2022 in review: Top 5 articles

Modern Retina reviews the Top 5 articles of 2022.

As we near the end of 2022, it has proven to be a year of interesting developments in retina, and the top headlines of the year bear this out.

5 – New prognostic test emerges as strong predictor of metastasis of uveal melanoma

Christina Herrspiegel, MD, and colleagues from the Karolinska Institutet and St. Erik Eye Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden, reported that they have developed a prognostic test, referred to as serUM, that they believe is a strong predictor of metastasis of uveal melanoma.

The fifth most-read article on Modern Retina in 2022, this research finds that serUM, a prognostic test based on serum obtained from a peripheral blood sample at diagnosis of uveal melanoma, is a strong predictor of metastasis.

The results showed that with each increasing metastatic risk category, the patients had gradually shorter cumulative metastasis-free survival (log rank p for trend = 0.01).

The investigators emphasized the need for future prospective studies to validate the findings of the current study.

4 – Reviewing insights from EURETINA

As the world returned to live meetings in 2022, EURETINA proved to be an exciting forum for tome of the latest advancements and innovations in retina.

Modern Retina provided a synopsis of the findings presented at EURETINA 2022 for ophthalmologists and retina specialists.

One key finding was ”LIGHT Study” First analysis of gene therapy for RPE65 inherited retinal dystrophies.” French researchers, led by Isabelle Audo, MD, reported that voretigene neparvovec (Luxturna, Spark Therapeutics), used to treat patients with a RPE65-related inherited retinal dystrophy, showed good safety and efficacy at the 1-year time point of the LIGHT Study.

Another EURETINA highlight was “Dealing with complications of silicone oil.” Vision loss associated with a silicone oil endotamponade in vitreoretinal surgery is a rare yet underreported complication, but it is becoming increasingly important as technical refinements of the surgical procedure progress along with the increasing visual expectations of individual patients.

The coverage also included “Visual symptoms after COVID-19: Potential for retinal manifestations.” This has been a hot topic throughout 2022, and we learned at EURETINA that retinal involvement following a COVID-19 infection is rare but can happen after severe infections in immunocompetent individuals, according to Yusar Asad, MD, and colleagues from the Vitreoretinal Services, Centre for Sight, Delhi, India.

3 – ASRS 2022 recap: Significant strides in DME, AMD discussed among retina specialists

Conference coverage headlines proved to be of high interest in 2022, and Modern Retina’s coverage of ASRS was no different, with many of the articles proving to be popular with our readers. The recap pulls many of these headlines together in one place for readers.

Imaging, DME and AMD proved to be popular.

A highlight was “TRUCKEE study: Real-world safety and efficacy of faricimab for neovascular AMD.” Carl Danzig, MD, and colleagues reported that treatment with faricimab (Vabysmo, Roche) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) achieved improvements in the visual acuity (VA), central subfield thickness (CST), and pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs).

We also talked to Rishi Singh, MD, who discussed “DAVIO trial: 12-month results show favorable safety profile, reduced treatment burden in patients with nAMD.

Raj K. Maturi, MD, presented a talk entitled, “UBX1325, A Novel Senolytic Therapy for Treatment- Experienced Patients With Chronic DME or Wet AMD: 24-Week Results of a Phase 1 Study,” demonstrating the continued focus on diabetic eye disease.

2 - Updates from Angiogenesis 2022

Coverage of this event in early March put the spotlight on some areas of increasing interest, including geographic atrophy, wet and dry AMD and predicting disease progression.

Many of the recent advances in retina have focused on getting to the root of the causes of visual degeneration in the major retinal diseases at the cellular level.

The Angiogenesis, Exudation, and Degeneration 2022 virtual conference sponsored by the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, was at the forefront of this movement.

At the event, Emily Chew, MD, reported that deep learning used to evaluate OCT images is highly accurate for predicting progression to the late disease stage in either neovascular disease or geographic atrophy.

Researchers reviewed the results achieved with the currently available anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapies, those that are in the pipeline, and those that have been approved recently.

1 - Distinction between lamellar holes and macular pseudoholes

The top story in 2022, it was noted that while lamellar holes usually don’t require treatment, but it is important to recognize the eyes that may benefit from vitrectomy.

Continuity of the external limiting membrane (ELM)/ellipsoid layers can help to identify eyes with lamellar macular holes that are likely to benefit from surgery, according to John T. Thompson, MD.

Thompson, of Retina Specialists, Baltimore, MD, addressed two types of partial thickness macular holes-lamellar macular holes and pseudomacular holes (also called pseudoholes). It can be hard to tell them apart, he pointed out.

He also defined pseudomacular holes as a clinical diagnosis as seen via slit lamp biomicroscopy versus optical coherence tomography (OCT). “Use pseudomacular holes only to describe the biomicroscopic appearance,” he added.

These represent the articles with the most pageviews during 2022. During your holiday break, take a moment to check them out.