News

Two pediatric ophthalmologists at St. Louis Children's Hospital, Lawrence Tychsen, MD, and Gregg Lueder, MD, are trying to warn the public about what they call a "21st-century snake oil" scam, according to a prepared statement issued by the hospital.

There may be a great unease among ophthalmologists when it comes to the current relationship between industry and professional meetings including conflict of interest among speakers at ophthalmology meetings, disclosures of such conflicts by speakers, and concern about the "integrity" of these meetings.

Anti-angiogenic therapy for aggressive posterior retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) may be a feasible therapy for the children with this form of ROP, which develops in profoundly immature neonates. The BLOCK-ROP study, which will begin in the second quarter of 2008, will add to the limited knowledge of the safety and efficacy of an anti-vascular endothelial growth factor drug in treating posterior ROP.

A study in the August issue of the Journal of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus reports that daily treatment with a medication called pirenzepine can slow the rate of progressive myopia.

Researchers have identified a link between toll-like receptor 3, a protein that alerts the body's immune system to infections and, the dry form of age-related macular degeneration.

An innovative ophthalmic lens support system available for licensing has been developed to stabilize the lens before or during cataract surgery, preventing the movement of lens fragments into the back of the eye, according to a market watch report in The Wall Street Journal.

It has just been discovered by researchers at Brigham Young University and Weill Medical College of Cornell University that two processes in the retina, which in combination contribute to age-related macular degeneration, can be disrupted by antioxidants.

Genentech has formed a special committee of its board of directors to assess the proposal from Roche to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Genentech stock not owned by Roche at a price of $89 in cash per share.

The FDA announced in a prepared statement that it is revising the way it communicates to drug companies when a marketing application cannot be approved as submitted.

Novartis has completed the first of two steps of its $39 billion purchase of Alcon Laboratories from Nestlé, a deal that gives the Swiss pharmaceutical firm a 25% stake in Alcon, according to prepared statements issued by the companies.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) has accepted planned retirements of two of it senior staff leaders: H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, executive vice president and chief executive officer, and David J. Noonan, deputy executive vice president and chief operations officer, according to a prepared statement issued by the AAO.

Researchers at the University of Washington, Seattle, have developed a novel polymeric intraocular drug delivery system for efficient, cost-effective administration of antibiotics following cataract surgery. The group designed the device for markets in developing countries where limited access to medication and adherence issues increase the risk of postoperative infection.

Aspheric IOLs, in conjunction with certain corneal aberrations, may significantly expand depth of focus, enhancing apparent accommodation. It may possible to define the predictability of a multi-focal cornea in apparent accommodation.

The combination of ultraviolet radiation and riboflavin treatment to achieve collagen cross-linking may be beneficial in biomechanical stabilization of ectasia, according to an expert who says the combined procedure has reduced the need for penetrating keratoplasty in his practice by 70%.

Eschenbach's seminar "Low Vision Care . . . What's It All About?" is an introductory, hands-on workshop and lecture designed for everyone interested in the field of low vision.

Promoting lenses directly to consumers is just one channel of an innovative digital outreach program from Transitions Optical.

Phara Khauv, MD, one of only eight ophthalmologists in Cambodia, is at Indiana University (IU) School of Medicine preparing to become his nation's first pediatric eye surgeon.

A new pediatric patient can be more easily oriented into a practice with games, movies, and comfortable seating in the waiting room. Specialized equipment like fixation targets with small puppets placed on the end of the transmitter make the exam more like play time. Breaking the ice by talking to the child about his or her interests and joking will also help make a better experience for the child.

A new visual screening process (PediaVision) is available to pediatricians and can take less than 5 seconds to complete and can assist in the detection of refractive errors, media opacities, and other abnormalities.

International Vision Expo will bring its Optical Boot Camp program to the Essilor Corporate Campus in Dallas for a 1-day session on Saturday, Sept. 13.

The Optical Laboratories Association (OLA) released its list of nominees for the 2008 Awards of Excellence. Winners will be announced at the President's Banquet Nov. 8 during the OLA annual meeting in Nashville, TN.

Images from a rotating Scheimpflug camera (Pentacam, Oculus) provide less accurate information on corneal power in post-LASIK eyes than methods involving adjustment based on the amount of laser correction, but the imaging device represents a useful tool when clinical history data are not available, according to the results of a retrospective study.

A proprietary device for optical coherence tomography (Visante, Carl Zeiss Meditec) seems to be a highly useful addition to clinical practice. The instrument, according to one physician, may be the best resource thus far to evaluate placement of intracorneal segments, femtosecond laser-enabled keratoplasty, and penetrating keratoplasty.

Proprietary instrumentation (Ocular Response Analyzer, Reichert Ophthalmic Instruments) is useful in ophthalmology, but the current generation of the instrument may have some limitations, according to one physician.

Confocal microscopy can be used for refractive surgery to address concerns regarding wound healing and the interface, especially when assessing different techniques. The technology also can be used to assess problems after LASIK regarding dry eye.

A recent study assessed the consistency and repeatability of skilled refractive surgeons in detecting the iris boundary from the infrared camera of a proprietary excimer laser (STAR S4 IR, Advanced Medical Optics) and used as a gold standard for evaluating the platform's automated system. Results show that both methods provide a level of centration accuracy consistent with quality vision results.

A recent study using a high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) to image and quantify retinal nerve fiber (RNF) loss in patients with glaucoma showed superior imaging results when compared with the imaging of a scanning laser polarimetry (SLP) device.

A new version of an ophthalmic ultrasound system has the unique ability to image all aspects of the anterior segment. As a key differentiator to optical coherence tomography, the ultrasound system, which has a high-frequency B-probe, enables the user to see behind the iris and create dynamic movies rather than static images.