News

Royal Oak, MI?Vitrectomy should be considered for some eyes withdiffuse diabetic macular edema (DME). The procedure seems to be along-term efficacious treatment in some eyes, according to Tarek S.Hassan, MD.

Winter Haven, FL?A number of new pharmacologic options for exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD), mostly designed to block different steps in the angiogenic cascade, are in various stages of development and testing, and some may one day be shown to improve outcomes, said Michael J. Tolentino, MD, director of clinical research, Center for Retina and Macular Disease, Winter Haven, FL.

Kyoto, Japan?Seasonal variation in IOP is important to take into account when evaluating those patients with glaucoma and particularly those with steroid-induced ocular hypertension, according to Kazuhiko Mori, MD, PhD.

Minneapolis?Refractive surgeons should incorporate rather than dismiss corneal refractive therapy (orthokeratology) and contact lens fitting because those techniques can have a synergistic benefit rather than play a competitive role in a refractive surgery practice, according to David R. Hardten, MD.

Oklahoma City, OK?A state bill requiring children entering kindergarten, first, and third grades to receive vision screenings has passed the Senate and is being considered in the House.

Mentor, OH?To meet the needs of a growing global customer base, Volk Optical has appointed Tim Warrell to the newly created position of marketing and customer service manager.

Irvine, CA?3D Vision Systems Inc., a digital imaging technology developer, has added industry veteran John Gilbert to its medical advisory board.

Washington?New York State's Department of Health will include new questions about visual impairment and access to eyecare in its annual 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System program.

The settlement grants Alcon the right to introduce its brimonidine 0.15% product on Sept. 30, 2009, or earlier if "certain market conditions" are met.

Portland, OR?Mass vision screening of school-age children was first recommended in 1983. At that time there was not a large population of children of preschool age, a situation that has changed markedly since then because today many more 3- and 4-year-olds are in a preschool setting. However, there is still no standardization in vision screening.

Cleveland?Gene therapy and pharmacologic therapy, administered separately and combined, rescued retinal function in blind mice that were bred without an enzyme crucial to the detection of light.

Dorado, Puerto Rico?Torsional phacoemulsification offers cataract surgeons a new way to remove nucleus material more efficiently and safely than traditional longitudinal ultrasound, reported Richard J. Mackool, MD, who spoke during the Current Concepts in Ophthalmology meeting here.

Madison, WI - Uniform testing and reporting criteria are needed toidentify amblyogenic risk factors in children and prevent thedevelopment of amblyopia. Leslie W. France, CO, described theevidence base for the guidelines to detect amblyogenic riskfactors.

During resident clinic recently, I met an elderly woman suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Upset with 20/300 vision in her left eye, she was desperate to maintain her right eye's 20/25 vision.

Calgary, Alberta, Canada?In a single-surgeon study of glaucoma patients with uncontrolled IOP on maximally tolerated medical therapy, argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) was associated with a greater IOP-lowering effect than selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT), reported Bryce Ford, MD.

Baltimore?The problem of an increasingly large population of patients with diabetes has spawned a novel and sometimes controversial approach to management: consultation via telemedicine assessment. Ingrid Zimmer-Galler, MD, discussed this high-tech approach to care at the recent Current Concepts in Ophthalmology meeting.

Los Angeles?Building on results of a study demonstrating that treatment with pegaptanib sodium (Macugen, OSI/Eyetech Pharmaceuticals) helps preserve vision and limit progression in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a retrospective subgroup analysis has shown that early treatment may produce even better outcomes, according to Christine R. Gonzales, MD, assistant professor of ophthalmology, Jules Stein Eye Institute, University of Los Angeles.

Jackson, MS?A study that compared the outcomes of pars plana vitrectomy performed to treat complications of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) based on racial differences among Caucasians, Choctaw Indians, and African Americans found that race might affect outcomes.

An investigational ophthalmic combination product containing tobramycin 0.3% and prednisolone acetate 1% seems to be bioequivalent to a marketed preparation of prednisolone acetate 1%, according to recently released results from a phase III trial.

During resident clinic recently, I met an elderly woman suffering from age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Upset with 20/300 vision in her left eye, she was desperate to maintain her right eye's 20/25 vision.

Carlsbad, CA?In his private practice here, Bill G. Bell, MD, has established a system by which he matches patients with what he hopes is the optimum ocular allergy therapy?especially important in southern California where "every month is allergy month."

Kansas City, MO?Olopatadine HCl (Patanol, Alcon Laboratories) offers a unique pharmacologic profile of activity that corresponds to its unsurpassed efficacy in the management of allergic conjunctivitis, according to the results from comparative studies published in the peer-reviewed literature, said Lanny J. Rosenwasser, MD.

Experience from clinical trials and daily clinical practice indicate that loteprednol etabonate 0.2% (Alrex, Bausch & Lomb) is a valuable therapeutic option for both short- and longer-term management of allergic conjunctivitis, according to ophthalmologists who have studied and used this novel anti-inflammatory corticosteroid agent.

Dorado, Puerto Rico?Patients with allergies should be identified and treated before undergoing ophthalmic surgery in order to improve healing for optimal visual outcomes, explained Francis S. Mah, MD, who spoke during the Current Concepts in Ophthalmology meeting in Dorado, Puerto Rico.

Treatment for allergic conjunctivitis has come a long way from the days of oral antihistamines or cromolyn versus steroids. Our choices have broadened and our targets are much more specifically defined.

Overland Park, KS?An FDA clinical trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of an intracorneal inlay (AcuFocus, Irvine, CA) for the treatment of presbyopia is under way, according to Daniel S. Durrie, MD.

Minneapolis, MN?Phakic IOLs are a powerful fit for any practice wanting to provide comprehensive refractive surgery, but surgeons who decide to offer this technology need comprehensive training to learn about patient selection, IOL sizing, and surgical technique, according to David R. Hardten, MD.

The results from subjective assessments of night-vision disturbance showed that 14 of the 16 eyes achieved an improvement of at least 60%.