News

Washington, DC-Pfizer Ophthalmic's patented formulation of latanoprost (Xalatan) is safe from competition for now, after the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has refused to step in and license generic versions.

Miami-Integrin antagonists may offer a potent alternative strategy for the treatment of sight-threatening eye diseases associated with angiogenesis, said Martin Friedlander, MD, PhD, at Angiogenesis 2004.

San Diego-An evaluation of the first group of patients to undergo conductive keratoplasty (CK) performed by Ronald Friedman, MD, indicates that the procedure can be safely used to treat hyperopia and presbyopia and is easily introduced into an average-volume practice with a refractive and cataract base.

Three months after the . . . procedure, there was a substantial reduction in higher-order aberrations, coma, and spherical aberration.

From a patient's perspective, using a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) before and after cataract or refractive surgery can help to ease pain, swelling, and irritation, and accelerate the return of visual acuity. From a surgeon's perspective, using an NSAID reduces surgical complications and makes surgery easier: it keeps the pupils larger, allowing for quicker and less traumatic procedures. It also prevents cystoid macular edema (CME) and reduces the incidence of striae because it suppresses pain and, therefore, the patient's tendency to squeeze/rub the eyes post-surgery. This article will examine the different classes of NSAIDs, compare their analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity, and determine the potency of different NSAIDs.

Plymouth Meeting, PA-Genaera Corp. is expanding its third U.S. phase II clinical trial of squalamine, its small-molecule, anti-angiogenic drug for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

San Diego-Cold ultrasound technology [WhiteStar, Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO)] allows the efficient removal of all densities of cataracts and is as safe as a pulsed laser microincision phacoemulsification system. A major advantage of the cold ultrasound system is that it dramatically reduces the phacoemulsification time compared with laser phacoemulsification.

A special session on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) sponsored by Novartis Ophthalmics was held at the W New Orleans Hotel to spotlight the direction research is taking with the disease.

Selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) utilizing a short-pulse, low-energy (532 nm) laser (Selecta Duet, Lumenis) is a safe and effective treatment option for patients with open-angle glaucoma. This approach offers good IOP lowering and control while preserving the trabecular meshwork architecture, said its developer, Mark A. Latina, MD.

Although amblyopia has been recognized for a long time, patching has been the primary treatment and the cause is unknown., according to Creig Hoyt, MD of San Francisco during the William F. Hoyt Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Dermis fat grafts have become "overlooked" as orbital implants in favor of newer alternatives but deserve to maintain a role in primary and secondary socket implant procedures, and more complex socket problems, said James A. Katowitz, MD, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

Deep lamellar endothelial keratoplasty (DLEK) should be considered first for patients with endothelial dysfunction requiring corneal transplant surgery, said Mark A. Terry, MD.