Three special sessions among ARVO highlights

Seattle-Attendees of the 2013 meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) will want to make time for three special sessions at the Washington State Convention Center. These sessions include results from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2), Inhibition of VEGF in Age-related Choroidal Neovascularisation 2 (IVAN2) Study, and Groupe d’Evaluation Français Avastin versus Lucentis (GEFAL) Study, as well as the National Eye Institute audacious goals initiative.

Results from the Age-Related Eye Disease Study 2 (AREDS2) from the National Eye Institute

Sunday, May 5, 4:15 to 5:15 p.m., Ballroom 6ABC

This session also will be streamed live and free of charge. Advance registration is required at http://www.prolibraries.com/arvo/events/arvo2013/. The results from this clinical trial will be published online in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) and JAMA Ophthalmology and embargoed until Sunday, May 5 at 7 p.m. EDT to coincide with the presentation at the ARVO 2013 annual meeting.

Presenters include Emily Chew, MD, Traci Clemons, PhD, Ronald Danis, MD, and John Paul SanGiovanni, ScD, with an introduction by Paul Sieving, MD, PhD, director, National Eye Institute.

The AREDS2 research team will present the results of the multicentered randomized controlled clinical trial of oral supplementation with lutein/zeaxanthin (10 mg/2 mg) and/or omega-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCPUFAs-1 g) for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataract. This multicentered trial was conducted in 82 clinical sites in the United States, in both academic and community-based centers with retinal specialists from 2006 to 2012, in 4,203 participants, aged 50 to 85 years.

NEI Audacious Goals Initiative in Vision Research and Blindness Rehabilitation

Sunday, May 5, 12:15 to 1 p.m., Ballroom 6E

Dr. Sieving will describe development of the NEI audacious goals initiative, announce the goals and high priority areas, and discuss the implementation.

Ranibizumab versus bevacizumab: Results from the IVAN2 and GEFAL Trials

Tuesday, May 7, 1 to 2:30 p.m., Ballroom 6E

IVAN2 Trial

Usha Chakravarthy , MBBS, PhD, FARVO, leads the introduction, with study outcomes by Simon Harding, FRCOphth, MD. The IVAN panel discussion includes Dr. Chakravarthy, Dr. Harding, and Chris Rogers.

GEFAL Study

Laurent Kodjikian, MD, PhD, provides an overview. The GEFAL panel discussion includes Eric Souied, MD, PhD, Laure Huot, Evelyne Decullier, and Laurent Kodjikian.

Session moderator is Daniel F. Martin, MD, with a summary panel discussion on the comparative effectiveness of ranibizumab versus bevacizumab.

For information, visit www.arvo.org/am.