News

Newport Beach, CA—White-on-white perimetry remains the gold standard for functional testing in glaucoma management, but that methodology has been improved by some recent software developments, and other new functional tests can be useful supplements for patient evaluation, said Donald L. Budenz, MD, MPH.

Rockville, MD—A researcher who has worked to determine the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration will receive the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology's (ARVO) 2006 Cogan Award.

Washington, DC—Legislators on Capitol Hill heard first-hand how their funding of National Eye Institute (NEI) research is advancing the understanding of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Dossenheim, Germany—The Heidelberg Retina Tomograph (HRT) can help predict the development of glaucoma in eyes that appear otherwise normal, by standard clinical exam, according to one published study.

Fairfax, VA—Stephen S. Lane, MD, will receive the Cornelius D. Binkhorst Medal of Honor and deliver the Binkhorst Lecture at the 32nd annual symposium of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery in March.

Gamagori, Japan—Nidek has received CE Mark approvals to market its EC-5000 CXIII laser system and CV-7000 phaco system in the European market.

San Clemente, CA—Biolase Technology Inc. says the FDA is reviewing its 510(k) regulatory submission to obtain marketing clearance for the Oculase MD laser for use in ophthalmology and oculoplasty.

Irvine, CA—Allergan Inc. announces it has received FDA approval to market its brimonidine tartrate ophthalmic solution 0.1% (Alphagan P) for the lowering of IOP in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Fort Worth, TX—The FDA has given Alcon Laboratories Inc. its approval to market the AcrySof toric IOL for use in cataract patients with pre-existing corneal astigmatism.

American Journal of Ophthalmology

Siena, Italy—Corneal collagen cross-linking—induced by topical treatment with riboflavin and exposure to ultraviolet A light—appears to be a safe and effective, minimally invasive procedure both to reduce disease pro- gression and improve upon the cornea's optical properties in eyes with early keratoconus, said Aldo Caporossi, MD.

Ophthalmologists who are clinical investigators will likely be affected by new trial registration policies if they intend to publish research in top-tier journals.

Research into the genetics of ocular disease is paying off with discoveries of new genes associated with both common and rare eye conditions. Gene therapy, however, could be 5 to 10 years away for many eye diseases. In this first of a two-part series, researchers explain the progress in age-related macular degeneration (AMD), Leber's congenital amaurosis, and familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR). In the second half of the series, gains in glaucoma, myopia, and retinitis pigmentosa will be covered as well as a promising therapy for AMD—RNA interference.

While considered by many to be a technique ahead of its time, the benefits of bimanual microincision phacoemulsification make it a better method of lens removal and an especially advantageous technique to use in complicated and challenging cases, said I. Howard Fine, MD, Eugene, OR, in his delivery of the inaugural Charles D. Kelman Lecture to conclude the ?Spotlight on Cataract Surgery 2005? session during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

New therapeutic treatments and medication for wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) will alter management for the thousands of patients who have been diagnosed with AMD or who are at risk of developing the disease.

Fixed combination therapy is a good choice for treating patients with glaucoma who have failed monotherapy, agreed an international panel of glaucoma specialists participating in a roundtable discussion on combination therapy.

Carl Zeiss Meditec presents its newest ophthalmic advancements at this year?s American Academy of Ophthalmology meeting, including anterior chamber OCT, a non-mydriatic fundus camera, and a number of new networkable systems.

Three- and 6-month clinical results comparing wavefront-optimized and wavefront-guided treatments with the Allegretto Wave excimer laser (WaveLight Laser Technologie AG) showed that both treatment approaches achieved nearly identical visual outcomes postoperatively, and neither treatment induced higher-order aberrations. WaveLight outlined the results of the study in a prepared statement as presented by Bill Bond, MD, of Bond Eye Associates, Pekin, IL.

Eyetech Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced on Monday the enrollment of the first patient in a phase III randomized, controlled, double-masked, multicenter, comparative dose-finding trial that will compare the safety and efficacy of pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen) in patients with diabetic macular edema (DME).

Data presented at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting from the first head-to-head contralateral study comparing the outcomes of the latest Bausch & Lomb microkeratome technology against the Intralase Femtosecond (FS) device show that the new Bausch & Lomb Zyoptix XP microkeratome:

IntraLens Vision Inc. has changed its name to ReVision Optics Inc. (RVO) to align with its strategy to enter the presbyopia market.

An international panel of glaucoma experts described the latest advances in glaucoma assessment and treatment, including the development of a risk calculator for assessing individualized risk of glaucoma in patients with ocular hypertension, during an evening CME symposium at the Field Museum.

Patients today have high expectations for cataract and refractive surgery, and experts at a breakfast CME symposium shared some of the techniques, agents, and strategies used to meet these expectations. The program was held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place.

Femtosecond laser technology (IntraLase Corp.) for LASIK flap creation certainly offers some distinct advantages over mechanical microkeratomes, according to its proponent, Perry S. Binder, MD, University of California-San Diego School of Medicine. However, surgeons still have to weigh the advantages versus the ?significant disadvantages? of the femtosecond laser technology, which is the cost of the device and increased time per procedure, noted Helen Wu, MD, New England Eye Center, Boston.

A birthweight of 1,250 g may be a dependable criterion for screening for retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) and also might reduce the number of examinations, suggested Shailesh K. Gupta, MD, University of Florida College of Medicine, Jacksonville. Current guidelines recommend screening of infants under 1,500 g or a gestational age of less than 28 weeks.

Conductive keratoplasty (CK) may afford a useful tool to correct optical complications of LASIK and PRK when further laser surgery is contraindicated, said Peter S. Hersh, MD, professor of ophthalmology, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-New Jersey Medical School.

While considered by many to be a technique ahead of its time, the benefits of bimanual microincision phacoemulsification make it a better method of lens removal and an especially advantageous technique to use in complicated and challenging cases, said I. Howard Fine, MD, Eugene, OR, in his delivery of the inaugural Charles D. Kelman Lecture to conclude the ?Spotlight on Cataract Surgery 2005? session during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Awareness of the etiology and treatment of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) is essential. While rare, TASS is a potentially devastating complication of cataract surgery, said Liliana Werner, MD, PhD, at ?Spotlight on Cataract Surgery 2005? during the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.