News

Dr. Francesco Oddone, Head of the Glaucoma Research Unit at Bietti Foundation, Rome, speaks about the most interesting features of COMPASS, the unique automatic perimeter combined with a scanning ophthalmoscope, able to provide retinal threshold sensitivity as well as confocal images of the retina.

David Lin, MD, Medical Director Pacific Laser Eye Centre in Vancouver, Canada, shares his experiences with SCHWIND SmartSurfACE treatment and how this procedure completely transformed the way of the clinic performing laser surgery.

Prof. Michael Knorz, Founder & CEO, FreeVis LASIK Group, Germany, tells the reasons why he bought a new SCHWIND AMARIS laser system in 2017.

Glaucoma innovations in 2017 included advancements in new drugs, new microinvasive glaucoma surgery devices, and a new diagnostic tool. Two glaucoma specialists review some of the year’s highlights.

Eric Donnenfeld, MD, Robert H. Osher, MD, and Mark Packer, MD, review the year of cataract surgery advances and look to forthcoming developments.

When natural disasters strike, ophthalmologists can play a critical role in recovery through disaster response plans that maintain and restore clinic and hospital operations and provide outreach to the community.

Concerns over the ocular surface, compliance, cost, and patient callbacks are lessened when surgeons take a transzonular approach to medication delivery during cataract surgery.

Intracameral antibiotics used for prophylaxis are a preferred approach during cataract surgery.

A few months into my residency, a patient and her husband came to see me in clinic. The history revealed they had already sought the opinions of two internationally acknowledged giants in the field of retinal disease, one of whom was a department chairman. The answers they received on those visits had differed somewhat, so they were now coming to get the tie-breaking third opinion. “Thank goodness they have no idea I am just a first-year resident,” I thought to myself.

Hyperosmolarity emerges as key mechanism in TFOS DEWS II pathophysiology report

J. Daniel Nelson, MD, chair of The Tear Film and Ocular Surface Society Dry Eye Workshop II, highlights a new scheme for patient classification.

Many new diagnostic tools are available for dry eye and ocular surface disease (OSD). Treatments for dry eye and OSD have mixed results, however, said Bennie H. Jeng, MD.

Recently, there has been a greater interest in metrics focused upon the impact of dry eye disease on everyday activities such as reading, driving, or use of various visual display devices. These efforts provide a “real-life” assessment of how dry eye disease impacts vision-related activities.

Patients use artificial tears for different reasons and diverse conditions. While available products supplement tear production and provide relief, few distinctions between drops have been clearly established. Recent studies show that direct comparison of a new product to an older, established one and use of “real-world” metrics can be most useful to prescribers.

A thorough investigation of ocular surface health and initiation of any necessary treatment is the first step toward successful cataract surgery.

The first portable, external neurostimulator to be approved in eye care stimulates endogenous tear production without physical irritation. The device can dramatically reduce symptoms and may enable patients to stop use of some or all tear substitutes or medications, noted John Sheppard, MD, MMSc.

Comorbidity of glaucoma poses some increased risks for cataract surgery, but even when there are intraoperative complications during the lens removal procedure, it is almost always possible to still add micro-invasive glaucoma surgery (MIGS), said Reay H. Brown, MD.

Surface ablation performed with mitomycin-C (MMC) seems to be a safe and effective technique for treating residual refractive error after myopic SMILE, said Martin Dirisamer, MD.

Intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) appears to be effective for treatment of severe retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and associated with less persistent suppression of systemic VEGF compared with bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech), according to research reported by Shunji Kusaka, MD.

Results of a 1-year randomized controlled trial investigating treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME) show that intravitreal ziv-aflibercept (Zaltrap, Sanofi Genzyme) 1.25 or 2.5 mg is safe, according to Masoud Soheilian, MD.

An analysis of data collected in the Intelligent Research in Sight (IRIS) Registry suggests that in the real-world setting, newly diagnosed diabetic macular edema (DME) is being vastly undertreated. Not only are the majority of these patients not receiving active intervention, but those who are started on anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy seem to be getting a suboptimal number of injections, said Jeffrey R. Willis, MD, PhD.

Results from two pivotal multicenter trials demonstrate that an intranasal tear neurostimulator (TrueTear, Allergan) safely and effectively increases endogenous tear production in patients with dry eye disease (DED), said Edward Holland, MD.

Punctal plug-based delivery systems for sustained delivery of glaucoma medications represent new and versatile technology that is under development. The hope is it can help with the problem of patient compliance when managing mild-moderate glaucoma, said Marlene Moster, MD.