically greater than the change in Group 2 (mean –0.042 D; p=0.02) and Group 3 (mean –0.026 D; p<.01). This change was not significant after 3 months (p=.5). The degree of change was related to the amount of anterior tissue severed.