News

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.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Anecortave acetate (Retaane, Alcon Laboratories) is a potential new therapy for open-angle glaucoma (OAG) that seems to be highly effective, with a mean 25% decrease in IOP 6 months after one anterior juxtascleral injection, Alan L. Robin, MD, reported at the annual meeting of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

The current definition of vision impairment is vision not satisfactory to the individual or that person's significant other.

First-year residents, welcome to ophthalmology, by far the best field in medicine! The next 3 years are going to be exhilarating, nerve-wracking, fun, and will go by way too fast. The first few days and weeks can be the most stressful, especially since many of us come from medical school and internship without even the basics of ophthalmology know-how (we couldn't even do a basic ophtho exam on our first day!).

Fort Lauderdale, FL-A fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal implant led to an improvement in visual acuity of 3 or more lines at 36 months in a significant proportion of patients with diabetic macular edema (DME) enrolled in a multicenter clinical trial.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-There currently is no accepted standard for determining progression of optic disc defects in patients with glaucoma. However, investigators may have hit upon an approach to make that difficult task easier.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-In a small open-label trial of rheopheresis therapy (RHEO, Occulogix) for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD), patients who did not have elevated levels of certain macromolecules demonstrated visual results similar to those of patients in a separate study who had significantly elevated levels of macromolecules such as fibrinogen, IgA, and total cholesterol.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Intravitreal injection of pegaptanib sodium (Macugen, OSI/Eyetech Pharmaceuticals/Pfizer) was well tolerated and effective in reducing the progression of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) in all 10 eyes of 10 patients in a small experimental study. Regression of neovascularization was seen as early as the first follow-up examination 3 weeks after the initial injection, said Victor H. Gonzalez, MD, who is in private practice with the Valley Retina Institute in McAllen, TX.

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.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Researchers have developed a new-generation adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscope (AOSLO) that can produce high-fidelity, real-time microscopic views of the living human retina. The device has been tested and found to be effective on both healthy and diseased eyes, said Yuhua Zhang, PhD, a researcher at the School of Optometry, University of California, Berkeley.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The agent ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech)-which was approved by the FDA for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on June 30 (see in this issue)-appears to be both safe and effective, according to 2-year data from the MARINA (Minimally Classic/Occult Trial of the Anti-VEGF Antibody Ranibizumab In the Treatment of Neovascular AMD)study.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-Treatment with ruboxistaurin mesylate (RBX, Eli Lilly Co.) reduced the risk of sustained moderate vision loss by 41% in patients with moderately severe to very severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy compared with placebo, according to a combined analysis of two studies.

Eyes with only one or two small, hard drusen were less inclined to develop advanced disease.

London-The XXIV Annual Congress of the European Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (ESCRS) is scheduled to begin Saturday, Sept. 9 and continue until Wednesday, Sept. 13 in this cosmopolitan capital on the Thames River. Most of the symposia and courses will be held at the ExCel London International Exhibition and Conference Center, London.

San Francisco-Advanced surface ablations, such as LASEK and Epi-LASIK, are ideal refractive procedures for challenging cases, such as patients with thin corneas and high myopia, and are even better for routine cases, according to Richard W. Yee, MD.

Lexington, SC-Biosyntrx was awarded a U.S. patent for its BioTears Oral GelCaps, a dry eye, tear film integrity formulation.

Philadelphia-Acuity Pharmaceuticals and ZaBeCor Pharmaceutical Co. entered into a license option agreement in which Acuity gains exclusive development and commercialization rights to ophthalmic applications of a small interfering RNA (siRNA).

Salt Lake City-The American Society of Clinical Investigators (ASCI)-one of the oldest and most prestigious medical honor societies in the United States-has selected Kang Zhang, MD, PhD, as a member. Dr. Zhang is only the second ophthalmologist in the organization's 98-year history to be honored with membership.

Melville, NY-OSI Pharmaceuticals Inc. announced management changes to its OSI/ Eyetech Pharmaceuticals business team. Paul G. Chaney, chief operating officer of OSI/Eyetech, has been promoted to the role of executive vice president, OSI Pharmaceuticals, and president of OSI/Eyetech.

New York-The Retina Center at The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary (NYEEI)-believed to be the region's largest, oldest, and most comprehensive retina service-became the Bendheim Family Retina Center at a dedication ceremony this past May.