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The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS), American Academy of Ophthalmology, and American Urological Association all encouraged cataract patients to talk about medications, mainly alpha-blockers, used for benign prostatic hyperplasia and certain types of lower urinary tract symptoms before undergoing cataract surgery.

The 164 confirmed cases of Fusarium keratitis in 33 states and one U.S. territory were due to the use of Bausch & Lomb Inc.’s ReNu with MoistureLoc contact lens solution, according to a report by the Fusarium Keratits Investigation Team in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) (2006; 296:953-963). The team went on to discourage contact lens users from using that product.

STAAR Surgical Co. received approval by the People’s Republic of China’s State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) to market the STAAR Visian implantable collamer lens (ICL) as a treatment for myopia.

The FDA cleared Carl Zeiss Meditec’s MEL 80 excimer laser system for vision correction eye surgery. The company is currently finalizing preparations for the commercial launch of MEL 80.

The FDA sent an approval letter to Eli Lilly and Co. for ruboxistaurin mesylate (Arxxant), an investigational oral therapy for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy.

The FDA approved WaveLight’s wavefront-guided procedure, a LASIK treatment approach that combines the Allegro Analyzer with the 200-Hz Allegretto Wave excimer laser.

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Cannes, France-Multizone LASIK based on creating a central zone for far vision and treating the periphery for near is an effective technique for providing patients who have myopia and hyperopia with good near and distance vision without loss of contrast sensitivity, according to Alain Telandro, MD.

Wavefront preparation time plus the surgical time equals the actual time of the procedure. Different factors associated with each platform add to the preparation time for the procedure.

San Francisco-Corneal transplantation has been evolving. Where once there was penetrating keratoplasty (PK), there is now a new alphabet of corneal transplantation procedures that are more advanced than their older relative. Michael W. Belin, MD, reviewed the major techniques, recounting their advantages and disadvantages at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

San Francisco-The pupil centroid shift feature of the VISX S4 laser CustomVue platform (Advanced Medical Optics) provides greater visual benefit than does compensation for cyclotorsional rotational registration in eyes with less than 2 D of astigmatism, according to Douglas D. Koch, MD.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Significant differences in optic disc topography exist between ethnic groups, according to the results of a study analyzing parameters measured with confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (CSLO) among subjects with European, subcontinent Indian, and African-American ancestries.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The B?rveldt-250 mm2 Glaucoma Implant (Advanced Medical Optics) seems to be more effective at lowering IOP than the Ahmed S2 Glaucoma Valve (New World Medical Inc.) in adult patients with refractory glaucoma. However, regardless of which of the devices is implanted, the preoperative IOP is a risk factor for eventual failure, according to Darrell WuDunn, MD, PhD, and colleagues, who presented their findings at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Investigators have shown for the first time in nonhuman primates that, using lentiviral vectors, it is possible to achieve good gene marker expression that is sustained and that does not cause inflammation or other side effects. The most important factor in this research with lentiviral vectors is the longevity of the expression in contrast to adenoviral vectors, according to Eric Poeschla, MD.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-In individuals who have suffered an acute attack of primary angle closure (APAC), the contralateral eye appears to be at low risk for developing glaucoma, according to a study conducted in Singapore.

San Diego-Imaging instruments can be helpful for detection of glaucomatous damage even before the appearance of visual field loss. Further, the identification of covariates affecting diagnostic performance can help explain differences among the instruments and identify the subjects that will benefit most from different technologies, said Felipe A. Medeiros, MD, PhD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, University of California at San Diego.

Cincinnati-Entering its 22nd year, the 2006 Video Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (VJCRS) releases the next two issues in the quarterly published video presentations, "Challenging Cases in Cataract Surgery" and "Complication Management," respectively.

Yokneam, Isr?l-Lumenis Ltd. announced it has received exclusive worldwide licensing rights for SRT, a new laser therapy for selectively treating retinal diseases. These rights include licenses issued to Lumenis by Medizinisches Laserzentrum Lubeck GmbH, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Professor Reginald Birngruber.

Rockville, MD-The future of clinical ophthalmology may be uncertain due to a decrease in the number of human donor eyes provided by U.S. eye banks, according to the results of a recent survey.

St. Petersburg, FL-Lenstec Inc. opened a new Barcelona sales office to help the company meet growing European demand for its lens implants and devices used in cataract and refractive surgery. With a sales and marketing office in Yorkshire, England, this move expands Lenstec's European operations.

Irvine, CA-Visiogen Inc.'s dual-optic accommodating IOL (Synchrony) has received CE Mark designation.

Irvine, CA-ISTA Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced it has filed a New Drug Application (NDA) with the FDA for its investigational ophthalmic product (T-Pred) containing tobramycin and prednisolone acetate in a fixed combination. The company hopes the drug receives approval as a treatment for inflammatory ocular conditions for which a corticosteroid is indicated and where bacterial ocular infections or a risk of bacterial infections exists.

With the passing of Govindappa Venkataswamy, MD, 87, founder and chairman of the Aravind Eye Care System in Madurai, India, on July 7, the worldwide ophthalmology community lost a visionary and inspirational leader.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The proportion of African-Americans in the Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) whose disease has progressed toward either advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or along the clinical AMD severity scale is less than that of non-African-Americans in the study, said Emily Y. Chew, MD.

Halifax, Nova Scotia-The detection of change is an important finding for both the diagnosis of glaucoma and monitoring its progression. In fact, from the perspective of the instrument or the technique, these two things are completely interchangeable, according to Balwantray C. Chauhan, PhD, professor and research director, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

"We have embarked on an attempt to learn all we can about tropical organic agriculture, about what makes up diverse shade cover, and about the intricacies of the coffee market, so that we can build a model farm with all the ancillary aspects that will provide a healthy environment for workers and their families, both on our own farm and in the larger community."

San Francisco-Early experience with the use of corneal onlays for refractive correction seems to indicate that extracellular matrix substitutes can be made into onlays that can integrate functionally within host corneas. Epithelial pockets can be created and there is potential for these lenticules to be useful future supplements for, or alternatives to, laser-based refractive correction, according to W. Bruce Jackson, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Key findings in the optic disc and retina may make it possible for clinicians using optical coherence tomography (OCT) to distinguish between early glaucoma and optic neuropathy in patients with mild Alzheimer's disease.