News

Rochester, NY-Now that Bausch &Lomb has won its battle to release its generic version of brimonidine tartrate ophthalmic solution 0.2% (Alphagan, Allergan), the ophthalmic industry is waiting to see whether physicians will choose the generic version of the old standard or brimonidine tartrate 0.15% (Alphagan P, Allergan).

Spain-home of Toledo and some of the finest sword-makers in history, and home to the Alhambra and such people as Gaudi and Christopher Columbus-also lays claim to manyof history's most important ophthalmic families. The Barraquer family comes to mind, but there are others, including the Arruga family, which is the subject of this month's vignette.

San Francisco-Transepithelial surface ablation with adjunctive mitomycin-C (Mutamycin, Bristol-Myers Oncology) is a useful technique for achieving good visual outcomes and preventing haze in patients whose LASIK procedure was aborted because of a flap complication, said Laura T. Muller, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

Cincinnati, OH-Releasable scleral-flap sutures reduce the incidence of a shallow and flat anterior chamber after trabeculectomy, without compromising long-term control of IOP, according to glaucoma specialist John S. Cohen, MD.

San Francisco-Patient noncompliance can be overcome with the delivery of medication to the eye with intraocular time-release systems, according to James P. Gills, MD, who spoke during the Innovator's Session at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-Wavefront-guided LASIK with the Allegretto Wave (WaveLight Laser Technologie AG, Erlangen, Germany) excimer laser appears to be safe and effective for correcting myopic astigmatism while reducing higher-order aberrations and improving quality of vision, said A. John Kanellopoulos, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Achievement award

Irvine, CA-Allergan Inc. plans to launch its ketorolac tromethamine ophthalmic solution 0.4% (Acular LS) this summer for the reduction of ocular pain and burning and stinging following corneal refractive surgery.

Beaverton, OR-PRIO Corp.'s Computer Lens and Browser Lens will be available through all 75 Essilor Labs of America under a new alliance between the companies.

Rochester, NY-Bausch & Lomb is launching a national television consumer advertising campaign promoting its SofLens multi-focal contact lens as an alternative to reading glasses for people with presbyopia.

Washington, DC-In an effort to curb the eye damage caused by teens who unwittingly buy and wear cosmetic contact lenses from unauthorized vendors, the House of Representatives will consider a bill that would recognize and regulate non-corrective contact lenses as medical devices, regardless of their intended use.

St. Louis, MO-A group of ophthalmologists, visual scientists, and individuals interested in the history of ophthalmology hosted the 16th annual meeting of the Cogan Ophthalmic History Society at the Washington University School of Medicine here.

New York, NY-ORBIS, the nonprofit global health-care organization dedicated to saving sight in developing countries, has introduced phacoemulsification to doctors in Ethiopia and distributed ocular antibiotics for 100,000 people.

Aliso Viejo, CA-The FDA's Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel is recommending approval of the first accommodating IOL in the United States.

The introduction of the Grieshaber Revolution DSP (Alcon) line of disposable intraocular instruments represents a true innovation in the evolution of vitreoretinal surgery, according to retinal specialists Peter Kaiser, MD, and Allen C. Ho, MD.

Bausch & Lomb recently unveiled its SofPort System, an integrated, single-use, single-handed planar delivery IOL insertion system. The system is composed of the new MP-28 IOL injector and the new LI61-SE IOL.

San Francisco-The ClariFlex third-generation silicone IOL (AMO) is well tolerated in high-risk glaucomatous eyes, and the Unfolder Silver-Z insertion system (AMO) performs well in these eyes, with a very low incidence of cartridge jams or damaged IOLs, accord-ing to Thomas W. Samuelson, MD.

San Francisco-The Sensar IOL (AMO) with OptiEdge provides patients with excellent visual acuity, and after 1 year, it is associated with a higher incidence of clear posterior capsules and a lower rate of Nd:YAG capsulotomy compared with the parent model without OptiEdge, reported William J. Fishkind, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-Interim results from a prospective study comparing the foldable, single-piece, acrylic toric IOL (model SA60TT, AcrySof Toric, Alcon) with its spherical counterpart (model SA60AT, AcrySof, Alcon) indicate the toric device is stable in the bag and effective in reducing corneal astigmatism to provide improved uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) relative to the control, said Edward J. Holland, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

San Francisco-Interest in microphacoemulsification has grown since the introduction of ultrapulse ultrasound technology of Sovereign WhiteStar (AMO). Benefits include cool phaco as well as minimal turbulence and improved followability, according to Randall J. Olson, MD, who spoke at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-The Infiniti Vision System (Alcon) is a highly versatile platform that offers surgeons the option of removing cataracts with advanced ultrasonic phaco-emulsification alone, ultrasound plus oscillation using the NeoSoniX handpiece, or with the new AquaLase liquefaction device, said Richard J. Mackool, MD, at the Amer-ican Society of Cataract and Refractive Sur-gery (ASCRS) annual meeting.

San Francisco-The Tecnis IOL with Z-Sharp Optic Technology (Pfizer) provides patients with better functional vision and optical quality after cataract surgery compared with a conventional foldable acrylic IOL, said Simonetta Morselli, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-The AcrySof Natural IOL (Model SB30AL, Alcon), containing a covalently bonded, blue light-filtering chromophore (ImprUV), more closely mimics the light transmission spectrum of the precataractous adult human crystalline lens compared with standard UV-absorbing IOLs without any adverse effects on vision, said Paul H. Ernest, MD, at the American Society of Cata-ract and Refractive Surgery an-nual meeting.

San Francisco-Bimanual phacoemulsification can be performed safely and effectively with the Millennium Microsurgical System (Bausch & Lomb), said Rosa M. Braga-Mele, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-IOL implantation in pediatric eyes with traumatic cataract offers the opportunity for a favorable visual outcome, but success in these cases depends on a properly timed procedure and diligent surgical care, said M. Edward Wilson, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-With its proprietary apodized diffractive technology, the AcrySof ReSTOR pseudoaccommodative IOL (Alcon) provides patients with excellent near and distance vision and only infrequently causes visual symptoms that are generally minimal and easily tolerated, said David Allen, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

The focus of the American Academy of Ophthalmology's (AAO) annual meeting in Anaheim this November can be summed up in one word: fresh. As always, the annual meeting and subspecialty day meetings will provide the latest clinical updates and practical tools that attendees have come to expect, but with a fresh focus on their needs on everything from offerings to scheduling.

Baltimore-Effective July 1, Peter J.McDonnell III, MD, leaves his post as chairman of the ophthalmology department at the University of California-Irvine to take the helm as director and William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute.

San Francisco-The newly redesigned model CQ2003V Collamer 3-piece IOL (STAAR Surgical) provides patients with excellent visual results during the early postoperative period. The new IOL tolerates injection through a small cartridge compared with the previous design, according to Stephen Bylsma, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS) annual meeting.

San Francisco-Implantation of an aniridic colored IOL (Ophtec) in patients with traumatic aniridia is associated with improved photophobia and high patient satisfaction, reported Pascal Rozot, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.