News

Prevent Blindness America is reminding everyone to make sure all Halloween purchases are safe and responsible. In the past, cosmetic contacts were popular costume accessories, allowing wearers to change eye color or give the illusion of cat?s eyes.

The 18-month data of a proprietary epiretinal brachytherapy (NeoVista) for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration were made public at the recent Retina Society annual meeting.

The best practices learn how to hire, train, and retain the best staff, manage patient and staff issues and physician relationships according to Ian Maltzman the administrator for Fromer Eye Centers in New York City. Because Fromer Eye Centers has a very complex organizational structure, including a president, administrator, and a chief operating officer, Maltzman has had to find ways to manage the complex structure.

New administrators at an ophthalmic practice should start by learning every non-medical aspect of the practice, including finances, computer maintenance, patient satisfaction components, and staff requirements and rewards systems.

The typical difficult patient can ruin a perfectly good day at your practice if you let them. By not taking it personally and keeping your cool you can successfully deal with this type of patient without adding stress and frustration for you or the patient.

Practices can increase their efficiency by performing surgery in only one location, having multiple operating rooms (ORs) and an efficient preoperative area available, using anesthesia blocks preoperatively instead of topical anesthesia in the OR, choosing a safe and reliable phaco technique that minimizes surgical time, and hiring well-trained staff members.

When making a differential diagnosis of idiopathic uveitis, remember that several malignant and non-malignant syndromes can masquerade as the condition. Making the correct diagnosis early allows prompt institution of appropriate therapy and avoids unnecessary treatment.

Three combinations of IOLs for the correction of presbyopia were evaluated in a retrospective analysis. The results favored a mix-and-match approach using the (AcrySof ReSTOR, Alcon Laboratories) and the crystalens (crystalens, eyeonics) for better range and quality of vision, according to one surgeon.

In patients who have suffered multiple immunologic graft rejections, the chance of providing good-quality vision is dramatically increased with a keratoprosthesis than another transplant. Patients who receive a keratoprosthesis have rapid visual return, a good quality of vision, and a high rate of graft survival.

An Ectasia Risk Factor Score System developed by researchers at Emory University appears to be a valid method for identifying patients at risk for ectasia after LASIK, according to a retrospective review of 171 cases of post-LASIK ectasia and 186 controls with normal postoperative courses.

A technique for obtaining digital photographs under standardized conditions was developed as the foundation for scientific assessment of IOL glistening size and severity, which ultimately will be used to investigate visual impact.

A novel prosthetic device (Boston Scleral Lens) is custom-designed to vault the cornea over an oxygenated reservoir of artificial tears. It is designed to correct corneal first surface aberrations and address symptoms of dry eye disease.

Evaluation of low contrast sensitivity outcomes after wavefront-guided refractive surgery in U.S. Air Force aviators shows quality of vision returns much faster after LASIK compared with PRK.

An aberrometer is being developed to provide cataract and refractive surgeons with a tool for intraoperative assessment of refraction to improve results of astigmatic correction techniques and IOL power selection. Outcomes in an ongoing clinical trial are encouraging.

Intracameral injection of cefuroxime significantly reduced the risk of endophthalmitis following cataract surgery when compared with subconjunctival injection in a single-center study.

Multiplex ligation probe amplification (MLPA), a relatively new technique for detecting copy number variations in genomic sequences, has been used to study the pathomechanism of autosomal dominant optic neuropathy.

Research using a conditional knockout mouse model of the mitofusin 2 gene are providing insights into the optic nerve damage sometimes associated with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Results to date show degenerative changes in the retrobulbar optic nerve suggesting a response to a neurodegenerative injury.

Twenty-five-gauge sutureless vitrectomy is has gained a respectable niche among retinal surgeons, with a dramatic increase in use over the previous 4 years.

Twenty-three gauge transconjunctival sutureless vitrectomy performed in pseudophakic eyes offers faster recovery times and increased patient comfort regarding suture-related and sclerotomy-related complications, according to one surgeon.

Cryotherapy applied to treat retinal holes may be associated with the development of sympathetic ophthalmia.

Improvements in visual outcomes remained stable in a group of patients with age-related macular degeneration who were switched from therapy with intravitreal bevacizumab (Avastin, Genentech) to intravitreal ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech).

Up to 90% of children with fetal alcohol syndrome have eye abnormalities such as optic nerve hypoplasia and tortuosity of the retinal blood vessels. Because ocular findings are so common, an eye examination can be useful in helping diagnose fetal alcohol syndrome.

Occluding the sound eye in amblyopic patients provides rapid and lasting visual acuity improvement.

Once thought to be a disease characterized solely by elevated IOP, the definition of glaucoma has been evolving to more accurately portray the disease's true nature.

Current IOP measurement techniques have limited accuracy and do not allow for 24-hour monitoring. A system based on a small, implantable passive transducer and external probe is being developed to address these limitations.

Implantation of a miniature glaucoma device (Ex-PRESS R-50, Optonol) under a scleral flap is a modification of trabeculectomy that appears to provide similar IOP-lowering efficacy but with fewer complications.

A trabecular bypass micro stent (iStent, Glaukos) was developed to restore fully natural physiologic outflow in glaucomatous eyes by allowing flow of aqueous from the anterior chamber into Schlemm's canal.

Biosyntrx Corp. is partnering with Wellosophy Corp. to include a professional-strength version of a proprietary hydrogel gastric bulking technology (Swell) into Biosyntrx's new mealtime portion-control product (Avantrx).