News

On April 20, Abbott Medical Optics announced that it had received FDA clearance for use of the 150-kHz iFS advanced femtosecond laser to create arcuate incisions during corneal surgery, including cataract surgery.

Independent medical practices continue to adopt electronic health record technology at an increasing rate.

Understanding the cause of elevated IOP in patients with uveitis is the basis for developing a rational treatment plan.

The premium sunglasses business is very trendy.

Leading refractive surgeons agree wavefront-guided ablation is a significant advance in laser vision correction, but have different opinions about its role in treating myopic eyes with low higher-order aberrations.

A record number of ophthalmologists hit the hallways on Capitol Hill last month to urge their legislators to protect Americans' access to eye care and boost funding for eye research.

The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology closed its 2012 annual meeting with more than 12,500 participants – its largest attendance ever.

Using interferon alpha-2b systemically for the treatment of refractory uveitic cystoid macular edema may be helpful in carefully selected patients.

The corrections following phacoemulsification and IOL implantation that are achievable today are a far cry from those commanded in the 1970s when 20/40 corrected bilaterally was considered an accomplishment following implantation of the early IOLs.

Losing staff is a devastating experience.

As outgoing president of the ASCRS, Edward J. Holland, MD, can be recognized for a number of accomplishments and the introduction of several new initiatives.

As a rule, the latest and greatest new technology first becomes available to the haves in this world, and only much later, if at all, to the have-nots.

Adoption of electronic health record technology has been slow, particularly among ophthalmologists.

Many agents have been investigated in clinical trials for neuroprotection in glaucoma, but none has proven efficacy, and so IOP control continues to be the mainstay strategy for preventing glaucoma progression.

Epimacular brachytherapy was described as "interesting and encouraging" at the 2-year time point for treating exudative age-related macular degeneration that had been previously treated with anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections.

More than 300,000 proprietary implantable contact lenses (ICLs) of collagen-copolymer material (Visian Implantable Collamer Lens, STAAR Surgical Co.) have been implanted in patients around the world. More than 75,000 have been the toric version of these lenses, approved in all major markets in the world, with the exception of the United States.

A new therapy (Retaine MGD, OCuSOFT) is available for those who have dry eye syndrome and meibomian gland dysfunction.

Ophthalmic clinical application specialists Cynthia Kendall, CDOS, ROUB, and Cathy DiBernardo, CDOS, ROUB, have joined the Quantel USA Inc. medical division. They will create new customer clinical education programs and train sales representatives in relation to the diagnostic ocular ultrasound systems and surgical lasers developed and marketed by the company.

Planning is in full swing for the fifth annual Prevent Blindness America (PBA) Swing Fore Sight Golf Tournament. The event will be held in conjunction with Vision Expo West on Sept. 5 at the Royal Links Golf Club in Las Vegas.

The Austrian Agency for Health and Food Safety has granted marketing authorization to an intravitreal implant with sustained-release fluocinolone acetonide (Iluvien, Alimera Sciences Inc.) for the treatment of vision impairment associated with chronic diabetic macular edema (DME) considered insufficiently responsive to available therapies.

An improved version of a first-point-of-care diagnostic test for conjunctivitis (AdenoPlus, Rapid Pathogen Screening [RPS]) has been granted waived status by the FDA under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA).

Optovue has received FDA 510(k) clearance for an updated version of its proprietary spectral-domain optical coherence tomography system (RTVue XR FD-OCT system).

A modified surgical technique for centering the optical core within the donor graft used in a Boston Type I Keratoprosthesis (Boston KPro) is an easy-to-learn alternative that seems to allow for reproducible centration of the donor assembly.

Topical branded nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are safe to use in patients with evaporative dry eye syndrome and in those with meibomian gland dysfunction.

Results from randomized controlled clinical trials investigating populations covering the spectrum from ocular hypertension to advanced glaucoma provide clear evidence that for most patients, glaucoma is an IOP-sensitive optic neuropathy for which lowering IOP is effective in slowing or arresting progression.

Ophthalmologists should not order routine genetic tests for patients with common disorders like age-related macular degeneration until there are specific therapeutic interventions available to treat the disease based on the genetic information.

The acceleration of research focused on dry eye over the past several decades has led to an increase in knowledge regarding the pathophysiology of the disease.

Dry eye comes in a variety of guises and, once diagnosed, may require various therapeutic options.

The world of glaucoma management in 2012 is feeling the impact of not only a variety of challenges, but also new opportunities.

Many ophthalmologists may be dropping the ball when treating moderate dry eye, which could result in progression to more severe stages of disease.