Cataract

Programming for this year’s ASCRS meeting promises quality education for anterior segment specialists, practice managers, and ophthalmic technicians and nurses.

Richard Packard, MD, explains how he created a phaco tip family to fill a need for a coaxial phaco tip that was efficient in small incisions.

Making the switch to laser cataract surgery proved beneficial for one surgeon, who experienced improvements to his LASIK enhancement rate, refractive accuracy, and visual acuity outcomes.

Femtosecond laser cataract surgery has demonstrated comparable safety, superior effectiveness, and greater efficiency compared with traditional phacoemulsification.

A survey of cataract surgeons operating with a proprietary phacoemulsification unit explored their use of dual-linear foot pedal control of fluidics and phacoemulsification power.

Though there is a short learning curve for performing a direct phaco chop technique with a 45° balanced tip, it makes surgery more efficient by eliminating or minimizing the need for longitudinal energy.

Two phase III trials evaluated sustained-release dexamethasone for the treatment of inflammation and pain after cataract surgery.

Features of a new phacoemulsification platform provide surgeons with improvements to outcomes, safety, and cost and time effectiveness.

A new image-guided system streamlines surgical planning for patients undergoing cataract surgery with implantation of a single-piece aspheric IOL or a multifocal IOL.

Arun C. Gulani, MD, continues the discussion correcting premium cataract surgery.

By 2020, there will be over 5,200 gigabytes of data available for every individual worldwide, she said.Ophthalmology seems ready for Big Data as evidenced by the findings dating back to the 1990s.

Ophthalmologists spend significant amounts of time during cataract surgery trying to precisely center an implanted IOL to achieve the best possible vision after surgery. The high success rate of cataract surgery suggests that in most cases, they succeed.

Los Angeles-Scleral suture fixation of the IOL-capsular tension ring (CTR)-capsular bag complex is an effective option for surgical repositioning of a dislocated IOL, according to Robert K. Maloney, MD.

Femto laser-assisted cataract surgery (FLACS) is a latest advance in technology that is transforming traditional cataract surgery into a refractive procedure. Multiple studies have shown that laser-assisted cataract surgery can increase precision and reproducibility of the anterior capsulotomy, reduce effective phacoemulsion time, cause less postoperative inflammation to the anterior chamber, and possibly reduce surgically-induced endothelial cell damage. However, it is discussed much less often that the safeguards built into FLACS instruments can fail and allow the femto laser grid pattern to be delivered into the cornea.

Severe myopia affected the attitudes of both Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, but in opposite ways, according to biographer Edmund Morris.“Since both of them became aware of their myopia in their early teens, it was obviously a formative experience for both of them,” Morris told Ophthalmology Times.

A 65-year-old male with a history of congenital cataracts, bilateral cataract extraction and secondary placement of anterior chamber intraocular lenses with subsequent development of glaucoma, cicatricial conjunctivitis, dry eye and limbal stem cell deficiency presented with left eye pain and decreased vision.

The trend for advances in intraoperative imaging systems and linking of diagnostic and surgical technology continued in 2015, bringing cataract surgeons more opportunity for increasing workflow efficiency and improving patient outcomes.

New alloplastic materials are being used as intracorneal inlays to offer predictable and safe refractive surgical correction of presbyopia and low hyperopia. The major problem with such inlays is the wound-healing response following their insertion; however, they can easily be removed.

The authors assess the quantitative and qualitative aspects of vision following various lens- and corneal-based therapies for presbyopia. In many cases the KAMRA corneal inlay offers a long-term solution. It can easily be removed if the patient is not satisfied with the outcome.

This article discusses the advantages and limitations for surgical compensation of presbyopia with the femtosecond laser using corneal inlays and the Intracor technique.

IOLs are proving to provide new options for cataract surgeons as well as entryways for more advanced research trials.

Technologies and techniques such as femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and microinvasive glaucoma surgery may be guiding the way for future cataract surgeries.

Although no new drug therapies entered cataract surgeons’ armamentarium in 2015, interest continues to grow in approaches for intraocular administration.

A small study of using a new contact lens to treat corneal edema after cataract surgery reported positive results.

The availability of a new cataract surgery platform from Abbott Medical Optics (AMO) marks the second phacoemulsification system launched by the company in the United States this year.