News

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Treatment with ruboxistaurin mesylate (RBX, Eli Lilly Co.) reduced the risk of sustained moderate vision loss by 41% in patients with moderately severe to very severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy compared with placebo, according to a combined analysis of two studies.

Eyes with only one or two small, hard drusen were less inclined to develop advanced disease.

London-The XXIV Annual Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) is scheduled to begin Saturday, Sept. 9 and continue until Wednesday, Sept. 13 in this cosmopolitan capital on the Thames River. Most of the symposia and courses will be held at the ExCel London International Exhibition and Conference Center, London.

San Francisco-Advanced surface ablations, such as LASEK and Epi-LASIK, are ideal refractive procedures for challenging cases, such as patients with thin corneas and high myopia, and are even better for routine cases, according to Richard W. Yee, MD.

Lexington, SC-Biosyntrx was awarded a U.S. patent for its BioTears Oral GelCaps, a dry eye, tear film integrity formulation.

Philadelphia-Acuity Pharmaceuticals and ZaBeCor Pharmaceutical Co. entered into a license option agreement in which Acuity gains exclusive development and commercialization rights to ophthalmic applications of a small interfering RNA (siRNA).

Salt Lake City-The American Society of Clinical Investigators (ASCI)-one of the oldest and most prestigious medical honor societies in the United States-has selected Kang Zhang, MD, PhD, as a member. Dr. Zhang is only the second ophthalmologist in the organization's 98-year history to be honored with membership.

Melville, NY-OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced management changes to its OSI/ Eyetech Pharmaceuticals business team. Paul G. Chaney, chief operating officer of OSI/Eyetech, has been promoted to the role of executive vice president, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and president of OSI/Eyetech.

New York-The Retina Center at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYEEI)-believed to be the region's largest, oldest, and most comprehensive retina service-became the Bendheim Family Retina Center at a dedication ceremony this past May.

Irvine, CA-The European Commission granted Allergan a license to market its bimatoprost/timolol ophthalmic solution (Ganfort) in the European Union.

Sterling, VA-WaveLight Inc.'s wavefront-optimized Allegretto Wave excimer laser system received approval by the FDA for the treatment of mixed astigmatism. The laser is used to reduce or eliminate naturally occurring mixed astigmatism of up to 6 D at the spectacle plane.

Fort Worth, TX-The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) New Technology Intraocular Lens (NTIOL) classification of Reduced Spherical Aberration has been applied to the AcrySof IQ IOL (Alcon Laboratories). The IOL gained inclusion by proving the same or greater clinical benefit as the lens that established the NTIOL subset, according to Alcon Laboratories.

St. Louis-ZeaVision LLC's QuantifEYE Program quickly, conveniently, and inexpensively identifies potential risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other diseases of the eye.

Irvine, CA-The FDA's new indication of bimatoprost ophthalmic solution 0.03% (Lumigan, Allergan) from a second- to a first-line treatment for elevated IOP expands the options to ophthalmologists who commonly treat open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

San Francisco-Knowledge about risk factors for corneal ectasia after LASIK is increasing, and some of the risk factors may be very subtle. R. Doyle Stulting, MD, PhD, described some of these risks factors during Cornea Day 2006 at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Retinal specialists have a new therapy in their armamentarium for treating patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Administration of nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% (Nevanac, Alcon Laboratories) for epithelial healing and pain control resulted in delayed healing in patients who had undergone surface ablation, according to a report by Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, FACS, and William Trattler, MD, that was presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The new b.i.d. dosed topical non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) bromfenac ophthalmic solution 0.09% (Xibrom, Ista Pharmaceuticals), was found to be as effective as either diclofenac sodium 0.1% ophthalmic solution (Voltaren, Novartis Ophthalmics) or ketorolac tromethamine 0.5% (Acular, Allergan) ophthalmic solution dosed q.i.d. in a recent study of acute pseudophakic cystoid macular edema (CME) treatment following uncomplicated cataract surgery.

Literature review shows single application of low-dose MMC can prevent, treat haze after surface procedures

Experience with optics gives ophthalmologist greater appreciation of cameras, photography

Medicare rules regarding multiple procedures have been well-outlined and can be thought of as the standard. Most payers closely follow Medicare guidelines in this area. It is still necessary, though, to check with each individual payer for specific instructions. This is especially true regarding the use of the modifiers as discussed below.

Dorado, Puerto Rico-Make sure that your billing department is aware of common myths associated with ophthalmic surgery billing, so that surgery claims being filed are correct, advised Donna M. McCune, CCS-P, COE, who spoke during Current Concepts in Ophthalmology.

Each year, millions of people lose a part of their vision. Due to the aging population in America, along with environmental changes, there is an increase of age-related conditions that affect vision loss.

With the number of baby boomers expected to increase to 50 million within the next 10 years, the next boom in the eye-care industry is rapidly approaching. Call it an "optic boom," if you will. New cases of vision loss caused from macular degeneration, cataracts, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy are rapidly increasing. Projections indicate that the current level of 13.5 million cases will double by the year 2020.

San Francisco-During the past year, researchers have been diligently studying how refractive surgery affects corneal biomechanics. One of the major factors that affect the biomechanics of the cornea is total eye rigidity, according to Ioannis G. Pallikaris, MD, who spoke during the Innovator's Session at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

Identifying and prescribing the optimum non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to help patients get the best possible LASEK result is a crucial part of the surgical treatment plan. Likewise, postoperative non-compliance can weaken the outcome of an otherwise perfect procedure.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Administration of nepafenac ophthalmic suspension 0.1% (Nevanac, Alcon Laboratories) for epithelial healing and pain control resulted in delayed healing in patients who had undergone surface ablation, according to a report by Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, FACS, and William Trattler, MD, that was presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Research and Vision in Ophthalmology.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-An investigational longacting solution of 1.0% azithromycin (AzaSite, InSite Vision) is safe, well tolerated, and effective for the treatment of bacterial conjunctivitis in pediatric patients and adults, according to the results of pivotal phase III clinical trial involving placebo and active controls.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-A pilot study of topical steroid therapy to treat bacterial corneal ulcers resulted in about a two-line improvement in visual acuity 3 weeks after the start of treatment and a one-line improvement by 3 months, neither of which reached statistical significance.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The preservative benzalkonium chloride (BAK) significantly enhances the antimicrobial activity of gatifloxacin against methicillin-and fluoroquinolone-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, according to the results of in vitro susceptibility testing and a study using an established animal model of experimentally induced keratitis.