News

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) causes a cascade of events in the eye that ultimately leads to glaucomatous damage of the optic nerve head and visual deterioration.

A study using confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscopy supports a previous report that breast cancer patients treated with tamoxifen have a significantly smaller optic cup volume compared with healthy controls.

Researchers at Wilmer Eye Institute and Genentech collaborated to study retrospectively the incidence of myocardial infarction and strokes in persons with neovascular AMD. The initial results showed the rates increased with increasing levels of comorbidity.

A U.S. FDA clinical trial is now under way to explore the potential of intracorneal inlay technology to correct presbyopia in emmetropic patients.

A new speculum (Brown Triple-Post Speculum, Rhein Medical) can help make cataract and refractive surgery easier and safer to perform, said Reay H. Brown, MD, designer of the instrument.

A U.S. FDA clinical trial is now under way to explore the potential of intracorneal inlay technology to correct presbyopia in emmetropic patients.

Creating lamellar flaps with a certain femtosecond laser (IntraLase, Advanced Medical Optics) is as safe as those created with a mechanical microkeratome, according to the results of an international study.

Results from a study revealed that patients in whom a dual-optic accommodating IOL (Synchrony, Visiogen) has been implanted bilaterally have good functional vision at near, intermediate, and distance in everyday tasks.

Outcomes after wavefront-guided LASIK for myopia and myopic astigmatism using two Q-factor optimized excimer laser systems (NAVEX, Nidek; Zyoptix, Bausch & Lomb) were compared in a retrospective study.

An action as simple as addressing uncorrected refractive errors in elderly patients can elevate their vision-specific quality of life and improve their overall functioning.

New diagnostic software for a proprietary microkeratome (Carriazo-Pendular, Schwind eye-tech-solutions) enhances the safety of flap creation.

LASIK using certain wavefront technology (CustomVue, Advanced Medical Optics) continues to provide accurate, safe correction of high myopia according to the results of the VISX Investigational Study Group for Higher Myopia with the U.S. Clinical Trials.

Two trabecular bypass devices (iStent, Glaukos Corp.; EyePass, GMP Companies Inc.) are based on scientifically valid principles but await clinical validation through large, randomized trials.

Outcomes in 201 eyes that underwent minimally invasive glaucoma surgery with a novel device (Trabectome, NeoMedix Corp.) have demonstrated that the procedure has favorable efficacy and safety for lowering IOP in eyes with open-angle glaucoma.

Visual function-specific tests are useful in clinical practice because they can identify early vision loss and provide more detailed information about the impact of glaucoma on visual function than tests such as standard automated perimetry (SAP). Function-specific perimetry, combined with SAP or with another type of function-specific test, also can verify that loss of vision identified in an initial test is not due to artifact or variability.

The repeatability of selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) was investigated in a retrospective study which included 52 eyes that were phakic, had primary open-angle glaucoma or pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, and maintained successful IOP control for at least 1 year after initial SLT.

The suprachoroidal space may be a better target for glaucoma surgery than the subconjunctival space, reducing wound-related complications while still effectively diverting aqueous. Preliminary reports from clinical trials of suprachoroidal shunt devices suggest that this approach is safe and effective.

Controversy flared over the outcome of the "Showdown at the Gables Corral: East versus West" debate during Bascom Palmer Eye Institute's Glaucoma Mid-Winter Symposium at the Biltmore Hotel, Coral Gables, FL, Jan. 26 and 27, 2007.

A comparison of corneal wound architecture after bimanual and coaxial microincision cataract surgery indicated that the wound architecture varies with the procedure performed.

A preloaded single-use IOL implantation system (Advanced Medical Optics) currently in development seems to be easier for surgeons to learn to use compared with the current system for implanting acrylic IOLs.

An ultrasound alternative phacoemulsification system (Sonic Wave, STAAR Surgical) allows efficient lens removal in eyes undergoing refractive lens exchange with minimal trauma and per case cost.

The micro-coaxial technology of the tri-modal cataract removal surgical system (Infiniti Vision System, Alcon Laboratories) permits surgeons to perform less invasive cataract procedures without having to change their surgical technique.

The combination of twin-site microincision cataract surgery and trabeculectomy seems to be a viable alternative to twin-site coaxial phacoemulsification and trabeculectomy to treat cataract in the presence of medically uncontrolled glaucoma.

The severity of intraoperative floppy iris syndrome (IFIS) may be lessened in patients undergoing cataract extraction by imposing a 15-day washout period of tamsulosin (Flomax, Boehringer Ingelheim) before surgery in those patients being treated for benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH).

A new speculum (Brown Triple-Post Speculum, Rhein Medical) can help make cataract and refractive surgery easier and safer to perform, said Reay H. Brown, MD, designer of the instrument.

The scleral pocket technique for scleral fixation allows for a larger surface area to be created for suture passes.

Potentia Pharmaceuticals said it would initiate phase I clinical trials to evaluate its drug POT-4, for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Newly formed Opko Corp. plans a phase III trial of bevasiranib (formerly Cand5) as maintenance therapy for wet AMD in combination with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech).

Based on a planned, interim analysis of a phase II randomized study, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Bayer HealthCare said patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who received just one dose of their vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug (Trap-Eye) maintained or improved vision at 12 weeks.

NicOx and Pfizer will initiate a phase II, dose-finding study of its PF-03187207 compound for the treatment of patients with glaucoma and ocular hypertension. The 28-day trial is designed to compare the safety and efficacy of the drug with that of latanoprost (Xalatan, Pfizer Ophthalmics).