News

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Both a corticosteroid (loteprednol etabonate ophthalmic suspension, Lotemax, Bausch & Lomb) and an oil-in-water emulsion (Soothe Emollient Eye Drops, Alimera Sciences) effectively minimized or eliminated lid wiper epitheliopathy findings and symptoms during an initial treatment period of 5 to 10 weeks. The oil-in-water emulsion regimen without corticosteroids controlled lid wiper epitheliopathy findings and symptoms in an extended 1-year study.

Boston-With the advances in anti-allergy medications that have taken place in the recent past, nedocromil sodium ophthalmic solution 2% (Alocril Ophthalmic Solution, Allergan) fills a niche for those patients who do not find relief with the newest combination antihistamine/mast cell stabilizers, Mich?l Raizman, MD, told Ophthalmology Times.

Chicago-High allergen counts this season combined with increased parental awareness about the potential functional impact of allergic conjunctivitis are leading to an increase in the number of pediatric patients being seen for control of ocular allergy.

Changes increase ocular discomfort in patients treated with systemic antihistamines.

San Francisco-Discontinuing the use of cyclosporine ophthalmic emulsion 0.05% (Restasis, Allergan), the only FDA-approved drug to treat dry eye, may result in recurrence of the signs and symptoms of keratoconjunctivitis sicca (KCS), and reinstitution of the drug is needed to reverse those signs and symptoms, John Sheppard, MD, reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Commonly used systemic antihistamines taken for seasonal allergies can cause ocular surface drying that in turn aggravates ocular allergy symptoms. Antihistamine drops specifically formulated for ocular allergies, in contrast, do not appear to decrease tear volume or tear flow or cause ocular surface damage, according to several investigators who have studied ocular drying. However, in a separate mouse study, topical ocular allergy medications themselves may have different effects on tear volume or tear flow.

San Francisco-The effects of Systane lubricant eye drops (Alcon Laboratories) persist for about 3.5 weeks after the treatment is stopped, according to James McCulley, MD. At that time, the signs and symptoms of dry eye increase significantly compared with the baseline values when the patients were still being treated with the eye drops.

San Francisco-Flaxseed oil seems to be as effective as doxycycline in preventing the development of dry eye after LASIK. Colin C.K. Chan, MD, speculated that the reason may be due to its anti-inflammatory and lipid-modifying properties. He presented his ideas at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Houston-While dry eye disease has been known to cause ocular surface damage, researchers did not understand how this happened until recently. For a long time, ocular surface damage was attributed to the drying effect of the disease, but the use of artificial tears did not improve the situation. Researchers now know that inflammation is a key component of dry eye disease leading to ocular surface problems, reported Stephen C. Pflugfelder, MD.

The campaign is designed to reach out to women in particular, because they make up the greatest segment of those affected by dry eye syndrome.

Pyott will be 'invested' with the medal befitting his new title at a November ceremony at Buckingham Palace.

Chicago-Prevent Blindness America (PBA) awarded four universities grants for research projects dedicated to eye health.

Fort Myers, FL-Last year Sabrina Prabakaran, a high school student at Canterbury School, met with the Retina Health Center team to discuss a research project to investigate further the value of bevacizumab (Avastin) in the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The drug is currently approved for the treatment of colon cancer. The research project is now complete, and the findings show that nearly half of patients with AMD and taking bevacizumab showed improvement in vision.

Nice, France-Iris Pharma, which specializes in the research and development of preclinical products in the field of ophthalmology, developed a new choroidial neovascularization (CNV) model in rats by using an argon laser.

Yokneam, Isr?l-China's regulatory agency for medical devices approved Lumenis to market Selecta II Selective Laser Trabeculoplasty (SLT) technology for treatment of glaucoma. The device reduces IOP associated with glaucoma. The key aspect of Selecta II is that medications are not required postoperatively.

Irvine, CA-Senju Pharmaceuticals will transfer exclusive North American rights of two investigational drugs-iganidipine, a calcium-channel blocker, and a new formulation of latanoprost, a prostaglandin analogue-to ISTA Pharmaceuticals. Both investigational formulations may treat glaucoma or other ophthalmic applications.

San Francisco-Tracking acquisition using the closed-loop eye-tracking system on the LADARVision excimer laser platform (Alcon Laboratories) may be more difficult in eyes that have undergone flap creation with the femtosecond laser (IntraLase Corp.), but can be readily accomplished through the use of some simple, special maneuvers, said Dan B. Tran, MD, at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Francisco-Multifocal wavefront-guided ablation with CustomVue (Advanced Medical Optics [AMO]/VISX) for hyperopic presbyopia is associated with favorable safety, stability, and high patient satisfaction with vision, according to the 1-year results of an international treatment trial.

The eyes with lower SE errors benefited the most from wavefront-guided treatment to reduce higher-order aberrations.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Younger age appears to be associated with the development of corneal scarring, corneal steepening, and the need for penetrating keratoplasty in patients with keratoconus, according to a study conducted by Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD.

San Francisco-Ocular rosacea is not a rare disease, but it can be missed easily in individuals with dark skin. Because this can be a sight-threatening disease, ophthalmologists should pay added attention to patients who present with ocular irritation and chronic severe meibomitis, explained Nibaran Gangopadhyay, MS, who described the clinical features and how best to manage the disorder at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

San Francisco-Traditional PRK performed using a modern excimer laser provides early visual rehabilitation for most patients. The gap in the speed of visual recovery between surface ablation and LASIK seems to be narrowing.

Eli Lilly and Co. and Alcon Laboratories have reached an agreement to co-promote ruboxistaurin mesylate (proposed brand name, Arxxant) in the United States and Puerto Rico. The agreement is contingent upon FDA approval. The government agency is currently reviewing the oral drug as a treatment for moderate-to-severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy.

OccuLogix Inc., of Toronto, announced Aug. 1 that it has signed a definitive merger agreement to purchase SOLX Inc. pursuant its previously announced diversification plans focusing on age-related eye diseases.

Lumenis Ltd. gained exclusive worldwide licensing rights to SRT, a new laser therapy for selectively treating retinal diseases. The company received the rights from Medizinisches Laserzentrum Lübeck GmbH, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Reginald Birngruber, PhD, chairman of the Medizinisches Laserzentrum Lübeck, Germany, and visiting professor at Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Alcon Inc. and Advanced Medical Optics (AMO) reached a global settlement agreement to resolve all pending patent infringement lawsuits between the companies on technologies used in ophthalmic surgery. Each company is granted a license to the patents covering its existing phacoemulsification equipment features, which allows the companies to market their current products without the threat of litigation.

The American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) released key results from its February 2006 survey on retinopathy of prematurity (ROP).

ISTA Pharmaceuticals filed a New Drug Application for its investigational tobramycin and prednisolone acetate in a fixed combination (T-Pred). The company hopes the drug receives approval as a treatment for inflammatory ocular conditions for which a corticosteroid is indicated and where bacterial ocular infections or a risk of bacterial infections exists.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Ultra-high-speed, ultra-high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) seems to have surpassed the slow-speed, low-resolution OCT and provides video images of the minute structural changes in the glaucomatous eye.

Cradles were designed to hold premature infants, babies 1 year or less, and children 1 to 3 years and up to 45 pounds.