News

The large variety of available OVDs allows the surgeon to tailor the surgery to meet any specific needs a patient may have.

One surgeon's preference for an ophthalmic surgical device (OVD) of 1.6% sodium hyaluronate (Amvisc Plus, Bausch & Lomb) was reinforced by a study that found it superior to another OVD during phaco and OVD removal.

A new phaco tip (Fine OZil Tip, MicroSurgical Technology) for use with a proprietary handpiece (OZil, Alcon Laboratories) improves the safety and efficiency of phacoemulsification using torsional ultrasound with a biaxial microincisional technique. Modification of the phaco parameters improves chopping and segment removal.

Two prominent cornea specialists have been appointed chairmen of ophthalmology departments in Miami and New York City.

An ophthalmic viscosurgical device of 2.3% sodium hyaluronate (Healon 5, Abbott Medical Optics) makes one ophthalmologist's prechopping-assisted phacoemulsification technique safer and easier, he says.

The belief that truly new experiences become less common as one gets older and, therefore, life becomes more predictable, is one that this doctors thinks is commonly held. But a surprising event happens while on a flight home to challenge this.

Surgeons discuss their preferences and techniques for using various ophthalmic viscosurgical devices in eyes with intraoperative floppy iris syndrome.

The most recent results from the 2008 American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery/European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons survey on foldable IOLs requiring removal or other secondary intervention highlight changes over time in the complications associated with various lens types.

The current version of a proprietary phaco system (WhiteStar Signature, Abbott Medical Optics) features fluidics control software that allows automatic switching from longitudinal ultrasound to transversal (Ellips) on recognition of occlusion and back again to longitudinal on occlusion break. Results of a prospective study show the benefits of this technology for optimizing the efficiency of cataract removal.

Researchers are looking into corneal biomechanics as a means to screen patients for keratectasia. An expert reviews signal interpretation from a non-contact applanation tonometer as it relates to corneal biomechanical indices such as corneal hysteresis and also discusses improved signal patterns that may result in more meaningful corneal biomechanical analysis than previously proposed metrics.

NicOx announced an agreement to reacquire the development and commercialization rights to an experimental glaucoma medicine from partner company Pfizer.

In a study conducted by the Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group, treatment of diffuse diabetic macular edema with bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) was shown to improve vision.

NeoVista Inc. received approval from BSI Product Services to apply the CE mark to its anti-neovascular (ANV) therapy system (Vidion) to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the company announced.

The spherical aberration-free lens has been developed specifically for 1.8-mm microincision cataract surgery (MICS), and the company said it will refer to the lens within the United States as the Akreos MICS. Its award-winning design and glistening-free material allow implantation through a 1.8-mm incision, while maintaining the optical quality and stability established with the parent lens design (Akreos AO).

Pat Cummings, OD, Vistakon America's region vice president, professional development group, was killed in a plane crash July 11 in Florida.

Japanese authorities have granted WaveLight AG regulatory approval to market its 200-Hz excimer laser system (Allegretto Wave) for use in wavefront-optimized LASIK treatments of myopia and myopic astigmatism there, according to the company.

SOLX has received clearance from Health Canada for the use of its 24-karat gold implant (SOLX Gold Shunt) during glaucoma surgery.

The FDA will resume scientific review of the STAAR Surgical Co. premarket approval (PMA) application for its toric implantable contact lens ([TICL]; Visian Toric Implantable Collamer Lens) for patients with myopia and astigmatism after removing the "integrity hold" restrictions it put in place in 2007, according to the company.

Alcon Inc. has entered into a 5-year collaborative research agreement with AstraZeneca for the exclusive ophthalmic discovery and potential development rights to AstraZeneca's compound library.

Bausch & Lomb has opened a new 30,000-square-foot global pharmaceutical headquarters building in Madison, NJ.

Researchers in Cleveland have discovered the first gene associated with the formation of age-related cataracts.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced another delay-Nov. 1-in the enforcement of the "Red Flags Rule" to give creditors and financial institutions more time to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs.

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston has received $126 million from the recent resolution of a nearly decade-long lawsuit concerning the hospital's role in the development of verteporfin for injection (Visudyne).

Allergan Inc. expects its ketorolac tromethamine ophthalmic solution 0.45% (Acuvail) to be available in the United States in September.

In a phase I study, E10030 (Ophthotech) combined with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) in patients with subfoveal neovascular age-related macular degeneration was well tolerated and seemed to have biologic activity against choroidal neovascularization, according to one ophthalmologist.

A hydrophilic IOL (Afinity CQ2015, STAAR Surgical) seems to be a more efficient delivery system of moxifloxacin 0.5% (Vigamox, Alcon Laboratories) than a hydrophobic IOL (AcrySof SA60, Alcon Laboratories), according to the results of a comparison of lenses soaked in the antibiotic. Both lenses appear to be capable of delivering antibiotics to achieve clinically relevant levels, however.

A non-contact applanation tonometer (Ocular Response Analyzer, Reichert) appears to be more effective than the Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) in assessing very low and negative IOP values using the non-contact applanation tonometer's corneal-compensated IOP (IOPcc) parameter. The GAT may be the long-accepted gold standard, but the more accurate assessment of IOP using the non-contact applanation tonometer challenges this gold standard and raises questions as to which of the two techniques is optimal in measuring IOP.

Oral fenretinide given once daily may slow the progression of geographic atrophy in patients with age-related macular degeneration, according to an interim analysis.