Week in review: Ocular injuries caused by paintballs, link between asthma and cataract, glaucoma and salt intake

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

Watch those paintball guns—you could shoot someone’s eye out. Clinicians at the University of Chicago reviewed 20 cases of ocular injuries caused by drive-by paintball shootings over a 2-year period, and found that 45% involved vitreous hemorrhage, 40% involved traumatic hyphema, and 30% involved globe rupture and/or corneal abrasion. Twelve of the 20 patients eventually needed surgical intervention. Of the 13 patients seen at a follow-up visit, 5 were found to have no light perception. Because these injuries happened as a result of a drive-by event and not paintball games where protective eyewear would be worn, the authors recommend that paintball guns be more strictly regulated and have better safety features. American Journal of Ophthalmology

Asthma is linked to increased cataract risk, and vice versa. Data from 40,457 adults in the 2010–2019 US-based National Health Interview Surveys indicated that those with asthma had a greater prevalence of cataract than those without asthma (29.4% vs. 25.9%, respectively). Conversely, participants who had cataract were also more likely to have asthma than participants who did not (14.4% vs 12.4%, respectively). After controlling for variables, the presence of asthma led to a 57% greater odds of having cataract, and the presence of cataract led to a 51% greater odds of having asthma. Additional studies are needed to confirm the relationship. BMC Ophthalmology

Can excessive dietary salt intake lead to glaucoma development? Researchers with the Greek Thessaloniki Eye Study set out to answer this question by measuring dietary salt intake in 1076 study participants with no history of glaucoma. Participants filled out a salt intake questionnaire and had clinic or home eye exams. In the general study population, no link was found between salt intake frequency and risk of developing open-angle glaucoma (OAG), primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), or pseudoexfoliation syndrome. However, among those taking antihypertensive medications, greater odds of developing POAG or any OAG were seen with frequent salt intake compared with no salt intake. Journal of Glaucoma