News

Advanced technology from Schwind is already shaping the future of refractive surgery, but surgeons can look forward to further refinements and innovations that will offer additional capabilities.

Lower prices = more sales?

Running sales can be financially counterproductive if they do not bring in new customers and only reduce the price that existing customers pay for products they buy.

Monofocal IOLs provide good distance and near visual acuities of about 20/40 or better for pediatric patients when the targeted vision is within 1 D of emmetropia.

Tubing enhances phaco

Enhanced low-compliance tubing on a proprietary phaco platform may help to increase vacuum limit safely and allow the surgeon to lower the bottle height or decrease the incision size with greater stability and safety without reduced ergonomic convenience.

Anti-VEGF agent aids DME

A 1-year extension of a two-year phase II study of treatment of diabetic macular edema allowed ranibizumab dosing frequency to increase from every 2 or 3 months to monthly.

Laser upgrade launched

Topcon Medical Laser Systems Inc. has launched a system upgrade for its family of lasers offering scanning technology and tissue-sparing sub-threshold treatment options.

NSAID aids anti-VEGF drug

Results of a prospective, randomized pilot study suggest that a topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, bromfenac 0.09%, may be a useful addition to an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agent, intravitreal ranibizumab, in patients being treated for exudative age-related macular degeneration.

The UV + riboflavin crosslinking procedure triggers the development of mild stromal haze in rabbit corneas, but it is not because of myofibroblast generation,a s it is for late haze after PRK.

A number of procedures are available to address presbyopia, each with its advantages and disadvantages.

Careful investigation using a systematic approach to troubleshoot patients dissatisfied after multifocal IOL implantation usually can identify an underlying cause that can be effectively managed with conservative intervention and avoidance of further intraocular surgery.

Julia A. Haller, MD, details the complex medical case of a blind African teeneager recently freed from slavery in the Sudan.

A triple-function 23-gauge laser endoscope is available for video, imaging, and laser during an array of retinal procedures.

A new aspheric treatment for presbyopia, P-curve, considers both the total Q value and the corneal asphericity among other parameters to induce the negative spherical aberration that is lost with aging.

Results of a prospective, double-masked, randomized study indicate that combination treatment with the dexamethasone implant 0.7 mg and laser photocoagulation is very well tolerated in patients with DDME and provides better functional and anatomic outcomes than laser treatment alone.

Intracameral injection of perfluoropropane gas in a non-expansile concentration (14%) appears to hasten resolution of corneal edema in eyes with acute corneal hydrops.

Drug noninferior for AMD

Two studies of a fusion protein (VEGF Trap-Eye, Regeneron) showed that all doses of the drug, including those administered every 2 months, to treat neovascular age-related macular degeneration were noninferior to ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) in the number of patients who maintained their visual acuity

Radiation benefits AMD

The MERITAGE Study (NeoVista), a study to evaluate the effect of epimacular brachytherapy in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration previously treated with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech), showed that the treatment results of radiation therapy were “interesting and encouraging” at the 2-year time point, according to Pravin Dugel, MD.

Ranibizumab inhibits VEGF

The HORIZON Study for retinal vein occlusion, an extension study composed of patients treated in the BRAVO Study for branch retinal vein occlusion and the CRUISE study for central retinal vein occlusion, showed that 0.5-mg intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) inhibit vascular endothelial growth factor as in previous studies of the efficacy of the drug.

Results: CATT at 1 year

A head-to-head comparison of ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) and bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) in the Comparison of Age-related Macular Degeneration Treatments Trials indicated that at the 1-year time point, both drugs were clinically equivalent for treating the disease, said Daniel Martin, MD

Placido corneal topography is established technology for corneal imaging, but whether it is the best diagnostic technique to detect forme fruste keratoconus when screening refractive surgery candidates is a matter of debate.

Results of a preclinical pilot study demonstrate ocular iontophoresis accelerates transfer of topically applied riboflavin into the cornea compared with conventional application, said George O. Waring IV, MD.