News

Lund, Sweden-The effect of cataract surgery for improvingvisual function decreases over time, but a high proportion ofpatients continue to enjoy the benefits of surgery up to 8 yearsafter the procedure, according to a study undertaken by Swedishophthalmologists.

San Francisco-Advanced surface treatment (AST) with the Epi-Kkeratome (Moria) is a significant advance in laser visioncorrection but necessitates special attention to pain relief andvisual recovery, said Henry "Rick" Milne III, MD, a refractivesurgeon in Columbia, SC, who has performed more than 300 cases withthis technique.

Analyses of flap thickness showed favorable predictability.

An impressive track record with the Dohlman-Doane Bostonkeratoprosthesis in adults at high risk for corneal transplantationhas motivated corneal surgeons to use the device in pediatric eyeswith corneal opacities, and the outcomes in those young patientshave been very encouraging.

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The primary disadvantage of frequent-replacement contacts isoverwear.

Dallas-Essilor of America Inc. now offers Definityprogressive lenses through its network of laboratories and otherselect labs nationwide. Definity lenses feature Dual Add, apatented technology that maximizes available design space of thelens, minimizing peripheral distortion and providing a smoothertransition between all distances.

S?o Paulo, Brazil-Early detection of glaucomatous functionalloss and its progression are facilitated by reliance on a singletest program and use of the computer-assisted interpretation toolsavailable for that technique, said Anders Heijl, MD, PhD, tocolleagues at the World Ophthalmology Congress.

The mean annual HSK recurrence rate was reduced significantly to ?0.45 episodes/year in both the punctal cautery and cyclosporine groups.

Beverly Hills, CA-Corneal collagen cross-linking withriboflavin (C3-R) appears effective for stabilizing keratometry incorneas that are demonstrating instability associated with avariety of pathologies, according to a study presented by MunishSharma, MD, MBBS.

All of the PTK-treated eyes experienced pain relief that persistedthrough follow-up.

San Francisco-IntraLase Corp. introduced itsfourth-generation FS Laser, a system that allows for a 100%blade-free LASIK procedure, according to the company.

San Francisco-Thin-flap LASIK with the K-4000 microkeratome(Becton Dickinson) is safe and delivers flaps that aresignificantly thinner than with other available heads. Thin-flapLASIK is the preferred choice with the K-4000 microkeratome,according to Rupal S. Shah, MD.

Mild haze (graded as 1.5 on a scale of 0 to 4 with higher scoresindicating more haze) was present the first day after surgery,which decreased by the fourth postoperative day to 0.5.

Studies evaluating the new Zyoptix XP microkeratome (Bausch &Lomb) indicate that it performs safely and reliably to cut LASIKflaps of a reproducible thickness with a standard deviation thatmatches or exceeds results reported for the femtosecond laser(IntraLase).

Analyses of flap thickness showed favorable predictability.

Barranquilla, Colombia-Mechanical microkeratomes have anumber of advantages compared with the femtosecond laser"macrokeratome" and should continue to be regarded as safe andefficient instruments for LASIK flap creation, according to CesarA. Carriazo, MD.

One of the major advantages of the femtosecond laser is theversatility to program flap thickness across a wide range.

New York-On March 6, OSI Pharmaceuticals/EyetechPharmaceuticals and Pfizer issued changes in the product labelingfor pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen), which was approved bythe FDA for the treatment of neovascular age-related maculardegeneration in December 2004.

San Francisco-A team of ophthalmologists founded the EctasiaCommittee in the hopes of summarizing the current knowledgeregarding ectasia and refractive surgery and developingrecommendations to prevent the development of the condition,explained Eric D. Donnenfeld, MD, at the annual meeting of theAmerican Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS).

Teams of investigators are searching for the source of a recentoutbreak of toxic anterior segment syndrome (TASS) followingcataract surgery that has been reported in sites throughout NorthAmerica since March. The current increased incidence in theoccurrence of TASS appears to be unrelated to an outbreak thatoccurred last fall, which was linked to endotoxin contamination inthe balanced salt solution (BSS) product (Endosol, CytosolOphthalmics/Advanced Medical Optics).

Pittsburgh-U.S. health officials are recommending thatophthalmic professionals who see patients with microbial keratitisshould consider whether it might be caused by the Fusarium fungus,rather than assume it is a bacterial infection as they might havein the past.

Atlanta-With a growing list of states reporting suspectedcases of an uncommon fungal keratitis, the Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (CDC) and other U.S. health authoritiescontinue to search for the cause of an apparent outbreak of therare fungal infection among soft contact-lens wearers.

Iron overload may join several other factors as a contributor toage-related macular degeneration (AMD), suggests research beingcarried out in the lab of Joshua L. Dunaief, MD, PhD, assistantprofessor of ophthalmology, F.M. Kirby Center for MolecularOphthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute, University ofPennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Iron overload may join several other factors as a contributor toage-related macular degeneration (AMD), suggests research beingcarried out in the lab of Joshua L. Dunaief, MD, PhD, assistantprofessor of ophthalmology, F.M. Kirby Center for MolecularOphthalmology at the Scheie Eye Institute, University ofPennsylvania, Philadelphia.

David R. Williams, PhD, of the University of Rochester, Rochester, NY, received the Friedenwald Award for his studies of human optics, human cone receptors, and color vision, and for his work on the application of adaptive optics, a method to compensate for optical effects affecting ideal visualization of a target, to human retinal imaging.

In a prospective comparison study of 20- versus 25-gaugeinstruments for pars plana vitrectomy, investigators found thatoverall operating times were not significantly different betweenthe two systems.

Ultra high-speed, high-resolution spectral domain optical coherencetomography (SD-OCT) seems to have surpassed the low-resolutionslow-speed OCT and provides video images of structures in eyes withglaucoma that demonstrate the minute details of the glaucomatoustissues.

Investigators have successfully transferred lentiviral vectors, atype of retroviral vector, into the trabecular meshwork ofcynomolgus monkeys and achieved sustained transgene expression.