News

Nicox S.A. has decided to re-focus its naproxcinod development efforts, granting an undisclosed financial partner the right to enter into a period of exclusive evaluation to assess the potential development of the drug and of next-generation nitric oxide (NO)-donors outside the ophthalmology area.

Thorough treatment of the ciliary processes-combined with measures for minimizing postoperative IOP spikes and inflammation-will lead to improved outcomes when performing endoscopic cyclophotocoagulation with cataract surgery.

Percutaneous ablation of lymphatic malformations is a safe, effective alternative to surgical resection, based on extensive follow-up of a large series of cases performed at a leading pediatric hospital in the United States.

Analyses of data from large clinical trials have been undertaken to determine how patient age and treatment-specific variables may influence the systemic safety of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor treatment.

The surgical procedures and botulinum toxin A injections widely used today to treat strabismus may be supplanted within a decade or two by new drugs and devices that are more effective.

A new algorithm for the management of allergic conjunctivitis encourages collaboration and consensus among colleagues with different expertise as well as greater emphasis on ocular signs and symptoms by physicians who are not eye-care specialists.

‘Best’ ways to die?

A recent article in The New York Times1 suggests that physicians-because we understand the implications of a serious illness diagnosis and the implications of treatment and the associated morbidity-die “better” than do non-physicians.

Arun C. Gulani, MD, explains his concept of addressing anterior corneal scars with laser PRK (not PTK) straight to 20/20. In the next article, he will explain how to build the cornea with various modalities in presenting it for laser PRK.

Johnson & Johnson Vision Care is offering an educational brochure, “Eye Health and Allergies.” The complimentary brochure is designed to provide patients with useful information on how eye allergies occur, common signs and symptoms, and practical advice on how to treat eye allergies.

A phase III VISTA-DME trial of aflibercept (Eylea) injection-a treatment for diabetic macular edema (DME)-showed a sustained improvement from baseline in the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) at week 100, compared with laser photocoagulation.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was designed to provide health insurance for millions of uninsured citizens with no exclusions for pre-existing conditions, expanded services like screening and preventive health coverage, and be less costly for patients and the government.

The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has named one of its own-Rohit Varma, MD, MPH-to become chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and director of the USC Eye Institute, as well as to serve as professor of ophthalmology and preventive medicine and hold the Grace and Emery Beardsley Chair in Ophthalmology.

Studies evaluating treatment of progressive keratoconus with corneal crosslinking (CXL) show greater benefit using an epithelium-off versus epithelium-on technique. However, epithelial removal by laser-assisted phototherapeutic keratectomy (PTK) may give better results than manual debridement, according to a study presented by Ronald N. Gaster, MD.

Aerie Pharmaceuticals Inc. has announced dosing of the first patients enrolled in its phase IIb study of PG324, a novel fixed-combination treatment for glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Is it practical for medical practices to retain only stellar employees and pay them well above other practices, while letting one-fourth to one-fifth of their workforce go every year, to be replaced by new workers who will hopefully prove to be stellar? Would it be consistent with the culture of medical practices to reproduce the Netflix system of “high performance”?

Several new refractive surgical platforms have been introduced recently, and many ophthalmologists are discovering they find the new technologies to be more efficient and produce better results.