Is there a relationship between somatic sensations, impaired vision, and cognitive performance using the factor structure of the convergence insufficiency symptoms survey questionnaire?

AIMS

This study aims to evaluate the relationship between somatic sensations, impaired vision, and cognitive performance using the factor structure convergence insufficiency symptoms survey questionnaire in university undergraduate and post-graduate students.

SETTINGS AND DESIGN

Centre-based and questionnaire-based.

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Subjects were recruited from a university. First, an e-Survey was conducted with the help of Google form and distributed through WhatsApp and Gmail to carry out the survey. The age group of participants was ranged from 18 to 30 years. A total number of 561 responses was received during the data collection period. As per the exclusion criteria, 230 responses were excluded from the study. Out of 331 students, 154 were male while 177 were female. Out of 331 participants, 213 were undergraduates and 118 were postgraduate's students.

RESULTS

A total of 331 participants took part in the study. The minimum age was 18 years and the maximum age was 30 years. The mean age of the participants was 23.40 ± 2.42. Among all students, 23.81% had somatic sensations followed by 10.49% had impaired vision, and 16.31% had a poor cognitive function. The correlation between somatic sensations-impaired visions was a moderate positive correlation and a strong positive correlation between somatic sensations-cognitive performance and impaired vision-cognitive performance.

CONCLUSIONS

A significant relationship between somatic sensations, impaired vision, and cognitive performance was found in the study. The students had more somatic sensations than impaired vision and cognitive performance.

Improvement of Visual Field Defects after Neuroembolization Treatment of Intracranial Aneurysms. Case Reports

PURPOSE

Intracranial aneurysms and their hemorrhagic and thromboembolic complications represent a serious nosological unit that significantly endangers those afflicted. They are mostly asymptomatic until rupture occurs. In two case reports, we present our observations of young patients with impaired vision and headaches, in whom we found the presence of intracranial aneurysms.

OBSERVATIONS

Presentation of two case reports of patients who came to our department with impaired vision and headaches. The patients underwent a complete eye examination at our center, including a visual field examination. Based on the results of the examination, they were referred for  an imaging examination of the brain, which revealed the presence of intracranial aneurysms. The patients were subsequently sent to the interventional neuroradiology center, where they underwent a noninvasive endovascular neuroembolization procedure with flow diverter implantation. We continued to monitor the patients after the procedure and document the examination results up to 1 year after the procedure.

CONCLUSIONS AND SIGNIFICANCE

Thanks to the fast detection, diagnosis, and management of both patients, we prevented the occurrence of aneurysm rupture, thus a life-threatening complication. After endovascular procedures with flow diverter implantation, we observed a significant improvement in visual acuity as well as perimetric findings in both patients. When intracranial aneurysms are found within a week of the onset of eye symptoms and treated within three months, defects in the visual fields improved in our two patients within 6-12 months, and in one of the two patients the defects almost completely disappeared.

Access to Health and Disability Services for New Zealanders With Impaired Vision During the COVID-19 Pandemic 2020-2022

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected access to health and social services globally, leading to delays in accessing appropriate care. However, while there is a growing base of research into service access for the general population, there remains scarce information on the implications of the pandemic on disabled people. This article describes issues with health and disability support access for people with impaired vision in Aotearoa New Zealand (Aotearoa). Methods: Applying an Interpretive Description methodology, 62 interviews were conducted with disabled people; 10 of these individuals identified as having impaired vision. Findings were analyzed thematically for the entire group of 62, representing varied impairment groups, and then for the 10 who had impaired vision. Results: Five key themes arose from the interviews, including transportation difficulties, mental distress, loss of community, loss of physical contact and signals, and general loss of support. Participants identified that this loss of support occurred at multiple levels, meaning that the disability and healthcare system as a whole was ill-equipped to manage their needs. Participants reported a lag-time in accessing care, meaning that the effects of the pandemic are still felt due to a lack of available support and resources. Discussion: This article remains one of a few studies to look at the implications of the pandemic on access to health and disability services for those with impaired vision. It highlights that despite Aotearoa's good track record in managing the pandemic, groups were forgotten and marginalized by the collective response to managing COVID-19. Implications for Practitioners: Blindness professionals must be aware of the possible disadvantages and impacts of pandemics and other disasters on people with impaired vision and their access to health and disability services. Policymakers must include disabled people at the decision-making table so that the diverse needs of these populations are managed.

Early disruption of photoreceptor cell architecture and loss of vision in a humanized pig model of usher syndromes

Usher syndrome (USH) is the most common form of monogenic deaf-blindness. Loss of vision is untreatable and there are no suitable animal models for testing therapeutic strategies of the ocular constituent of USH, so far. By introducing a human mutation into the harmonin-encoding USH1C gene in pigs, we generated the first translational animal model for USH type 1 with characteristic hearing defect, vestibular dysfunction, and visual impairment. Changes in photoreceptor architecture, quantitative motion analysis, and electroretinography were characteristics of the reduced retinal virtue in USH1C pigs. Fibroblasts from USH1C pigs or USH1C patients showed significantly elongated primary cilia, confirming USH as a true and general ciliopathy. Primary cells also proved their capacity for assessing the therapeutic potential of CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene repair or gene therapy in vitro. AAV-based delivery of harmonin into the eye of USH1C pigs indicated therapeutic efficacy in vivo.

Improving health-related quality of life in glaucoma during 11 years and its association with vision loss and treatment of the disease

PURPOSE

To evaluate the impact of glaucoma on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental health in the ageing population of Finland.

METHODS

Altogether 7380 and 5774 Finnish individuals aged 30 years and older with known eye disease status were studied in 2000 and 2011, respectively, in two population-based surveys, including an 11-year follow-up of 4683 participants. Data on HRQoL (EQ-5D-3L, 15D), depression (BDI), psychological distress (GHQ-12) and eye disease diagnoses were obtained from self-reported assessments. Information on glaucoma was complemented with the medication, diagnosis and eye surgery data obtained from the Finnish Health Registries. Distance visual acuity was assessed using the Snellen eye chart test. In logistic regression analyses, data were corrected for age, gender and the most common comorbidities.

RESULTS

Glaucoma patients with verified diagnosis (n = 192 in 2000, n = 202 in 2011) and individuals with self-suspected glaucoma (n = 100 in 2000, n = 41 in 2011) showed a significant decrease in their HRQoL. Glaucoma was also associated with worsened overall mental health based on BDI and GHQ-12 results. Visual impairment associated with glaucoma is the major determinant of the reduced HRQoL and mental health. Neither glaucoma medication nor glaucoma surgery affected these parameters. The impact of glaucoma on HRQoL and mental health diminished between 2000 and 2011 in a cross-sectional setting. The newly diagnosed glaucoma during the 11-year follow-up had a minimal effect on them.

CONCLUSION

Glaucoma patients show reduced HRQoL and mental health, which is associated with vision loss regardless of the awareness or treatment of the disease. However, this effect seems to be diminishing over time, and the newly diagnosed glaucoma did not show a significant effect on either HRQoL or mental health.

The Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) Combined With Proprioceptive Training for Blind Individuals: The Study Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

To maintain the balance, the postural system needs to integrate the three main sensorial systems: visual, vestibular, and somatosensory to keep postural control within the limits of stabilization. Damage of one of these systems, in this case, the vision, will have a great disturbance on the postural control influencing the behavior of the balance, resulting in falls. The aim of this study protocol for a randomized, controlled clinical trial is to analyze the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) combined with proprioceptive exercises on postural control in individuals with congenital and acquired blindness. In this randomized, controlled, double-blind, clinical trial, male, and female individuals with blindness between 18 and 55 years of age will participate in this study divided into three phases: 1—Determine differences in postural control and gait between individuals with congenital and acquired blindness with and without the use of a guide stick when wearing shoes and when barefoot; 2—A pilot study to analyze the effects a bilateral cerebellar anodal tDCS on postural on postural control and gait; and 3—A treatment protocol will be conducted in which the participants will be allocated to four groups: G1—active tDCS + dynamic proprioceptive exercises; G2—sham tDCS + dynamic proprioceptive exercises; G3—active tDCS + static proprioceptive exercises; and G4—sham tDCS + static proprioceptive exercises. Evaluations will involve a camera system for three-dimensional gait analysis, a force plate, and electromyography. Dynamic stability will be determined using the Timed Up and Go test and static stability will be analyzed with the aid of the force plate. The viability of this study will allow the determination of differences in postural control between individuals with congenital and acquired blindness, the analysis of the effect of tDCS on postural control, and the establishment of a rehabilitation protocol.

System for Face Recognition under Different Facial Expressions Using a New Associative Hybrid Model Amαβ-KNN for People with Visual Impairment or Prosopagnosia

Face recognition is a natural skill that a child performs from the first days of life; unfortunately, there are people with visual or neurological problems that prevent the individual from performing the process visually. This work describes a system that integrates Artificial Intelligence which learns the face of the people with whom the user interacts daily. During the study we propose a new hybrid model of Alpha-Beta Associative memories (Amαβ) with Correlation Matrix (CM) and K-Nearest Neighbors (KNN), where the Amαβ-CMKNN was trained with characteristic biometric vectors generated from images of faces from people who present different facial expressions such as happiness, surprise, anger and sadness. To test the performance of the hybrid model, two experiments that differ in the selection of parameters that characterize the face are conducted. The performance of the proposed model was tested in the databases CK+, CAS-PEAL-R1 and Face-MECS (own), which test the Amαβ-CMKNN with faces of subjects of both sexes, different races, facial expressions, poses and environmental conditions. The hybrid model was able to remember 100% of all the faces learned during their training, while in the test in which faces are presented that have variations with respect to those learned the results range from 95.05% in controlled environments and 86.48% in real environments using the proposed integrated system.

Late diagnosis of Alstrom syndrome in a Yemenite-Jewish child

BACKGROUND

We describe the ophthalmologic, clinical, and genetic findings in a patient of Yemenite-Jewish origin diagnosed with Alstrom syndrome due to a novel splice-site mutation 10 years after a clinical misdiagnosis of Leber congenital amaurosis.

METHODS

Ophthalmological evaluations included visual acuity, cycloplegic refraction, slit-lamp, and optical coherent tomography. Genetic analyses included whole exome sequencing followed by bioinformatics analysis and segregation analysis. An in vitro splicing assay was used to evaluate the effect of the identified mutation on splicing. Taqman assay was used to determine the need for population screening for the identified mutation.

RESULTS

Ophthalmologic findings at age 6 were impaired vision, nystagmus, and hyperopia. At age 16 years, the patient presented with obesity, hypothyroidism, and elevated transaminase levels in addition to reduced vision, wandering nystagmus, disc pallor, and degenerative retinal changes. Targeted genetic analysis of ALMS1 revealed a homozygous transversion, c.11544 + 3A>T, suggesting a novel splicing mutation, with elimination of the donor splice site and insertion of 73 nucleotides at the end of exon 16. These changes were validated by Sanger sequencing and co-segregation on family members.

CONCLUSIONS

Ophthalmologists should be alert to the differential diagnosis of inherited retinal degeneration in young patients who present with impaired vision, especially if systemic symptoms are mild and there is no known family history. In the present case, targeted genetic analysis of a child with a syndromic cone-rod dystrophy yielded a novel splicing mutation in ALMS1 causing Alstrom syndrome.

Visual Localizer: Outdoor Localization Based on ConvNet Descriptor and Global Optimization for Visually Impaired Pedestrians

Localization systems play an important role in assisted navigation. Precise localization renders visually impaired people aware of ambient environments and prevents them from coming across potential hazards. The majority of visual localization algorithms, which are applied to autonomous vehicles, are not adaptable completely to the scenarios of assisted navigation. Those vehicle-based approaches are vulnerable to viewpoint, appearance and route changes (between database and query images) caused by wearable cameras of assistive devices. Facing these practical challenges, we propose Visual Localizer, which is composed of ConvNet descriptor and global optimization, to achieve robust visual localization for assisted navigation. The performance of five prevailing ConvNets are comprehensively compared, and GoogLeNet is found to feature the best performance on environmental invariance. By concatenating two compressed convolutional layers of GoogLeNet, we use only thousands of bytes to represent image efficiently. To further improve the robustness of image matching, we utilize the network flow model as a global optimization of image matching. The extensive experiments using images captured by visually impaired volunteers illustrate that the system performs well in the context of assisted navigation.

Charles bonnet syndrome, management with simple behavioral technique

Charles Bonnet syndrome occurs in visually impaired but cognitively normal individuals. This report describes a condition of vivid visual hallucination (phantom images) in an 85-year-old conscious man, who had been blind by bilateral progressively worsening glaucoma. This common, but rarely reported, condition was managed by behavioral approach of repeated blinking, intermittent eyes closure, and reassurance. While emotional, mood and cognitive disorders need to be ruled out, the condition, though frightening to the afflicted, is benign and remediable with simple, inexpensive approach. Health workers managing people with terminal blindness should always ask for the presence of hallucinations from their patients to forestall a preventable distress resulting from wrong perception without visual stimulus.