Week in review: Eye worms, dropless dexamethasone, stroke signals

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

An Oregon woman who pulled 14 live worms from her eye over the course of 20 days is the first reported human to be infected with Thelazia gulosa, a parasite previously found only in cows. “I’ll never forget when the doctor and the intern saw it wiggle across my eye,” she told National Geographic. “He freaked out and jumped back, and was like, Oh my god, I saw it! I just saw it!” Remarkably, her vision returned to normal and she made a full recovery once all the worms were removed. National Geographic

Researchers at the NIH were “astounded” to find bright spots dotting the eyes of stroke patients. They traced the spots to an unlikely source: the MRI contrast agent gadolinium, which traverses the blood-ocular barrier after a stroke and bubbles first into the aqueous chamber, then appears hours later in the vitreous. The team is digging deeper to see if the spots might shed light on the severity of brain damage. MedPage Today

The National Eye Institute has $1 million to invest in “radical ideas” for functional human retina prototypes. Through the 3D Retina Organoid Challenge, the agency hopes to drive progress in disease modeling, drug testing and therapeutics.  NEI

The FDA has approved Dexycu, a biodegradable extended-release formulation of dexamethasone for treating inflammation following cataract surgery. “This novel ophthalmic medication offers the cataract surgeon the option of a single administration of a corticosteroid at the site of action,” noted lead investigator Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, adding that the drug would eliminate the need for patients to self-administer eyedrops after surgery. Icon Bioscience

Santen reported positive findings from their phase 1/2 trial of DE-122, a novel ophthalmic formulation of carotuximab designed to enhance anti-VEGF efficacy. The drug showed signs of bioactivity in 12 people with wet AMD, with no serious adverse effects. Healio