News
Disclose retina risks of of intraocular refractive surgery
March 15th 2005New Orleans—Patients undergoing intraocular refractive surgery with either refractive lens exchange (RLE) or phakic intraocular lens implantation need to be informed that there is a lifelong risk of retinal detachment, said Kirk H. Packo, MD, at the refractive surgery subspecialty day at the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.
Allergic disease therapies key to patient quality of life
March 1st 2005Quality of life (QOL) has become an issue in every branch of medicine, including ophthalmology. From an economic perspective, loss of productivity contributes to the economic burden of a disease in the same manner as the shared costs of treatment.
Striving for better optical quality after refractive surgery
March 1st 2005New Orleans—"What is quality of human vision? And what should we be looking for when we assess it?" asked Jack T. Holladay, MD, MSEE, FACS, who delivered the Barraquer Lecture at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Laser channels improve accuracy in corneal inserts placement
March 1st 2005Los Angeles—Implantation of micro-thin prescription inserts (Intacs, Addition Technology, Sunnyvale, CA) using the IntraLase femtosecond laser (IntraLase Corp., Irvine, CA) to create the channels seems to be a less traumatic and a more accurate means of placing the prescription inserts in the eye, compared with the mechanical procedure for implanting them in a group of patients with keratoconus who were contact lens intolerant, reported Yaron Rabinowitz, MD.
Intravitreal triamcinolone may cause elevated IOP
March 1st 2005New Orleans—Intravitreal triamcinolone (IVTA), a useful treatment for macular edema and neovascularization, has been associated with a high incidence of elevated IOP as early as 1 week after injection. Patients receiving IVTA should be monitored closely, according to Michele C. Lim, MD, who spoke during the American Academy of Ophthalmology's glaucoma subspecialty day meeting.
Re-evaluate target pressure after disc hemorrhage
March 1st 2005New Orleans—Optic disc hemorrhage, a rare event in non-glaucomatous eyes, is a strong predictor of glaucoma as well as glaucoma progression. Clinicians might consider re-evaluating the patient's target IOP after this finding, said Jost B. Jonas, MD, at the American Academy of Ophthalmology's glaucoma subspecialty day meeting.
Mast cell stabilizer recommended for chronic ocular allergy
March 1st 2005Wantagh, NY-Because of its ability to halt the allergic cascade, its long duration of action, and rapid relief of itching, nedocromil sodium ophthalmic solution 2% (Alocril, Allergan) is an excellent choice for the treatment of chronic allergic conjunctivitis, according to Jodi Luchs, MD, a private practitioner at South Shore Eye Care, Wantagh, NY.
Children achieve relief of ocular allergies
March 1st 2005Chicago—Ketotifen fumarate 0.025% ophthalmic solution (Zaditor, Novartis) offers rapid-onset, long-lasting relief of allergy-associated itching along with excellent local tolerability and a long-standing record of safety. Those features combined make it an outstanding therapeutic choice for all patients with allergic conjunctivitis and a particularly attractive option for the pediatric population, said Kimberlee M. Curnyn, MD.
Mast cell stabilizer helps with long-term ocular allergies
March 1st 2005Carlsbad, CA—The mast cell stabilizer pemirolast potassium ophthalmic solution 0.1% (Alamast, Santen Inc.) can be an effective immediate and long-term treatment for ocular surface allergies because of its inhibitory properties as well as its safety profile, suggested Bill G. Bell, MD, an ophthalmologist in private practice in Carlsbad, CA.
Drug provides superior ocular allergy relief
March 1st 2005Manhasset, NY—In a head-to-head clinical study, olopatadine (Patanol, Alcon Laboratories) demonstrated statistically significant superiority over epinastine (Elestat, Allergan) for relief of itching, redness, and chemosis associated with allergic conjunctivitis, according to Peter D'Arienzo, MD.
Brachytherapy trial enrolling new patients
March 1st 2005Buford, GA—Patients are being enrolled into a clinical trial to evaluate the safety and feasibility of the TheraSight Ocular Brachytherapy System for treatment of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization associated with wet age-related macular degeneration.
Surgery: consider before adding another medication?
February 15th 2005New Orleans—Adding a third or fourth medication to a glaucoma patient's therapeutic regimen has many drawbacks but a few potentially positive aspects as well and should be considered on an individual patient basis, said Shan C. Lin, MD, assistant professor of clinical ophthalmology, University of California, San Francisco, and San Francisco General Hospital.
