News

Sportscaster Lesley Visser?who has been inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame and was the first woman to report from the sidelines at a Super Bowl game?is partnering with Transitions Optical and sports vision specialist Larry Lampert, OD, to raise awareness about healthy vision and its connection to sports performance.

Robert Cionni, MD, a specialist in cataract surgery and LASIK in Salt Lake City, UT, was selected to Becker?s ASC Review list of the ?34 Best Ophthalmologists in America? for his leadership and involvement in nationally recognized ophthalmologic organizations.

February is ?Save Your Vision Month,? and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) is encouraging Americans over the age of 40 to make an appointment for an eye examination. According to AAO, by 2020 43 million Americans will be at risk for significant vision loss or blindness from age-related eye diseases such as cataracts, diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, and macular degeneration?an increase of more than 50% over the current number of Americans with these diseases.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has distributed 360 Basic and Clinical Science Course (BCSC) sets, a complete curriculum in ophthalmology, to residency training programs in 67 developing nations through its Education Distribution Project.

Patients taking an omega-3 supplement (TheraTears Nutrition, Advanced Vision Research) had a self-reported reduction in dry eye symptoms and an increase in tear volume and tear flow compared with a group of controls who received placebos, according to a pilot trial of dry eye patients reported in the journal Cornea.

An ophthalmic mitomycin C system (Mitosol, Mobius Therapeutics) used in the prevention of recurrence of pterygium after its surgical excision has received orphan drug designation from the FDA, according to the company.

Pooled results from two prospective, multicenter, double-masked, placebo-controlled studies show a multi-modal anti-allergy product, bepotastine besilate ophthalmic solution 1.5%, provides rapid and long-lasting clinically significant improvement in allergen-induced ocular itching.

Epinastine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution 0.05% is a reliable, fast-acting treatment for patients with itching associated with allergic conjunctivitis.

Near-term results from a study assessing the effects of patient age on the safety and efficacy of LASIK for the treatment of myopia indicate that young adults do equally well as their older counterparts.

In the first in-human study fo human umbilical tissue-derived cells as cell-based therapy for retinal degenerative diseases, all seven patients tolerated the subretinal injection well and had no postoperative visual loss.

Frontalis suspension, the ptosis surgery of choice for poor levator function due to congenital or acquired ptosis, can be performed with synthetic materials or fascia lata allografts or autografts.

In patients undergoing LASIK with use of a femtosecond laser for flap creation, pretreatment with a hyperosmotic agent during the week before surgery significantly reduces the risk of intraoperative corneal epithelial disruption.

Refractive surgeons able to offer both phakic IOL implantation and LASIK can meet the needs of a broader population seeking treatment for moderate-to-high myopia.

A sterile cornea allograft has many advantages that make it a useful alternative to traditional eye bank corneas and other allograft material for a variety of graft procedures where viable endothelium is not needed.

The latest addition to the antihistamine arsenal is alcaftadine ophthalmic solution 0.25%, a new chemical entity developed as an ocular anti-allergic agent.

A novel compound may be able to bring vision to previously blind retinas by switching on remaining ganglion cells in the inner retina.

Improved quality of life for patients with allergic conjunctivitis is the name of the game for Stephen V. Scoper, MD, who uses olopatadine hydrochloride ophthalmic solution 0.2% to treat this patient population because of the increased compliance that the drug affords with its once-daily dosing requirement.

A new partnership between Addition Technology Inc. and Switzerland-based Sensimed AG will have the former company rolling out the latter company?s IOP monitoring system (Sensimed Triggerfish) in Latin America.