Week in review: Online ophthalmic education, glue for postsurgical ecchymosis, pediatric vision test rates

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

The next generation of ophthalmic education may be this online case-based teaching tool. Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai have developed 20/20 SIM, a case-based online educational tool aimed at ophthalmologists and other health care professionals. Its usability was tested among 3 undergraduate medical education programs where patients with ocular issues are likely to be seen: an internal medicine residency program (n = 23), a pediatric clerkship (n = 51), and a neurology clerkship (n = 88). In general, the residents and the clerkship participants rated the quality of 20/20 SIM as “good” or “excellent,” feeling that it increased their knowledge of ophthalmology topics and preferring its case-based learning approach to traditional didactic methods. “Given the free online nature of the website, we hope that 20/20 SIM provides opportunities for institutions to flexibly adapt the tool to suit their curricular needs,” say the researchers. BMC Medical Education, 20/20 SIM

Fibrin glue can help fix sticky cases of post-blepharoplasty ecchymosis, say South Korean investigators who evaluated whether the use of fibrin glue during eyelid surgery had an effect on postsurgical ecchymosis, particularly in patients with a history of antithrombotic medication use. One hundred and fifteen patients with acquired blepharotosis were included, 56 of whom had been taking antithrombotics prior to surgery. In the antithrombotic group, use of fibrin glue significantly reduced both severe and persistent ecchymosis rates in the week after surgery; a nonsignificant reduction in ecchymosis was seen in the non-antithrombotic group. Scientific Reports

Even with adequate health insurance, fewer than half of US children get primary care vision tests. Pooled data from the 2018–2020 US-based National Survey of Children’s Health were analyzed for links between health insurance coverage and primary care physician (PCP) vision testing rates among children and adolescents. Nearly 90,000 survey participants were included, and the overall odds of the child receiving a PCP vision test in the previous 12 months was 41% lower in children with no health insurance coverage and 12% lower in children with public insurance than in children with private insurance. However, only 30%–42% of all children aged 3–5 years had a PCP vision test, indicating unmet eye care needs across populations. JAMA Ophthalmology

National Eye Institute funds research on once-weekly glaucoma eye drops. A research team at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) has been awarded a $2.5 million grant from the National Eye Institute to further their development of a glaucoma eye drop treatment that can be administered weekly. These drops use a nanoparticle formulation that provide a greater amount of medication than currently available drops, allowing for less-frequent dosing. Dr. Hu Yang, Doshi Endowed Department Chair of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering and recipient of the grant, hopes that the additional funding will allow this treatment to be made available to patients sooner, noting, “We have worked on this for several years and are highly optimistic about its potential efficacy.” National Eye Institute, Missouri S&T