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Nathan M. Radcliffe, MD, discusses use of laser technology for treating patients with early-stage glaucoma as an approach to decrease IOP or to reduce the need for IOP-lowering medications.

Several therapies are in the pipeline to treat Stargardt’s disease.

In this ongoing series of one-on-one interviews with key ophthalmic leaders, J.C. Noreika, MD, MBA, talks with Samuel Masket, MD, clinical professor of ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine, Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). In his practice, Dr. Masket sees a high volume of patients referred for dysphototopsia and addresses issues related to the condition. Dr. Masket also highlights some of his many achievements and contributions to cataract and refractive surgery and tracks the field’s trends-from the infancy of phacoemulsification and lens implant cataract surgery to femtosecond lasers and extended depth-of-focus IOLs.

Observation of the episcleral venous fluid wave while performing canal-based glaucoma surgery provides intraoperative confirmation of accurate device placement, correlates with the extent of surgically induced canal cleavage, and may be a prognostic indicator for surgical success, said Ronald L. Fellman, MD.

The FDA has designated Dompé’s rhNGF (recombinant human nerve growth factor) as an orphan drug for the treatment of neurotrophic keratitis.

The FDA has issued 510(k) clearance to Nidek’s AL-Scan optical biometer.

Researchers from Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Harvard Medical School, and Boston University School of Medicine have found that the extent of retinal swelling due to cystoid macular edema (CME) was inversely related to dietary iodine intake in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

A new surgical advance-the Intrepid Balanced phacotips designed specifically for microcoaxial torsional ultrasound-has been found to have a significantly increased emulsification effect and markedly reduced shaft action compared with the traditional Kelman flared and mini-tips, said Khiun Tjia, MD.

Allergan has announced that, alongside its second-quarter financial results, it will reduce its workforce by about 1,500 employees-about 13% of its current global headcount-as part of efforts to boost stockholder value.

Bausch + Lomb has received 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its Victus femtosecond laser platform for laser-assisted lens fragmentation during cataract surgery.

AbbVie has reached a deal to buy Shire for $89.56 per share, or about $54.6 billion.

Genotyping reveals that certain patients with moderate age-related macular degeneration may benefit more from the AREDS formulation than others.

A nanophotonics-based device implanted in the eye may one day enable patients with glaucoma to monitor their IOP from home.

As technology continues to advance, the ability to serve patients will greatly improve. Having sophisticated tools at our disposal will make medical decisions all the more appropriate and treatment plans all the more effective.

Using a new analytic approach to dig deeper into data from genome-wide association studies, researchers have found several common mechanisms underlying IOP.

Much work is being done with Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors for application in retinal gene therapy, with modifications being made to the capsid and genome of the vector to generate novel variants with unique transduction profiles, according to Shannon Boye, PhD.

The FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to Quantel Medical’s integrated laser platform, Optimis Fusion.

Zeiss has unveiled a new product-Zeiss Digital Lens-that targets the vision needs of the millennial generation. The company will also launch a consumer marketing approach designed to raise awareness and drive demand for the product.

Allergan is working on plans of its own to give investors "most of what they want" instead of the $53 billion hostile bid from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and top Allergan shareholder Pershing Square, according to the company.

When consulting with patients who present with decreased vision due to cataracts, ophthalmologists need to remember their role as physicians first, suggest the authors. The primary goal of the office visit is to address the complaint and the solution in entirety before moving into outcomes.

Real-world experience with ocriplasmin (Jetrea, ThromboGenics) show that the treatment success rate can be increased by appropriate patient selection.

Guiding someone’s career path and growth is an awesome responsibility, and should not be taken lightly.

The widely used antidepressant bupropion appeared to protect against open-angle glaucoma in an analysis of a large health-care claims database.

Thanks to this research, I comprehend why some people insist they don’t find my columns to be particularly insightful or humorous. It’s not their fault. I blame myself. My writing is just too gosh-darned sophisticated.

The latest surveillance data on antibiotic resistance trends show increased levels of resistance among certain isolates, warranting ongoing, prospective, multicenter surveillance studies.

Despite the challenges of higher costs of developing drugs, increased regulatory requirements, and limitations on reimbursement for health care, the key to success in the pharmaceutical industry has been-and still is-innovation.

Ophthalmology has benefitted from many innovative new therapies in recent years. How do we continue to drive innovation? And how can we, as an industry, accelerate bringing new therapies to the marketplace?

Common imaging techniques-such as optical coherence tomography and ultrasound biomicroscopy-can be enlisted to help with research into retinal diseases when used to examine postmortem eyes, suggest findings from a collaborative research program.

Intravenous methylprednisolone may prevent visual loss and occasionally achieve visual recovery in patients with giant cell arteritis.

The open-label extension RIDE and RISE phase III studies of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) indicated that the beneficial results of the drug for treating diabetic macular edema were maintained over the long-term with less than monthly follow-up or injection treatment.