PONE-D-19-34472

Focal lamina cribrosa defect and significant peripapillary choroidal thinning in patients with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion

PLOS ONE

Dear Prof Kang,

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PLOS ONE

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This work was supported by a National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No.2018R1C1B5085620).

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by the Korea government (MSIT) (No. 2018R1C1B5085620).

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None

We note that one or more of the authors are employed by a commercial company: Choikang Seoule Eye Clinic

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

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4. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: No

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: 1. The manuscript technically sound, the data do support the conclusions.

2. Statistical analysis is adequately described and scientifically sound

3. Authors state that some restrictions apply on the data presented in the manuscript

4. Multiple errors in English language were found including:

Title: should be corrected to read 'defects' instead of 'defect'

Abstract's purpose: 'defects' instead of 'defect'

Abstract conclusion:the phrase 'regardless of BRVO affection' is incorrect.

Introduction: 'Whether' instead of 'where', 'similar to that described in central retinal vein occlusion and hemi-central retinal vein occlusion.5' instead of 'like central retinal vein occlusion and hemi-central retinal vein occlusion.5'

Discussion: 'It is also another possibility that the presence' instead of 'It is also another possible that the presence'

Conclusions: the phrase 'regardless of BRVO affection' is incorrect.

5. Other comments:

a.The study included 3 study groups: BRVO, NTG and control group. The NTG group is selectively not mentioned in sections like the title and the abstract's purpose & conclusion.

b.Abstract methods could be more specific interns of parameters studied.

c.The main hypothesis described at the end of the introduction is interesting, yet it is not mentioned anywhere in the abstract nor in the manuscripts conclusion. 'our hypothesis was that BRVO and glaucoma may share a common pathophysiology that results in these similarities.'

d.Only one of the Representative figures 2,3,4 is needed.

e.Funder's role in the study is not specified. If the funder played any role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript that should be stated; otherwise please include this sentence at the end of your statement: 'The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.'

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Reviewer #1: No

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Focal lamina cribrosa defects and significant peripapillary choroidal thinning in patients with unilateral branch retinal vein occlusion

PONE-D-19-34472R1

Dear Dr. Kang,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you will receive an e-mail containing information on the amendments required prior to publication. When all required modifications have been addressed, you will receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will proceed to our production department and be scheduled for publication.

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If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper to enable them to help maximize its impact. If they will be preparing press materials for this manuscript, you must inform our press team as soon as possible and no later than 48 hours after receiving the formal acceptance. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information, please contact onepress@plos.org.

With kind regards,

Demetrios G. Vavvas

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. If the authors have adequately addressed your comments raised in a previous round of review and you feel that this manuscript is now acceptable for publication, you may indicate that here to bypass the “Comments to the Author” section, enter your conflict of interest statement in the “Confidential to Editor” section, and submit your "Accept" recommendation.

Reviewer #1: All comments have been addressed

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2. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

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3. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

4. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

The PLOS Data policy requires authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception (please refer to the Data Availability Statement in the manuscript PDF file). The data should be provided as part of the manuscript or its supporting information, or deposited to a public repository. For example, in addition to summary statistics, the data points behind means, medians and variance measures should be available. If there are restrictions on publicly sharing data—e.g. participant privacy or use of data from a third party—those must be specified.

Reviewer #1: No

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5. Is the manuscript presented in an intelligible fashion and written in standard English?

PLOS ONE does not copyedit accepted manuscripts, so the language in submitted articles must be clear, correct, and unambiguous. Any typographical or grammatical errors should be corrected at revision, so please note any specific errors here.

Reviewer #1: Yes

**********

6. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: (No Response)

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7. PLOS authors have the option to publish the peer review history of their article (what does this mean?). If published, this will include your full peer review and any attached files.

If you choose “no”, your identity will remain anonymous but your review may still be made public.

Do you want your identity to be public for this peer review? For information about this choice, including consent withdrawal, please see our Privacy Policy.

Reviewer #1: No