News

Baltimore—The intravitreal bioerodable dexamethasone implant, evaluated in the Posurdex (Oculex Pharmaceuticals Inc./ Allergan) for Persistent Macular Edema Study, is a drug-delivery system that achieved the primary efficacy outcome, i.e., 2 lines or more improvement in vision 90 days after treatment, with the 700-mg dose.

Two large prospective studies are under way to define better the ideal dose for IVTA injections.

With the instrumentation enhancements, it is easier for the surgeon to deal with peripheral pathology.

The problem with the use of the conversion factor is that physicians are penalized or rewarded based on a sustainable growth rate, which says that the rate of growth of services cannot exceed the growth of the gross domestic product.

San Francisco—The search for a cure for venous occlusive disease continues but at a slow pace. The last 20 years have seen the introduction of promising medical and surgical therapy for venous occlusive disease. However, the results of prospective trials of these treatments are lacking.

Iowa City, IA—Over the past 20 years, advances in diagnosis of posterior segment tumors have been achieved as well as improved understanding of the cellular biology, immunology, and genetics of lesions.

Montr?al—The blue light-filtering effects in the AcrySof Natural ultraviolet (UV) IOL (Alcon Laboratories) significantly reduce apoptosis of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells induced by blue light compared with the conventional AcrySof filter lens. Implantation of a lens with a blue filter may be beneficial for patients who are at increased risk for the development of macular degeneration.

Lisbon, Portugal—Blue-blocking IOLs, which recently have been promoted as being vision protecting, may not be doing the job.

Doubts and concerns regarding efficacy and safety often accompany the introduction of technologies in IOLs. Recent concerns with a wavefront-corrected IOL (Tecnis, Advanced Medical Optics [AMO]) with regard to tilt and decentration are no exception to this rule.

Adelaide, Australia—Ophthalmic laser manufacturer Laserex has appointed Simon Luscombe as vice president of sales, Asia, in an effort to increase its Asian market share. Luscombe previously was in product management and sales management positions at Alcon and Advanced Medical Optics.

San Diego—The San Diego Eye Bank offers monthly "grand rounds" meetings with an opportunity to earn 1 or 2 hours of continuing medical education (CME) credit .

Fairfax, VA—The American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) has improved its Web site to be more user-friendly.

Rochester, NY—Bausch & Lomb introduces a Web site to promote its SofPort Advanced Optics IOL and Easy-Load Lens Delivery System for cataract surgery.

Alpharetta, GA—When the global management of Novartis decided to shut down its ophthalmic operations in Duluth, GA, in early 2003 and relocate to New Jersey, Dan Myers, then president of Novartis Ophthalmics/North America, thought he would leave the company and have the next 6 months to relax.

I do not travel much, but recently was excited to represent my department at a special once-in-a-lifetime meeting in Asia. First, I flew to Chicago. A few hundred of us then piled into a 747 at 11 a.m., and the jet taxied out onto the runway. About to take off, we suddenly veered off to the side of the runway, the engines went dead, and fire trucks were visible heading our way.

San Francisco—Whether using a conventional ablation technique or CustomCornea (Alcon Laboratories) wavefront-guided procedures, all-laser LASIK (IntraLASIK) performed with femtosecond microkeratome (IntraLase) flap creation affords better efficacy and safety outcomes compared with surgery performed with mechanical microkeratome-created flaps, according to the results of a retrospective study conducted by Ella G. Faktorovich, MD.

Lisbon, Portugal—Two new innovations in cataract surgery should improve the efficiency for the surgeon and the outcome for the patient, reported Steven Dewey, MD.

Lisbon, Portugal—Epi-LASIK is a safe and effective alternative refractive procedure to treat patients with low and moderate levels of myopia, according to Vikentia Katsanevaki, MD, PhD. One-year data indicate that patients have good refractive results and stable vision.

Lisbon, Portugal—Coaxial microphacoemulsification is a new cataract surgery technique that can be readily learned by any ophthalmologist skilled in phacoemulsification in order to afford patients the combined benefits of ultra-small-incision surgery and conventional foldable IOLs, said Robert H. Osher, MD, at the XXIII Congress of the European Society for Cataract and Refractive Surgeons.

Montr?al—Acute-onset endophthalmitis is an uncommon event after cataract surgery in the new millennium (the rate equals 0.04%). Possible risk factors include intraoperative complications, relative immune compromise, use of lidocaine 2% gel before povidone-iodine preparation, and an inferior location of the incision, according to Harry W. Flynn Jr., MD, at the American Society of Retina Specialists meeting.

Sometimes physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other health-care providers make mistakes. A few statistics generated by the Institute of Medicine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and others highlight the problem.

Orlando—In a small interventional case series, more than two-thirds of patients undergoing LASIK for correction of a high degree of anisometropia had improved stereopsis following surgery, according to Scott E. Olitsky, MD.

Orlando—Refractive surgery may be an option for treating children with high myopia and neurobehavioral disorders who are unable to use either of the two principal methods of correcting myopia, spectacles or contact lenses.

Sutureless corneal transplantation surgery is sufficiently challenging in and of itself, so any improvement in the technique that lowers the rate of reoperation because of a poorly positioned donor disc or disc detachment is worthy of discussion.

Tampa—Toric IOLs are a valuable tool in the cataract surgeon's armamentarium for correcting all levels of astigmatism, said James P. Gills Sr., MD, at the Current Concepts in Ophthalmology meeting.

Orlando—Treatment of unilateral congenital cataract with a posterior chamber (PC) IOL is 15% less expensive than treatment with aphakic contact lenses when estimating the cost of therapy for 2 years, according to a recent cost analysis.

Orlando—Photoscreening in younger elementary school children was more sensitive than patched surround HOTV acuity, according to a study conducted in a school setting among nearly 1,700 children.

Baltimore—Ethylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) chelation offers a low-tech, low-cost, effective treatment for calcific band keratopathy associated with chronic uveitis and other disorders, said James P. Dunn, MD, at the Current Concepts in Ophthalmology meeting, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Ophthalmology Times.

VRT is based on the principle of neuroplasticity, in which the brain's self-repair capacity is activated.

Where can one preview the latest products from the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), get answers to specific coding questions, talk to Washington insiders about reimbursement, personalize patient-education DVDs, get a first look at the academy's new Maintenance of Certification (MOC) products, and learn the ins and outs of acquiring and installing an electronic medical records system? There's only one place and it happens only once a year—the annual meeting, where all these resources and much more can be found at the academy resource center and technology pavilion.