News

San Diego-A large ablation zone and a transition zone are two factors that, when combined during LASIK, seem to decrease the number of patient complaints about the quality of vision in the early postoperative period, according to Steven C. Schallhorn, MD.

Irvine, CA-A modified microkeratome shows promise for making the task of limbal stem cell harvesting simpler, better, and more efficient, said Roy S. Chuck, MD, PhD, who has been involved in the development of this instrument.

Orlando-Advanced vision testing with wave-front analyzers represents exciting new technology for the entire eye-care field, said Daniel S. Durrie, MD, in the Barraquer Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Boston-New technology to improve retinal imaging is resulting in better diagnosis and clinical follow-up.

Nice, France-Although the incidence of epithelial ingrowth as a complication of LASIK is declining, considerable uncertainty remains over when to intervene, according to Arun C. Gulani, MD. In response, Dr. Gulani has devised a grading system to help surgeons answer that question by placing values on the density of the epithelial ingrowth

Therapies for retinal diseases that re-mained untreatable for decades are seeing major advances. So much so that Jason Slakter, MD, clinical professor of ophthalmology, New York University School of Medicine, and surgeon director, Manhattan Eye, Ear, & Throat Hospital, New York, has proclaimed the first years of the new mil-lennium as the "Decade of the Macula."

Editor's Note: HIV/AIDS continues to be a major health problem, not only in the developing world, but in North America and Europe as well. Although the incidence of ocular complications of HIV/AIDS has decreased dramatically since the introduction of highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART), the prevalence of HIV positivity continues toincrease, particularly among heterosexual women and minorities.

Publication of results from the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study (OHTS) and the Early Manifest Glaucoma Trial (EMGT) represents two of the most notable events occurring in the field of glaucoma in 2002, but the year is also marked by a number of other significant developments with the potential to influence patient evaluation and management.

Editor's Note: This is the final story in a three-part series covering a forum on "Ethnicity and Glaucoma" at Johns Hopkins University to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Baltimore Eye Survey.

Orlando-A task force composed of 30 leading ophthalmologists and retinal specialists is recommending the use of a new, five-level classification system for distinguishing degrees of diabetic retinopathy. The results of this effort were highlighted at a news conference held during the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) annual meeting in Orlando.

Carlsbad, CA-The Pulsion FS femtosecond laser keratome (IntraLase Corp., Irvine, CA) appears to be an important new instrument for use in the treatment of lamellar keratoplasty, among others, according to Lee T. Nordan, MD, who described his preliminary results.

FDA News

In short...

Orlando-Daniel M. Albert, MD, has won the Fight for Sight/Mildred Weisenfeld Award for Lifetime Achievement in Vision Research, which includes a $50,000 grant for research endeavors. The award was presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Rochester, NY-Bausch & Lomb's Technolas 217z Zyoptix system is useful for successfully treating eyes with a combination of myopia up to ?7 D and astigmatism up to ?3.5 D, according to results of a U.S. study.

Washington, DC-As Congress resumes its post-election session, doctors frustrated by continued cuts in the Medicare physician fees are lobbying for change.

Peapack, NJ-Pharmacia Ophthalmology has settled two major multimillion dollar lawsuits with Allergan Inc. and Alcon Inc. 2 months before it is scheduled to merge with pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc.

Hunenberg, Switzerland-The FDA has approved Alcon Inc.'s LADARVision System for customized wavefront-guided laser eye surgery in the treatment of myopia.

Nice, France-Custom ablation is a useful technique for eyes that have not been treated with a refractive procedure. But this approach can also be used to improve the quality of vision in previously treated eyes that exhibit symptoms such as glare, halos, night vision difficulties, or monocular diplopia, according to Omar J. Hakim, MD, who spoke during the XX Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS).

Charleston, SC-When prescribing brimonidine 0.2% b.i.d. as monotherapy for ocular hypertension or primary open-angle glaucoma, physicians should make sure that the drug maintains its effectiveness in the late afternoon and may want to add a third drop to the daily dosage, said William C. Stewart, MD.

Green Bay, WI-The recently introduced miniature glaucoma shunt (Ex-Press) is an exciting modality with a lot of potential, but this new IOP-lowering treatment still requires further study to define its long-term efficacy and place in the armamentarium of glaucoma management options, said James E. Memmen, MD.

Newark, NJ-Timolol hemihydrate (Betimol, Santen Inc.) is an excellent choice when a beta-blocker is indicated for IOP-lowering in patients with ocular hypertension or glaucoma, said Paul J. Lama, MD.

Los Angeles-A randomized, controlled trial comparing the combination therapy dorzolamide-timolol (Cosopt, Merck) with concomitant administration of 2% dorzolamide (Trusopt, Merck) and 0.5% timolol showed that the IOP lowering is equally effective if the drugs are given either in combination or individually.

Houston-In patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) or ocular hypertension (OH), once-daily treatment with fixed-combination latanoprost/timolol (Xalacom, Pharmacia, Peapack, NJ) is well tolerated and lowers IOP more effectively than twice-daily dorzolamide/timolol (Cosopt, Merck), according to a recent multicenter U.S. study.

Baltimore-Latanoprost 0.005% (Xalatan, Pharmacia) taken once daily is more effective in lowering IOP than unoprostone 0.15% (Rescula, Novartis) taken twice daily, according to a recent multicenter study, reported Henry D. Jampel, MD, MHS.

Los Angeles-While little is fully understood about the actual mechanisms of neuronal damage in glaucoma, a variety of IOP-independent factors seem likely to play a role, said Joseph Caprioli, MD.

Houston-Once-daily bimatoprost 0.03% (Lumigan, Allergan) is a highly effective, safe, and well-accepted IOP-lowering medication across the di-verse population of patients encountered in daily practice, according to the results of a large-scale, com-munity-based, pro-spective, open-label study.

Tucson, AZ-Topical beta-blockers have been a mainstay of ongoing treatment for glaucoma for more than 20 years, but a new study adds to the evidence that they may not be the best option for long-term control of IOP for elderly patients.