Clinical Diagnosis

Coronado Island, CA-The focus of attention in caring for babies with incontinentia pigmenti (IP) should be on the potential for rapid development of irreversible blindness rather than on the clinically obvious skin manifestations, said Morton F. Goldberg, MD, in the Gertrude D. Pyron Award Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists.

Heidelberg Engineering has received FDA clearance for its Rostock Cornea Module, a key component of its confocal laser microscope.

New York-Aqueous misdirection is "a rare, but serious complication of intraocular surgery" that requires immediate attention to prevent lasting damage, Celso Tello, MD, told participants at the Glaucoma 2004 meeting here.

The nomenclature and etiology of "dermoid" tumors and fatty lesions of the orbit and ocular adnexa have created longstanding confusion.

New York -Five potential causes of failure of glaucoma filtration surgery include excessive subconjunctival fibrosis, tight scleral flap sutures, encapsulated bleb, occluded internal ostium, and intraocular obstruction, according to James C. Tsai, MD.

New York-"The time to think about preventing a shallow anterior chamber is the moment you decide to perform a trabeculectomy," said Jody R. Piltz-Seymour, MD, at the Glaucoma 2004 meeting here.

New York-The best time to start treating a bleb-associated infection resulting from trabeculectomy is when its first warning signs appear, reported Paul J. Lama, MD, at the Glaucoma 2004 meeting here.

New York-Hypotony maculopathy-damage to the macula caused by clinically significant low IOP-has several causes, including overfiltering blebs, bleb leak, cyclodialysis cleft, and ciliary body effusion/detachment, reported Celso Tello, MD, at the Glaucoma 2004 meeting here.

New York-How do you determine whether a patient identified as having suspected glaucoma has glaucoma or will develop glaucoma? When should you treat a patient? How aggressive should treatment be?

New York-The 2004 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, given posthumously, honors Charles D. Kelman, MD, for transforming cataract surgery "from a risky and lengthy ordeal (2-week hospital stay) into a safe and quick outpatient procedure that has spared millions of people throughout the world from blindness," as well as for inspiring similar advances in a number of other medical specialties.

New York-The 2004 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, given posthumously, honors Charles D. Kelman, MD, for transforming cataract surgery "from a risky and lengthy ordeal (2-week hospital stay) into a safe and quick outpatient procedure that has spared millions of people throughout the world from blindness," as well as for inspiring similar advances in a number of other medical specialties.

New York-It is not usual for a memorial ceremony to be punctuated by roars of laughter, but the commemoration held here on Sept. 13 for Charles D. Kelman, MD, was as unusual as the man himself. The tribute was as full of the liveliness, enthusiasm, and love that he expressed for everything in his life-from saxophone playing to song composing to helicopter piloting and to his medical and scientific studying that revolutionized ophthalmology.

Nidek Co., Gamagori, Japan, has introduced the NIDEK RKT-7700-an all-in-one auto-refractometer, keratometer, and tonometer unit-at the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons meeting in Paris. The new unit brings together advanced and innovative technologies and solutions into one diagnostic platform, offering the first combination unit of its type in the industry, the company reported.

Surgeon outlines potential remedies such as medical therapy, tamponade, adhesives

Vancouver, British Columbia-A research chemist from QLT Inc. who helped develop the verteporfin for injection (Visudyne, QLT/Novartis Ophthalmics) treatment for age-related macular degeneration is among 13 chemists from four companies who have been named Heroes of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society.

New York-The ideal monitor of glaucoma progression should have high sensitivity, high specificity, be resistant to fluctuations of the condition, require few confirmatory tests, have broad sensitivity at all stages of the disease, and be easy to interpret, according to David S. Greenfield, MD, who spoke at the Glaucoma 2004 meeting here.

New York-Standard textbook descriptions about early detection of glaucoma underestimate the prevalence of glaucoma, said Robert N. Weinreb, MD.

Map allows clinician to watch early stages, monitor progression and regression

Clinicians need to recognize the fundamental characteristicsof the glaucomatous optic nerve in daily practice. While understanding cup-to-discratio is important, it is also important to recognize other structural characteristics.

When should intraocular lymphoma be considered, and when it is suspected what steps should be taken to make the diagnosis?

Dorado, Puerto Rico-The 26th annual "Current Concepts in Ophthalmology" meeting, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine/Wilmer Eye Institute and supported by Ophthalmology Times, will be held Feb. 20 to 23 at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort.

Anaheim, CA-Evidence-based medicine is at least a partial solution to many of the dilemmas facing today's ophthalmologists.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Both Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT, Heidelberg Engineering) exams and stereoscopic optic disc photographs can show abnormalities that pre- dict glaucomatous visual-field abnormalities as early as 4 years before visual-field conversion occurs, according to results of an analysis conducted at the University of California San Diego, La Jolla.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-What constitutes glaucoma progression and the relationship between progressive structural and functional injury? These were the main questions researchers set out to answer during a glaucoma mini-symposium at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Vista, CA-John Hawley, vice president of Heidelberg Engineering, served as an expert panelist at the Life Sciences Industry Council program, "Innovations in Eye Disease Technology," in Irvine, CA.

Dayton, OH-Move over a few disc diameters from the optic nerve head to assess the retinal thickness in the para-macular region for early diagnosis and close monitoring of the glaucomatous process. That's the message of Talia Technology Inc., Tampa.

New York-Pfizer Inc. will invest $400 million to expand its New Jersey facilities and potentially add 1,300 jobs, but plans to close five research and development sites around the world-including two in the United States- and other former Pharmacia Corp. offices as it begins the difficult logistical transition of its $57 billion takeover.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-When assessing a patient with dry eye, clinicians should keep the time of day in mind, said Carolyn G. Begley, OD, MS.

Editor's Note: Anterior uveitis is the most common type of intraocular inflammation. Among patients with inflammation localized primarily to the anterior chamber, 50% or more are HLA-B27 positive. Inaddition, a number of these patients with HLA-B27-associated anterior uveitis have, or will develop, an associated systemicdisorder such as ankylosing spondylitis,reactive arthritis (formerly known asReiter's syndrome), inflammatory bowel disease, or psoriatic arthritis.

CA-The FDA approval of gatifloxacin ophthalmic solution 0.3% (Zymar, Allergan) marks a milestone as the first fourth-generation fluoroquinolone to enter the ophthalmic market. The therapy for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis caused by susceptible strains of bacteria also has a unique mechanism to prevent development of antibiotic resistance, according to Allergan.