News

While no new drug shook up the world of glaucoma in 2015, a variety of promising agents made incremental advances toward the market with their true potential as yet unproven. Manufacturers have continued to refine approaches to existing drugs.

Corneal surgeons thought 2015 would be the year that collagen crosslinking (CXL) for the treatment of keratoconus would be approved in the United States, but the FDA’s decision on Avedro’s KXL system is not expected until April 2016.

While 2015 may not have been the year for ground-breaking introductions or trials in the field of refractive surgery, plenty of improvements have kept the procedure an evolving process, Ophthalmology Times editorial advisory board members said.

Over the past few years, various diagnostics have been introduced to help clinicians identify inflammatory conditions on the ocular surface more readily and, therefore, provide treatment to patients earlier in their disease states.

As 2015 progressed, researchers reported better ways to detect glaucoma, measure the damage it is causing, and understand how that damage is affecting their patients’ lives. No single innovation revolutionized the profession, but a wide range of technologies became more available to clinicians.

A standard measurement and grading system for the field of binocular single vision (BSV) should be combined with a quality of life (QoL) questionnaire to assess the success of strabismus surgery in patients with diplopia from Graves’ orbitopathy researchers said.

Alimera Sciences features 10 physician case studies via webcast.

2015 may be noted as a year of emergence for sustained-release drug delivery therapies for dry eye and glaucoma, according to Jonathan H. Talamo, MD, Boston.Cornea specialists have always appreciated the need to treat dry eye, “but it’s now becoming more and more appreciated and the importance of underlying dry eye and drying is so ubiquitous,” said Ernest W. Kornmehl, MD, Brookline, MA.

New research into pattern-recognition receptors is yielding promising therapies that target the specific pathogens and inflammatory pathways in keratitis, researchers said.

Selective laser trabeculoplasty is safe and effective for reducing IOP in patients with glaucoma. However, not all patients respond to treatment and its effects are not permanent even in those who respond well.

The babies of women who use topical chloramphenicol during pregnancy do not appear to run an increased risk of congenital malformations, researchers say. An analysis of births to Danish mothers picking up topical prescriptions for the antibiotic during pregnancy found a major malformation rate of 3.50% compared to 3.49% for unexposed Danish mothers, according to Vilde Thomseth, MD, of the Ophthalmology Department at Golstrub Hospital in Glostrup, Denmark and colleagues at three other Danish centres.

Ophthalmology Times is pleased to announce Amy Patel, MD, of Gavin Herbert Eye Institute, UC Irvine Health, Irvine, CA, as the winner of its 2015 Resident Writer’s Award Program, sponsored by Allergan. Dr. Patel’s winning entry is featured here.

The trend for advances in intraoperative imaging systems and linking of diagnostic and surgical technology continued in 2015, bringing cataract surgeons more opportunity for increasing workflow efficiency and improving patient outcomes.

The year 2015 brought a trickle of innovation to the technique of glaucoma surgery, and a tidal wave of change to the business model in the United States.

Lines continue to blur as to what constitutes refractive surgery, and likely will continue to blur well into the future. Multiple compounds-phenylephrine and ketorolac 1%/0.3%, (Omidria, Omeros) and the “Dropless” line (Tri-Moxi/Tri-moxi-Vanc, Imprimis Pharmaceuticals)-are designed for use in cataract surgery, but their goal is to improve refractive outcomes. 2015 was the year they started to get some serious attention.

A new non-apodized diffractive trifocal IOL allows 88% energy utilization and sends energy to near (40 cm), a preferred intermediate distance (60 cm), and far (infinity). Early results for visual acuity, contrast sensitivity, and photopic symptoms are encouraging.

New alloplastic materials are being used as intracorneal inlays to offer predictable and safe refractive surgical correction of presbyopia and low hyperopia. The major problem with such inlays is the wound-healing response following their insertion; however, they can easily be removed.

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.

Contact lens-assisted corneal crosslinking (CA-CXL) is a novel technique in which a riboflavin-soaked ultraviolet (UV) barrier-free soft contact lens is applied over the denuded cornea prior to UVA irradiation.

The expenditures for medical care in our country are “unsustainable,” says the Dallas Morning News, whereas The New York Times, in an editorial entitled “Why we must ration healthcare,” declares the monetary valuation of human life to be immoral. Everybody says we spend too much on healthcare, so they must be right. Right?

IOLs are proving to provide new options for cataract surgeons as well as entryways for more advanced research trials.

Technologies and techniques such as femtosecond laser-assisted cataract surgery and microinvasive glaucoma surgery may be guiding the way for future cataract surgeries.

Although no new drug therapies entered cataract surgeons’ armamentarium in 2015, interest continues to grow in approaches for intraocular administration.

Quantitative techniques are important for researching changes to the anatomy of the anterior chamber angle in primary angle closure spectrum eyes. The authors evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various such techniques: gonioscopy, ultrasound biomicroscopy, Scheimpflug imaging and anterior segment optical coherence tomography.

Accountability comes in many shapes and sizes in a medical clinic. One group of ophthalmic technicians learned a valuable lession in prioritizing to the patient, relates Dianna Graves.

Organizers for Glaucoma 360 say that interest for the upcoming fifth annual installment of this meeting, set for Jan. 28 to 30, 2016, is higher than ever.

‘The irony is that compounding pharmacies were not long ago about as popular as Shkreli is today, related to an outbreak of fungal meningitis complicating the use of specially compounded steroids.’