Journal of Ophthalmic and Optometric Sciences

Purpose: To assess risk factors associated with high myopia among school-going children in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, attending a tertiary eye care hospital.
Patients and Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was conducted among 386 patients younger than 18 years diagnosed with myopia. A pre-validated questionnaire was administered through interviews; for children under 6 years, responses were obtained from parents. Information was collected on demographics, duration of spectacle use, study hours at school and home, near-work activities, and daily outdoor activity. Logistic regression was used to analyze potential risk factors, and results were reported as odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. A p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: High myopia was present in 10.9% (n = 42) of participants. Most children with high myopia (69.04%) attended private schools. A positive parental history of spectacle use was significantly associated with high myopia (p = 0.03). Studying or reading for more than 4 hours per day (p = 0.01) and playing video or mobile games for more than 2 hours daily (p = 0.001) were positively associated with high myopia. Outdoor activity for more than 2 hours per day showed an inverse association, with fewer children with high myopia engaging in extended outdoor play.
Conclusion: Our results indicate statistical associations between behavioral patterns, environmental exposures, and high myopia in school-going children. These associations should be interpreted with caution given the hospital-based, cross-sectional design. Identifying potentially modifiable behaviors may inform preventive strategies, though longitudinal studies are required to establish temporal or causal relationships.

Purpose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of mitomycin C (MMC) application during photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in patients with low myopia and an ablation depth of less than 70 microns.
Setting: Vanak Eye Surgery Center, Tehran, Iran.
Design: This study was a prospective, randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled clinical trial.
Methods: The study included patients with low myopia (less than three diopters) and a corneal ablation depth of less than 70 microns, who were candidates for PRK in both eyes. Each patient underwent PRK in both eyes, with one eye randomly receiving intraoperative MMC 0.02% (10 seconds) and the contralateral eye receiving a placebo. The main outcome measures were corneal haze and mean endothelial cell density assessed by confocal microscopy at six months postoperatively.
Results: Seventy eyes from thirty-five patients were evaluated. There was no statistically significant difference between the case and control groups in terms of mean preoperative best-corrected visual acuity, uncorrected visual acuity, sphere, cylinder, spherical equivalent, intraocular pressure, or endothelial cell count. The mean corneal haze, based on confocal microscopy readings at six months postoperatively, was significantly lower in the group receiving MMC (P = 0.003). The mean endothelial cell density at six months postoperatively was significantly lower in the MMC group compared to the control group (P = 0.006).
Conclusions: The application of MMC 0.02% significantly reduces postoperative haze in low myopia patients undergoing PRK with an ablation depth of less than 70 microns but is linked to a statistically significant reduction in endothelial cell density.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy of partial thickness versus full thickness limbal relaxing incisions performed during phacoemulsification for the treatment of with-the-rule astigmatism in elderly cataract patients.
Methods: All participants underwent phacoemulsification with intraocular lens implantation. In the partial thickness group, limbal relaxing incisions were made with a guarded stainless-steel knife preset at 550 microns according to ASCRS guidelines. In the full thickness group, paired limbal incisions were created with a 2.8 mm MANI phaco knife. Postoperative follow-ups were conducted at one, three, and six months, assessing best-corrected visual acuity, uncorrected visual acuity, residual astigmatism, spectacle independence, photophobia, foreign body sensation, and patient satisfaction.
Results: At one month, the partial thickness group achieved significantly better uncorrected visual acuity (P = 0.011) and best-corrected visual acuity (P = 0.012) than the full thickness group, but these differences were not significant at six months. Residual astigmatism was slightly lower in the partial thickness group, though not statistically significant. Spectacle independence, foreign body sensation, and patient satisfaction were similar between groups. Photophobia occurred more often in the full thickness group (22.7% vs. 9.1%), but the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.080). No surgical complications, including leakage or infection, were observed.
Conclusions: Full thickness limbal relaxing incisions do not provide superior correction of with-the-rule astigmatism compared with partial thickness incisions. Although technically simpler, faster, and more cost-effective, their penetrating nature carries potential risks. Partial thickness limbal relaxing incisions remain the safer and more effective technique during cataract surgery.

Purpose: This article aims to investigate the challenges of protective rights in ensuring the judicial and social security of blind and low-sighted in Iranian legal system and compare it with other legal systems.
Materials and Methods: This study relied on library resources, domestic laws, international documents and comparative studies in the judicial and social systems of the America, Europe and Iran.
Results: This comparative study shows that the American and European systems, relying on tools such as the Americans on Disabilities Act (ADA 1990) and the European on the Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), have created relatively effective platforms for accessing justice and social protection for people with disabilities. In Iran poor monitoring, and budgetary constraints have prevented the full realization of the rights of the low-sighted patients.
Conclusion: The legal system if Iran seems to be lacking good monitoring and implementation and needs to be improved.

A 62 years old male patient was referred to Basir eye clinic for visual evoked potential measurement. The result was flat VEP, P₁₀₀ latency and amplitude in both of his eyes. He was an installation worker who was exposed to hydrochloric acid (HCl) in both of his eyes. He went corneal transplantation, but the result was negative. We performed VEP which indicated visual pathway involvement.

Reliable, well-structured medical databases underpin evidence-based practice, clinical research, and health policy. International platforms such as PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science enable efficient data synthesis, systematic reviews, and trend analysis. In Iran, national databases including SID (Scientific Information Database), Magiran, and IranMedex were established to index domestic scientific output. Despite initial promise, these platforms currently lack the efficiency, accuracy, and interoperability needed for high-quality ophthalmic research¹.

Iranian ophthalmologists have made notable contributions in areas such as refractive surgery, glaucoma, and corneal disorders. However, deficiencies in national databases limit the visibility, reproducibility, and clinical translation of local studies. This editorial highlights key structural issues and proposes targeted reforms.