Week in review: Leopard surgery, hardy zebrafish, Parkinson breakthrough

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

A snow leopard in China is the first of its kind to undergo cataract surgery. Veterinarians implanted an IOL after removing the cataract from 11-year-old Linghan during a 3-hour procedure at the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Wildlife Zoo. The procedure went smoothly, and veterinarians expect his vision to recover within a month. Global Times

Scientists have recently discovered that zebrafish are resistant to endophthalmitis. The curious findings—published in the October 2019 issue of Pathogens—revealed that humans require only 10 to 100 Staphylococcus aureus “bugs” to cause endophthalmitis while mice need 5,000 before infection. Zebrafish, however, remain unscathed even after inoculation with 250,000 bacteria. Next, the team plans to test the fish’s susceptibility to other pathogens and hopes to identify protective pathways and molecules that could be translated to humans. Wayne State University, Pathogens

EyeGate’s ocular bandage gel boosts corneal wound repair over standard-of-care methods, according to topline results from a pivotal study. In the trial, approximately 80% of patients who received the hyaluronic acid eye drop after PRK experienced complete corneal defect closure in 3 days compared with 67% of those who received a bandage contact lens. In addition, wound sizes were 46% smaller within the gel group at day 2. The company expects to submit an application for commercialization in the first half of 2020. EyeGate Pharma

An oculomotor test for Parkinson disease has gained breakthrough device designation from the FDA. According to manufacturer RightEye LLC, their eye tracking device detects ocular tremors that are indicators of Parkinson disease, which is misdiagnosed in 60% of patients at least once. The test would offer an objective means of detecting the disease, and possibly at an earlier stage than standard neurological examinations, the release said. RightEye LLC

Air pollution ups the risk of glaucoma, according to new findings published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Analysis of more than 111,000 people from a U.K. cohort revealed that individuals living in the most polluted areas of Britain were more likely to report having glaucoma and have thinner retinas than those living in the least-polluted areas. The authors hope to address whether the association is causal in future studies. University College London, Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science