News

The only constant in the relatively young life of refractive surgery has been change. Even now as our patients reap the rewards of decades of research in the form of customized wavefront ablation, currently unforeseen improvements are inevitable.

San Diego-Implantation of the AcrySof ReSTOR (Alcon Laboratories Inc.) anterior chamber, angle-supported, phakic refractive IOL is a "very straightforward procedure," according to Michael C. Knorz, MD.

Difference in quality of vision seen in first week after LASEK procedure.

For the past 25 years, the medical management of glaucoma has become increasingly successful. The medications currently available have superior tolerability and efficacy compared with the most commonly used drugs 20 years ago.

Only a small proportion of patients were classified as having progression using both techniques.

Use of drugs and drainage implants also improves trabeculectomy outcomes

Surgeon outlines potential remedies such as medical therapy, tamponade, adhesives

San Diego-There is a great variety of instruments and displays commercially available to assess corneal topography. The array of instrumentation makes it increasingly difficult to interpret corneal topography maps correctly. During the Innovator's Session of the recent annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, Stephen D. Klyce, PhD, introduced a device-independent neural network-based tool that automatically interprets corneal topography maps.

Simple procedure helps reduce higher-order aberrations, allowing patients to see better

Portland, OR-Seronegative spondyloarthropathies are the most likely group of diseases that ophthalmologists will encounter in their practices, yet many cases will be overlooked if doctors rely on classic textbook definitions of symptoms, according to James T. Rosenbaum, MD, professor of ophthalmology and medicine, Casey Eye Institute, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland.

The institute will continue to focus on the development of the clinician-scientist model.

Gamagori, Japan-Nidek Co. marked a major milestone with the Aug. 6 shipment of its 1,000th EC-5000 CXII excimer laser system.It was destined for service in the Lin Yi Peoples Hospital in the Shan Tong Province in China.

Irvine, CA-Medennium Inc. is moving its offices to a new facility about a mile from its previous location.

Fountain Hills, AZ-Coronado Industries Inc. announced that it has received patents for its pneumatic trabeculoplasty (PNT) treatment device and procedure in China.

Vancouver, British Columbia-A research chemist from QLT Inc. who helped develop the verteporfin for injection (Visudyne, QLT/Novartis Ophthalmics) treatment for age-related macular degeneration is among 13 chemists from four companies who have been named Heroes of Chemistry by the American Chemical Society.

Washington, DC-The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has approved a glaucoma screening for older adults as part of its 2005 Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Intravenous squalamine lactate being developed by Geneara Corp. shows promise as a safe and effective treatment for choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according toresults of a phase I/II trial presented by Charles A. Garcia, MD, at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

The nation's medical liability crisis has yet to waver, according to the American Medical Association (AMA). With the addition of Massachusetts this summer, the AMA's official crisis chart is now composed of 20 states-up from 12 in 2002.

A deafening roar filled the St. Pete Times Forum as a maniac crowdof more than 22,000 people roseto their feet. It was official-the Tampa Bay Lightning had won the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. Known as "the cut man," Charles B. Slonim, MD, oculoplastic surgeon, stood proud knowing that he was able to assist the winning team medically and surgically.

A deafening roar filled the St. Pete Times Forum as a maniac crowdof more than 22,000 people roseto their feet. It was official-the Tampa Bay Lightning had won the 2004 Stanley Cup Championship. Known as "the cut man," Charles B. Slonim, MD, oculoplastic surgeon, stood proud knowing that he was able to assist the winning team medically and surgically.

Any sport involving a racquet or stick, ball, or bodily contact presents a risk of serious eye injury.

Any sport involving a racquet or stick, ball, or bodily contact presents a risk of serious eye injury.

San Diego-Implantable contact lenses (ICLs) are safe and effective for treating a wide range of myopia, -3 to -20 D, based on the 3-year results from the U.S. multicenter Myopic Implantable Contact Lens Clinical Investigation. Donald R. Sanders, MD, PhD, presented the results at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Diego-Mechanically separated epithelial sheets following epi-LASIK appear to remain viable and retain their stratification 24 hours after the procedure, according to Vikentia J. Katsanevaki, MD, PhD, who spoke during the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Diego-Wavefront-guided ablations for the treatment of mixed astigmatism and/or high myopia using the CustomVue system (VISX, Santa Clara, CA) are providing good preliminary results, considering the challenge of treating these eyes with difficult refractions.

San Diego-Phakic IOLs implanted into the anterior chamber must be positioned correctly in order not to affect the cornea, iris, and the crystalline lens negatively.

San Diego-The Artisan/Verisyse phakic IOL (Ophtec USA, AMO) fared well in preliminary analysis of data from one U.S. investigational center. It appears to be a safeand effective implant for use in patients with high myopia, according to Kerry Assil, MD, who spoke during the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Diego-Early experience in a study that compared standard LASIK with LADARVision CustomCornea (Alcon Laboratories) to treat myopia with minimal astigmatism showed superior visual results with the customized LASIK and PRK procedures. The customized procedure induced about 0.25 D of against-the-rule astigmatism that resolved by 3 months.

Ann Arbor, MI-When considering horizontal diplopia, two important factors are the pattern of the diplopia and the location. Wayne T. Cornblath, MD, described the clinical plan he follows when patients present with horizontal diplopia.

Lausanne, Switzerland-The presentation of temporal arteritis can vary, so ophthalmologists sometimes fail to diagnose this vision-threatening disease in a timely fashion.