News

Kayla Helferich, 8, from South Carolina, is the grand prize winner in Prevent Blindness America’s (PBA’s) “Most Beautiful Eyes” contest. Helferich has been awarded a $25,000 scholarship and will become the face of Star Pupils, PBA’s signature children's eye health program.

XOMA Ltd. and its partner, Les Laboratoires Servier, plan to implement a broader phase III program to test the monoclonal antibody gevokizumab, or XOMA 052, in patients in whom non-infectious uveitis (NIU) involving the intermediate and/or posterior segments of the eye has been diagnosed.

After receiving approval from its scientific advisory board, Retina Implant AG will begin the multicenter phase of the company’s second clinical trial in humans, the company announced.

A newly discovered protein in the eye of the fruit fly may shed light on blinding diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa in humans.

The percentage of adults with diabetes who reported suffering from visual impairments declined significantly between 1997 and 2010, according to an analysis of data from the National Health Interview Survey.

An algorithm for addressing corneal scarring might avoid the need for most corneal transplantation procedures by using the law of optics for optimally shaping the front surface of the cornea. Arun Gulani, MD, MS, uses refractive PRK to treat corneal scars and explained how his system works.

Researchers in Israel have completed a clinical trial that successfully tested the use of gene therapy to restore sight to patients suffering from Leber's congenital amaurosis (LCA).

Retinal research will benefit from a multiyear financial pledge to the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) department of ophthalmology and visual sciences from Parent Petroleum Co., a partner with the nonprofit organization Hope for Vision.

Jost B. Jonas, MD, has been named the 2011 recipient of The Glaucoma Foundation’s (TGF) Robert Ritch Award for Innovation and Excellence in Glaucoma.

STAAR Surgical Co. has received CE mark approval for a single-piece toric IOL (nanoFLEX Toric Collamer Single Piece IOL). The IOL, which is designed for patients who have cataracts and astigmatism, was approved for correction of 1.0 D to 4.0 D of cylinder in 0.5-D steps.

Iridex Corp. has entered into a license and distribution agreement with Alcon. The agreement covers a line of cannula products used in vitrectomy procedures (GreenTip Soft Tip Cannula) and license rights to the associated patented technology.

Patient enrollment has begun in a phase III clinical trial of ISV-502 (AzaSite Plus, InSite Vision) and ISV-305 (DexaSite, InSite Vision) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of both product candidates simultaneously for the treatment of blepharitis. The DOUBle (Dual Ophthalmic agents Used in Blepharitis) study will seek to enroll approximately 900 patients with moderate-to-severe blepharitis in a four-arm trial.

The FDA has cleared a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) device (RTVue, Optovue) to measure central corneal power, curvature, and thickness in human corneas, before and after cataract surgery.

The FDA has granted orphan drug designation to sirolimus (DE-109, Santen) for the treatment of chronic/refractory anterior non-infectious uveitis, non-infectious intermediate uveitis, non-infectious panuveitis, and non-infectious uveitis affecting the posterior segment of the eye.

The FDA has approved the recombinant fusion protein aflibercept (Eylea, also known as VEGF Trap-Eye, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals) for the treatment of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

A lower aspiration flow rate and lower bottle height result in better outcomes after phacoemulsification.

It costs five times more to attract new customers than to market to current patients.

A hydrogel liquid ocular bandage, designed to seal corneal incisions after cataract surgery, provided a smooth, soft, and transparent protective barrier film that may improve wound integrity and closure and did not decrease best-corrected visual acuity.

A newly launched diagnostic device and intraoperative tool enables real-time, on-the-table refractive measurements to guide decisions during cataract surgery.

Accommodation restoration through photodisruption of the crystalline lens using an ultra-short-pulse femtosecond laser appears safe and theoretically possible.

Analyses of data from a German CE study show femtosecond laser-based intrastromal correction of presbyopia results in significant improvement in near vision and high patient satisfaction with stable refractive outcomes for at least 2 years.

Enhanced laser vision correction surgery using a platform combining wavefront-guided ablation, iris registration, and femtosecond laser flap creation delivers excellent refractive and vision outcomes resulting in highly satisfied patients.

Simultaneous topography-guided PRK with collagen crosslinking seems to offer promising early results for patients with keratoconus who are contact lens tolerant.

In medicine, we find a variety of bests listed in the magazine.

Advanced technology from Schwind is already shaping the future of refractive surgery, but surgeons can look forward to further refinements and innovations that will offer additional capabilities.

Coaxial microincision cataract surgery is a better phacoemulsification procedure because it delivers better patient outcomes.

Running sales can be financially counterproductive if they do not bring in new customers and only reduce the price that existing customers pay for products they buy.

More ophthalmologists are looking into bringing the process of cutting and polishing a lens for fitting into an eyeglass frame on-site, in a dedicated area of practice.

Robert H. Osher, MD, is pulling together plans for his second "Cataract Surgery: Telling it like it is!" course to take place Jan. 19-22 in Sarasota, FL.

Monofocal IOLs provide good distance and near visual acuities of about 20/40 or better for pediatric patients when the targeted vision is within 1 D of emmetropia.