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Background:
Inflammatory bowel disease is a systemic inflammatory disease classified as Crohn disease or ulcerative colitis. It could present extra intestinal findings, such as fever, weight loss, arthralgia, mucocutaneous lesions, hepatic, renal and ophthalmological involvement. Among ophthalmological findings, posterior segment findings are pres...
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Background:
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a systemic inflammatory disease and is classified as Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) depending on the extent of gastrointestinal tract involvement. IBD can be associated with extraintestinal findings, such as fever, weight loss, arthralgia, and mucocutaneous lesions, as well as hepati...
Citations
... During the active phase of UC, there is a risk of developing surgically induced necrotizing scleritis (SINS); hence, the sclera should not be disturbed [3]. Less commonly, UC in association with scleritis may develop exudative retinal detachment (RD) and unlikely RRD [4]. ...
... Its axial resolution depends on the coherence characteristics of the light source, up to 10 meters, and the penetration depth is almost not limited by inflammatory transparent refractive media. It can observe the anterior segment and display the morphological structure of the posterior segment of the eye [12,13]. ...
On account of optical coherence tomography (OCT) images with intelligent segmentation algorithm, this article investigated the clinical efficacy and safety of docetaxel combined with fluorouracil. In this study, 60 patients with retinopathy treated in hospital were selected as the research objects. There were 30 cases in each group, the control group was treated with conventional images, and the observation group was treated with algorithm-based OCT images. Intelligent segmentation boundary detection algorithm, boundary tracking, and contour localization were proposed and applied to the OCT images of patients to analyze features and measure corneal thickness in OCT images with high signal-to-noise ratio and noise and artifacts. Objects in the control group were treated with semiconductor laser, and those in the observation group were treated with OCT images with algorithm in addition to the treatment of the control group. The results showed that the number of images with relative error of 2 was more, and the number of images with relative error of -2 was the least. The average thickness of high-quality images was 562.7 μm, and the average thickness of images with noise and artifacts was 573.8 μm. The total effective rate of the observation group was 96.67%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (80%), and the curative effect and physical improvement rate of the observation group were significantly better than that of the control group ( P < 0.05 ). All in all, the feature extraction of OCT images and corneal measurement proposed in this study had a good measurement effect, and the method had the advantages of strong anti-interference ability and high measurement accuracy.
... Ophthalmological involvement is not directly correlated with disease activity [9]. Ophthalmological symptoms may include palpebral edema, blepharitis, proptosis, conjunctivitis, scleritis, episcleritis, keratopathy, cataract, optic neuritis, optic, neuropathy, iridociclitis, retinal pigment epithelial atrophy, macular edema, serous retinal detachment, vascular tortuosity and retinal hemorrhage [5,9,10]. Ophthalmological posterior segment findings are described in 26% of patients with IBD and are very relevant because they can lead to irreversible blindness in cases of optic neuritis, optic neuropathy and retinal atrophy [5,9]. ...
... IBD is a systemic inflammatory disease with gastrointestinal symptoms and extraintestinal manifestations. IBD may present ophthalmological involvement in 3-12% of cases, with episcleritis as the most prevalent finding and vascular tortuosity as the most prevalent fundoscopic finding [4,[6][7][8]10]. IBD may be classified as active or in remission according to clinical gastrointestinal symptoms and colonoscopy parameters. ...
Background:
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a systemic inflammatory disease and is classified as Crohn's disease (CD) or ulcerative colitis (UC) depending on the extent of gastrointestinal tract involvement. IBD can be associated with extraintestinal findings, such as fever, weight loss, arthralgia, and mucocutaneous lesions, as well as hepatic, renal and ophthalmological involvement. Clinical parameters and colonoscopy are used to establish the criteria for controlled or non-controlled disease and subsequent definition of treatment. Our objective in the present study was to compare the area of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in patients with a diagnosis of IBD during remission and active disease.
Methods:
144 eyes of 72 patients with IBD were evaluated via a complete ophthalmological exam. Fundus photography and optical coherence tomography/angiography (OCT/OCTA) were performed with a Topcon Triton. The macula and posterior pole were evaluated by binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy and fundus biomicroscopy. The area of the FAZ was determined via manual delimitation of superficial retinal vascular layers from OCTA with image6.net software. To establish disease activity, we considered the Mayo Score, fecal calprotectin levels, colonoscopy results and clinical parameters. All retinal parameters were evaluated in a blinded manner. Means were compared between groups using the Mann-Whitney test.
Results:
The participants had a mean age of 42.26 years and included 28 males (38.88%) and 44 females (61.11%). Among the participants, 37 had a diagnosis of CD (51.38%), and 35 had a diagnosis of UC (48.61%). Twenty-five patients (34.72%) had active disease, and 47 (65.27%) were in remission. The area of the FAZ did not differ significantly between the CD and UC groups (p = 0.91 for the right eye and p = 0.76 for the left eye) but did differ significantly between the remission and active disease groups (p = 0.01 for the right eye and p = 0.02 for the left eye).
Discussion:
Our study is the first to evaluate the area of the FAZ in patients with IBD via swept-source OCTA. The area of the FAZ did not differ significantly in either eye between the CD and UC groups. However, patients classified as having active disease according to clinical parameters and colonoscopy presented a significant decrease in the area of the FAZ compared with patients in remission. The area of the FAZ is an ophthalmological parameter that can be obtained non-invasively and is increased in ischemic diseases such as diabetic retinopathy. The FAZ may decrease due to vascular engorgement or increased systemic inflammation. This parameter can be used to help determine whether a patient is in remission or active IBD, thus potentially reducing the need for invasive exams during disease follow-up.
Crohn’s disease (CD) is associated with increased cardiovascular risk and the retinal microcirculation is a reflection of the systemic microcirculation. Is the retinal microcirculation altered in relation to the severity of Crohn’s disease? This cross-sectional case-controlled study was conducted in a university hospital center from November 2020 to February 2021. We prospectively included patients with moderate (biologic therapy) or severe (biologic therapy + peri-anal disease and/or digestive resection) CD and age- and sex-matched controls. Individuals with diabetes, renal disease, cardiovascular disease, ophthalmological history or poor quality images were excluded. All participants underwent OCT angiography (OCT-A) imaging (Optovue, Fremont, CA). Analysis of covariance was used. 74 CD patients (33 moderate, 41 severe) and 74 controls (66 (44.6%) men; mean (SD) age 44 (14) years) were included. Compared with the controls, the severe CD patients showed a significantly reduced mean foveal avascular zone area (p = 0.001), superficial macular capillary plexus vessel density (p = 0.009) and parafoveal thickness (p < 0.001), with no difference in mean superficial capillary flow index (p = 0.06) or deep macular capillary plexus vessel density (p = 0.67). The mean foveal avascular zone was significantly lower in the severe than the moderate CD patients (p = 0.010). OCT-A can detect alterations in retinal microcirculation in patients with severe versus moderate CD and versus age- and sex-matched controls.
In patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), ocular extraintestinal manifestations (EIM) are less common than EIM of other systems, but they are clinically important because they can lead to complications that can cause catastrophic damage to the visual acuity and ocular structure. Anterior uveitis and episcleritis are the most common ocular EIM. Involvement of the orbit, posterior segment, and optic nerve can also occur. A variety of treatments are available ranging from topical steroids to systemic immunosuppressive therapies. The treatment of IBD is also essential if the activity of inflammatory bowel disease affects the ocular symptoms.
To identify the risk of relapse and subclinical inflammatory stages of systemic autoimmune diseases, new tools are needed. In the recent years, choroidal thickness and retinal thickness measured with ocular coherence tomography (OCT) have been proposed as an inflammatory marker for different systemic diseases, especially for conditions with a vascular component. Our aim in this article is to review the literature regarding the role of choroidal and retinal thickness as a potential inflammatory marker in systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases measured by OCT. Current literature suggests that the choroid of patients thickens in active phases of inflammatory diseases with vascular involvement. This pattern is observed in lupus, systemic sclerosis, Behçet disease, spondylitis, and familial Mediterranean fever. Choroidal thickness may decrease with biological treatments, along with systemic inflammation. Repeated flares and long-term disease, however, may thin the choroid, as a result of prolonged insult to the microvasculature and subsequent atrophy. Less is known about the effect of these diseases on retinal thickness. In summary, choroidal and retinal thickness measured by OCT may be promising markers for inflammation in systemic autoimmune and inflammatory diseases; however, more studies are warranted before generalizing choroidal thickness measurements by OCT as a marker for disease activity. The role of retinal thickness is more unclear due to a lack of studies in this field.
