Refractive

America may face a public health crisis in coming years unless drastic changes are not made to the public perception of eye health, according to a report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM). Taking steps to create a public conversation about the matter, Allergan has launched a public awareness campaign, See America, to improve this awareness of and access to comprehensive eye exams.

Here is your roundup of what made top news in 2016!

LENSAR Inc. announced its filing of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition on Dec. 19 to reduce its debt, strengthen its balance sheet, and strengthen its platform for future growth, according to a press release from the company.

Laser techniques have fundamentally changed the cataract surgery landscape. New, versatile platforms have made surgery safer and provided superior clinical outcomes precisely, consistently and predictably.

Trifocal IOLs can provide good uncorrected vision at near, intermediate, and far. Outcomes in a series of 30 patients show that a toric version of a trifocal IOL (AT Lisa tri 939MP, Carl Zeiss Meditec) delivers those benefits for patients with > 1 D of corneal astigmatism.

In a timely talk at Refractive Surgery Subspecialty Day 2016, Sunil Shah, MD, made a case for why refractive surgeons might want to consider this minimally-invasive corneal refractive procedure.

An implantable corneal inlay recently approved by the FDA gives ophthalmologists a new choice in treating presbyopia.

It has been a history-making week for the ophthalmic world, and the FDA approval of the first IOL with extended range of vision (Tecnis Symfony IOL, Abbott) has only added one more reason for celebration.

The U.S. IDE clinical trial of the investigational extended range of vision IOL (Model ZXR00; Tecnis Symfony Extended Range of Vision IOL, Abbott Medical Optics) found that the implant delivered a full range of uncorrected vision and minimized or eliminated the need for spectacle wear in most patients.

A topical treatment that breaks apart disulfide bonds between crystalline lens proteins was shown to increase accommodative amplitude and improve near visual acuity in a randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial.

Selective two-photon collagen crosslinking has been shown to stiffen any three-dimensional region inside corneal tissue without damaging surrounding tissues.

A scleral implant surgery system for presbyopia is being evaluated in a phase III study. One investigator talks about his experience.

Rainbow glare rarely occurs after femto-LASIK surgery and is usually transient. Phototherapeutic keratectomy of the flap undersurface targets the cause of the glare and has been used to immediately resolve symptoms in patients with persistent disabling rainbow glare.

In this first of a two-part series, Arun C. Gulani, MD, MS, explains how approaching keratoconus as a refractive surgery will change the way both ophthalmologists and patients will approach this condition to bring in a new era of not only relieving but also enhancing the lifestyle of this patient population. In Part 2, Dr. Gulani will share strategies and cases of patients with keratoconus with different case scenarios in action.

At the 10-year time point after Descemet stripping endothelial keratoplasty, the endothelial cell density is comparable to that after penetrating keratoplasty at the same time.

Steven Dell, MD, and Steve Schallhorn, MD, compared the visual and subjective outcomes in patients who wear contact lenses with those who underwent wavefront-guided LASIK for the correction of myopia and astigmatism.

When the topic of IOL implantation is on the table, the age of the patient does make a difference, according to pediatric expert Courtney Kraus, MD, who spoke at the Wilmer Eye Institute’s 27th annual Current Concepts in Ophthalmology conference.

Two clinicians explore why an optimal visual solution for patients may be using both a low-add multifocal and an extended-range-of-vision lens.

While the accuracy of IOL power selection has advanced since the early days of phacoemulsification, the selection of the proper IOL power is always in the background when a surgeon performs cataract surgery, Dr. Hill said.

With myopia on the rise, greater understanding of genetic and environmental factors is needed to refine interventions that may curtail disease progression.

Severe myopia affected the attitudes of both Theodore Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan, but in opposite ways, according to biographer Edmund Morris.“Since both of them became aware of their myopia in their early teens, it was obviously a formative experience for both of them,” Morris told Ophthalmology Times.

The authors assess the quantitative and qualitative aspects of vision following various lens- and corneal-based therapies for presbyopia. In many cases the KAMRA corneal inlay offers a long-term solution. It can easily be removed if the patient is not satisfied with the outcome.

This article discusses the advantages and limitations for surgical compensation of presbyopia with the femtosecond laser using corneal inlays and the Intracor technique.

Intraoperative aberrometry aphakic and pseudophakic readings can be comparable with careful control of surgical variables. Both readings can be useful to predict postoperative manifest refraction.

A pinhole implant placed in the ciliary sulcus can improve visual acuity and reduce dysphotic symptoms in pseudophakic eyes with irregular corneal astigmatism. Implantation is even easier with the latest version of the investigational device

In this third of a four-part column, Arun C. Gulani, MD, continues the discussion on staged cataract surgery.

The time for refractive surgery for special needs children seems to be at hand, considering that advancements in laser and IOL technologies have been proven to be efficacious. Correcting a special needs child’s vision can reduce fearfulness and improve their behavioral challenges.

A pupil expansion device is flexible, yet stable and can easily be inserted and removed for cataract surgery procedures.

Analyses of predicted refractive outcomes using different IOL calculation formulas suggest possible strategies for increasing predictability in eyes with mild or moderate keratoconus.

Researchers explore the efficacy and reliability of laser vision correction for the treatment of residual refractive error after refractive lens exchange.