News

The current version of a proprietary phaco system (WhiteStar Signature, Abbott Medical Optics) features fluidics control software that allows automatic switching from longitudinal ultrasound to transversal (Ellips) on recognition of occlusion and back again to longitudinal on occlusion break. Results of a prospective study show the benefits of this technology for optimizing the efficiency of cataract removal.

Ketorolac tromethamine 0.45% (Acuvail, Allergan) is a preservative-free ophthalmic NSAID recently approved for twice-daily use in treating pain and inflammation after cataract surgery. Its novel formulation is designed to promote drug delivery and tolerability.

Researchers are looking into corneal biomechanics as a means to screen patients for keratectasia. An expert reviews signal interpretation from a non-contact applanation tonometer as it relates to corneal biomechanical indices such as corneal hysteresis and also discusses improved signal patterns that may result in more meaningful corneal biomechanical analysis than previously proposed metrics.

NicOx announced an agreement to reacquire the development and commercialization rights to an experimental glaucoma medicine from partner company Pfizer.

In a study conducted by the Pan-American Collaborative Retina Study Group, treatment of diffuse diabetic macular edema with bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) was shown to improve vision.

NeoVista Inc. received approval from BSI Product Services to apply the CE mark to its anti-neovascular (ANV) therapy system (Vidion) to treat wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the company announced.

The spherical aberration-free lens has been developed specifically for 1.8-mm microincision cataract surgery (MICS), and the company said it will refer to the lens within the United States as the Akreos MICS. Its award-winning design and glistening-free material allow implantation through a 1.8-mm incision, while maintaining the optical quality and stability established with the parent lens design (Akreos AO).

Pat Cummings, OD, Vistakon America's region vice president, professional development group, was killed in a plane crash July 11 in Florida.

Japanese authorities have granted WaveLight AG regulatory approval to market its 200-Hz excimer laser system (Allegretto Wave) for use in wavefront-optimized LASIK treatments of myopia and myopic astigmatism there, according to the company.

SOLX has received clearance from Health Canada for the use of its 24-karat gold implant (SOLX Gold Shunt) during glaucoma surgery.

The FDA will resume scientific review of the STAAR Surgical Co. premarket approval (PMA) application for its toric implantable contact lens ([TICL]; Visian Toric Implantable Collamer Lens) for patients with myopia and astigmatism after removing the "integrity hold" restrictions it put in place in 2007, according to the company.

Alcon Inc. has entered into a 5-year collaborative research agreement with AstraZeneca for the exclusive ophthalmic discovery and potential development rights to AstraZeneca's compound library.

Bausch & Lomb has opened a new 30,000-square-foot global pharmaceutical headquarters building in Madison, NJ.

Researchers in Cleveland have discovered the first gene associated with the formation of age-related cataracts.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced another delay-Nov. 1-in the enforcement of the "Red Flags Rule" to give creditors and financial institutions more time to develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs.

The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary in Boston has received $126 million from the recent resolution of a nearly decade-long lawsuit concerning the hospital's role in the development of verteporfin for injection (Visudyne).

Allergan Inc. expects its ketorolac tromethamine ophthalmic solution 0.45% (Acuvail) to be available in the United States in September.

In a phase I study, E10030 (Ophthotech) combined with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) in patients with subfoveal neovascular age-related macular degeneration was well tolerated and seemed to have biologic activity against choroidal neovascularization, according to one ophthalmologist.

A hydrophilic IOL (Afinity CQ2015, STAAR Surgical) seems to be a more efficient delivery system of moxifloxacin 0.5% (Vigamox, Alcon Laboratories) than a hydrophobic IOL (AcrySof SA60, Alcon Laboratories), according to the results of a comparison of lenses soaked in the antibiotic. Both lenses appear to be capable of delivering antibiotics to achieve clinically relevant levels, however.

A non-contact applanation tonometer (Ocular Response Analyzer, Reichert) appears to be more effective than the Goldmann applanation tonometer (GAT) in assessing very low and negative IOP values using the non-contact applanation tonometer's corneal-compensated IOP (IOPcc) parameter. The GAT may be the long-accepted gold standard, but the more accurate assessment of IOP using the non-contact applanation tonometer challenges this gold standard and raises questions as to which of the two techniques is optimal in measuring IOP.

Oral fenretinide given once daily may slow the progression of geographic atrophy in patients with age-related macular degeneration, according to an interim analysis.

Intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA) for treating diabetic macular edema (DME) does not seem to be beneficial over the long term compared with focal/grid photocoagulation, and treatment with IVTA results in a higher chance of developing a cataract compared with treatment with the laser, according to a 3-year comparison study. Focal/grid photocoagulation, therefore, remains the most effective treatment for DME, according to one ophthalmologist.

Recent surveys of patients and eye care specialists were undertaken to obtain information about the prevalence and management of blepharitis. Survey results together with clinical trial data highlight use of topical azithromycin.

The European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons will hold its XXVII Congress from Saturday, Sept. 12, through Wednesday, Sept. 16, in this Spanish city located on the Mediterranean coast.

The 2009 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology annual meeting highlighted research on the latest therapeutics in retinal disease, dry eye, lid margin disease, ocular allergies, and other conditions.

One "policy wonk" suggests that physicians are performing too many procedures (about 30% too many), and that if they no longer perform unnecessary procedures, money will be freed up to reform the health care system.

A prospective study including 51 patients who underwent bilateral wavefront-guided LASIK for low to moderate myopia assessed visual symptoms at follow-up visits through 12 months after surgery. There was no evidence that large preoperative pupil size correlated with increased risk of unwanted postLASIK symptoms.

Cataract surgeons confronted by capsular rupture with vitreous prolapse usually favor performing limbal vitrectomy over using a pars plana approach.

A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association, an editorial in American Family Physician, articles in the general media outlets, and an updated patient advisory statement from the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the American Academy of Ophthalmology aim to further education primary care physicians and patients about the association between a patient's use of tamsulosin and complications or difficulty during cataract surgery.

One resident wonders, what does your Ophthalmology Knowledge Assessment Program score say to others about you as a resident? With the exception of applying to oculoplastics fellowships, in the global scheme of things, it may make no difference. On the other hand, some residents wished they had done better because they would have been thought of more positively within their program.