News

Corneal transplantations are successful in 90 percent of first-time procedures, but second allografts are rejected at three times the rate of the first surgeries. A new study published online by the American Journal of Transplantation sought to elucidate the reasons for these rejections.

A new epidescemetic keratoprosthesis implanted without total corneal trephination, is a viable alternative to corneal transplantation, according to researchers from Spain, Egypt, and Kuwait reporting in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.

Stem cell therapy is in its infancy, and the first steps have been taken to address atrophic age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with some success among several interesting treatment strategies, according to Allen C. Ho, MD.

In his latest blog, Mark Packer, MD, FACS, CPI, tells of a time a patient of his was left to only trust his judgment and nothing else, and why learning never ends for physicians.

In his latest blog, Zack Oakey, MD, ponders why it seems that physicians need their own explicit medium to combat social sabotage, especially in academic practice among residents and fellows where monetary compensation is "already dilute" as he phrases it.

Heidelberg Engineering announces significant improvements to its Spectralis OCT2 Module.

Members cast their ballots for the accomplishments of three finalists in three categories-Visionary Woman, Catalyst, and Rising Star.

The past 30 years have brought witness to “an explosion in our knowledge of, and ability to diagnose, keratoconus,” said Prof. Charles McGhee, MD, PhD, DSc.

A digital markerless system can be considered more accurate than manual methods when attempting to align toric IOLs, said Daniel Black, MBBS, FRANZCO.

Three surgeons all presented portions of an overall study to evaluate an image-guided system for surgical planning and digital alignment.

Oral consumption of re-esterfied omega-3 fatty acids once daily for 12 weeks is “an effective treatment for dry eye disease,” said Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD.

Study patients with a near vision inlay implanted under a femtosecond flap achieved extended depth of focus that ranged from +1 to +3 D, said John A. Hovanesian, MD.

Patients with evaporative dry eye produce an abnormal meibum that is more viscous than patients with normal meibum, said Gargi K. Vora, MD.

In the first study to directly compare two femtosecond lasers for cataract surgery, both were considered safe and efficacious-but surgeons should be alert to eyes that move while under the docking station, said Seth M. Pantanelli, MD, MS.

With the influx of numerous endothelial keratoplasty procedures, only 15% of corneal transplants last year were penetrating keratoplasty (PK), said Donald T.H. Tan, MD, Singapore.

Phakic IOL implantation is as potentially viable a means to correct myopia as LASIK/PRK or refractive lens exchange, said Sonia H. Yoo, MD.

Bean-shaped rings can be useful devices for implantation of “bag-in-the-lens in eyes with loose or no capsular support,” said Marie José B. Tassignon, MD, PhD.

Treatments for InnFocus Inc.’s FDA phase I clinical trial of the InnFocus MicroShunt glaucoma drainage implant have now reached the required 75 patients.

Fixating a posterior chamber IOL using fibrin glue is a “viable option in patients with deficient capsular support,” said Mahipal S. Sachdev, MBBS, MD.

Beaver Visitec International (BVI) introduces its new Visitec I-Ring Pupil Expander,a single-use iris retraction device for intraoperative small pupil management.

When military personnel are injured in combat situations, the primary concern of saving lives supersedes saving sight, said Col. Anthony J. Johnson, MD, Fort Sam Houston, Antonio, TX.

A number of emerging infectious diseases have made recent headlines-most prominently, the Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa-prompting higher levels of vigilance, Paul Tambyah, MD, PhD, Singapore.

The FDA has approved AcuFocus’ corneal inlay product (KAMRA inlay.) The device is indicated to improve near vision by extending depth of focus in patients with presbyopia who have emmetropic refractions (+0.50 to –0.75 D).

Optos’ next-generation, ultra-widefield (UWF) imaging platform (California) provides greater imaging functionality and introduces the company’s newest imaging modality-indocyanine green angiography (ICG) while maintaining all current color imaging modalities, autofluorescence (AF) and fluorescein angiography (FA).

Alcon Laboratories has received FDA approval for its AcrySof IQ ReSTOR +2.5 D IOL for patients undergoing cataract eye surgery who choose to address near, intermediate, and distance vision needs at the same time.

The present method of lowering IOP as a means of preventing optic neuropathy is expanding beyond prostaglandin analogues and beta blockers to include novel therapeutics, such as Rho kinase (ROCK) inhibitors, the adenosine class of drugs, and nitric oxide added to prostaglandins, said John R. Samples, MD.

Glaucoma surgeons are constantly clamoring for better surgical techniques. Traditional, incisional glaucoma surgery shunts fluid to the subconjunctival space and provides a route for aqueous to leave the eye by bypassing the normal outflow system and avoiding sources of resistance to outflow, said Barbara Smit, MD, PhD.

In his latest blog, Arun Gulani, MD, discusses deciding whether or not a patient deserves empathy for their medical situation, even when they are 'attorneys who sue eye surgeons for a living.'