STAAR Surgical Company has received CE Mark approval for a proprietary IOL (KS-SP Preloaded Single Piece Hydrophobic Acrylic Intraocular Lens) and has received approval for marketing in Brazil a proprietary implantable lens design (Visian Implantable Collamer Lens V4). The company plans to launch both products in their respective markets during the second half of 2011.
CROMA Pharma, GmbH, and Bausch + Lomb (B + L) have announced the approval bromfenac sodium sesquihydrate (Yellox) by the European commission. This news follows the positive opinion issued in March by the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP), part of the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
A proprietary interferometer (LipiView Ocular Surface Interferometer, TearScience, Inc.), has received the Medical Design Excellence Award from UBM Canon. The device provides eye-care practitioners with an in-office tear film procedure for dry eye patients that takes less than 5 minutes to perform.
"Optovue recently celebrated 20 years of advancements in optical coherence tomography (OCT) at the 20th anniversary annual meeting of Vision Source, an independent private practice optometrist group. Coincidently, 2011 marks the 20th anniversary of both the founding of Vision Source and the introduction of optical coherence tomography technology. "
in September, clinician scientist Eric Pierce, MD, PhD, will join in September the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Department of Ophthalmology. Dr. Pierce will serve as associate director of the Berman-Gund Laboratory for the Study of Retinal Degenerations as a clinician and educator, and as director of the new Ocular Genomics Institute, where he will direct the genetic therapies program..
Michael R. Redmond, MD, has received the Outstanding Advocate Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). Dr. Redmond was honored for his more than 30 years of involvement with advocacy on behalf of ophthalmologists and their patients, and for his many contributions to AAO.
Susanna Soon-Chun Park, MD, PhD, has received the University of California (UC), Davis, 2011 Joan Oettinger Memorial Award for her research into the use of proton beam irradiation to treat eye conditions.
With the arrival of warmer weather, more of your patients may be participating in their favorite outdoor sports and activities, but many may not be protecting their eyes with sunglasses.
The FDA has granted 510(k) clearance to a rapid, point-of-care test (RPS Adeno Detector Plus, Rapid Pathogen Screening Inc.) to diagnose adenoviral conjunctivitis.
Alcon Laboratories Inc., Alcon Research Ltd., and Kyowa Hakko Kirin Co. Ltd. have won a patent infringement lawsuit against Apotex, Inc. and Apotex Corp. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana.
David Beebe, PhD, FARVO, has been elected as the editor-in-chief of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science (IOVS), the journal of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO).
Four eye-care professionals will receive federal stimulus payments after attesting to meaningful use of the certified version of a proprietary electronic health record (EHR) system (OfficeMate/ExamWriter v10, Eyefinity).
The Vistakon Division of Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Inc. has announced a new contest based on one of its contact lens brands. The Acuvue 1-Day Contest is open through June 30 to people aged 13 to 21 years. Five contestants will win a trip to Los Angeles to meet and be mentored by one of five top teen icons: musician Joe Jonas, actress Meaghan Martin, singer Charice, runner Allyson Felix, and actor Sterling Knight.
Eyenstein,? VSP Vision Care?s mobile eye-care clinic, arrived in Birmingham, AL, 3 days after deadly tornadoes raked the state. The mobile clinic, which is equipped with a comprehensive eye exam room, a full eyewear dispensary, and a lens finishing lab donated by Santinelli International, participated in disaster relief at Red Cross and Federal Emergency Management Agency shelters throughout Alabama.
Results of a randomized study comparing medication protocols for cataract surgery suggest that adding a corticosteroid to a regimen composed of twice-daily bromfenac 0.09% with a fourth-generation fluoroquinolone provides no extra benefit for controlling inflammation but increases the risk for IOP spikes on the first day after surgery.
Cataract removal using transversal phaco with a Venturi pump improved the followability of nuclear fragments and reduced chatter at the phaco tip compared with conventional longitudinal phaco with a peristatic pump.
Clear corneal microincisions of 2.2 and 1.8 mm produce similar low levels of surgically induced astigmatism after cataract extraction.
The only sure political prediction for the future of health care is change, both positive and negative.
Although the head-to-head trial of bevacizumab and ranibizumab is being hailed as a landmark study, retina specialists are saying its results are unlikely to change practice patterns in the treatment of age-related macular degeneration.
Results of a study comparing fellow eyes undergoing femtosecond laser-assisted capsulotomy versus manual continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis show that the laser's initial advantage for predictably creating precisely sized and circular capsular openings is maintained during follow-up to 1 month after the procedure.
Optical coherence tomography may have a role in providing an honest assessment of visual potential for patients who have undergone surgery for visual loss due to compression.
Results of a study using optical coherence tomography to evaluate macular changes after cataract surgery indicate that laser refractive lens surgery with a proprietary femtosecond laser system is associated with less macular thickening and volume increase compared with traditional phacoemulsification.
The author takes on the critics of good ol' Rnnald McDonald.
The phacoemulsification performed equally well in a comparative study that also considered the different incision sizes.
Although the rate of glaucoma progression varies widely between patients, and prognostic factors to identify patients at higher risk for faster progression have been identified, the answer to the question of whether there are certain subgroups of patients who should be treated more aggressively than others is "no."
Descemet's membrane detachment and posterior wound gape, when they occur, develop very early after cataract surgery and decrease thereafter, while the incidence of posterior wound retraction emerges more slowly but is present in most eyes by 3 years postoperatively.
In patients with progressive optic nerve sheath meningiomas, fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy is the standard of care and prevents further vision loss.
The answer to the question of whether it is necessary to diagnose and treat pre-perimetric glaucoma is not a simple "yes" or "no."
The addition of intraoperative aberrometry to proper preoperative measurements and available clinical history improves refractive and functional outcomes after cataract surgery with accomudating IOL implantation in postLASIK patients.
The use of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor agents in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration has revolutionized the treatment of this disease, but concerns about the increased risk for elevated IOP with these agents continue to trouble ophthalmologists.
