Week in Review: AI for Post–Cataract Surgery Assessment, Ophthalmology Resident Compensation, Gender Differences in Ocular Syphilis

A weekly roundup of ophthalmic news from around the web.

An AI assistant shows potential value for conducting post–cataract surgery follow-up assessments. The utility of a voice-based artificial intelligence (AI) telephone conversational assistant, nicknamed “Dora R1,” in conducting patient assessments following cataract surgery was tested in a UK-based study of 225 patients. Dora R1’s recommendations were compared with those from a supervising clinician. The AI assistant had high rates of outcome sensitivity and specificity (94% and 86%, respectively) and showed moderate-to-strong agreement with the clinician regarding next steps for the patient (either discharge or review). While there were study limitations, including selection bias, geographic homogeneity, and the nonexclusion of patients with cognitive or hearing difficulties, the authors conclude that Dora R1 is a potential cost-efficient alternative to clinician-based postsurgical triage, and that “further research should evaluate Dora R1’s effectiveness and monitor safety in the real-world, unsupervised context in which it would be implemented.” eClinicalMedicine

Ophthalmology resident compensation varies widely across the United States. An assessment of data from 2023–2024 ophthalmology residency programs included in the American Medical Association’s Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database (FREIDA) found that the while the mean annual PGY-1 resident stipend overall was $65,249, it varied considerably by region, ranging from an average of $60,095 in the South to $72,557 in the West. This range reflects the general variation in cost of living throughout the United States. PGY-1 residents in the top 25 ophthalmology residency programs (per Doximity ranking) had a higher average stipend plus housing benefits than those in all other ophthalmology residency programs. JAMA Ophthalmology

Ocular syphilis presents differently in men than in women. That was the takeaway from an analysis of retrospective data from 127 patients diagnosed with ocular syphilis at 4 hospitals in Brazil. Men were more likely to have vitritis, to be co-infected with the human immunodeficiency virus, and to undergo lumbar punctures and cerebrospinal fluid investigations during the diagnostic process, while women were more likely to present with scleritis. In both men and women, the dominant form of uveitis was posterior uveitis. While more men than women received corticosteroids as part of their treatment, this trend was not significant. Scientific Reports