News

Clinicians and information technology experts have made steady progress toward developing fully electronic health information systems, particularly in ophthalmology. However, as third-generation electronic health record (EHR) systems emerge on the market in 2004, a standard clinical terminology or reference set of clinical terms will be needed to support clinical documentation, decision support, and workflow.

"Self-sacrifice usually contains an unspoken demand for payment."

Minneapolis-Conventional LASIK treatment of myopia and myopic astigmatism using a large optical zone does not appear to be accompanied by an increase in night vision complaints of glare or halos, said David R. Hardten, MD.

St. Louis, MO-Dry eyes should be treated aggressively before obtaining wavefront measurements that will be the basis for planning refractive corneal laser treatments and re-treatments, said Jay S. Pepose, MD, PhD, Pepose Vision Institute, St. Louis, MO.

Anaheim, CA-"Careful preoperative evaluation of patients and appropriate perioperative and postoperative management are needed to modulate the healing response effectively and maximize the success rate of combined cataract and glaucoma surgery," said James C. Tsai, MD, at the American Acad- emy of Ophthalmology annual meeting.

Las Vegas-The investigational drug pegaptanib sodium (Macugen, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals) has been shown to stabilize and improve vision and showed effectiveness against all three subtypes of lesions involved in wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD), according to Lawrence J. Singerman, MD.

The Middle East may not be at the top of the list as a popular tourist destination at present. But for Grant Heinz, MD, there are few places in the world the Mesa, AZ, oculoplastic surgeon would rather visit.

Anaheim, CA-Infection after LASIK is uncommon, but when it happens, the consequences can be devastating, said Eduardo C. Alfonso, MD, at the International Society of Refractive Surgery/American Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty day meeting.

Dubai, United Arab Emirates-Carl Zeiss Medi-tec AG is building a reference center featuring its MEL 80 excimer laser in a new hospital here.

Washington, DC-The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) once again plans to expand its coverage for ocular photodynamic therapy (OPT) with verteporfin (Visudyne, Novartis Ophthalmics).

Mountain View, CA-Add Mississippi to the list of states whose Medicare administrators will pay for transpupillary thermother-apy (TTT) treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Gaithersburg, MD-Conductive keratoplasty (CK) could replace excimer laser surgery as the treatment of choice for presbyopia if the FDA follows the recommendation of its advisory panel.

Mountain View, CA-The Medicare Part B Carrier for Pennsylvania has announced it will allow reimbursement to ophthalmologists performing transpupillary thermotherapy treatment (TTT) of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and certain intraocular tumors.

Dispensing ophthalmologists face many challenges in opening and maintaining profitable optical dispensaries. Considering the volume of cataract surgery many ophthalmology practices are performing for their aging patient base, setting up the dispensary for delivery of post-cataract eyewear can be a major challenge. It's not so much in the fitting and dispensing of the eyeglasses, but in completing the proper paperwork both within the dispensary and filing with Medicare for reimbursement of claims.

Adding an optical dispensary to an existing ophthalmology practice can be a profitable and exciting venture, but one that must be organized carefully and executed deliberately. Ophthalmologists must plan-from the dispensary's inception to construction-exactly where everything will be and how it will appear to their patients.

Anaheim, CA-LASIK with the MEL-80 excimer laser (Carl Zeiss Meditec) yields "remarkable" outcomes in the treatment of eyes with myopia and com-pound myopic astigmatism, said Frank J. Goes, MD, at the International Society of Refractive Surgery/Amer-ican Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty day meeting.

Anaheim, CA-Corneal wavefront-guided LASIK appears to be an excellent option for correcting moderate degrees of irregular astigmatism due to previous refractive surgery, according to early results reported by Jorge L. Alio, MD, PhD, at the International Society of Refractive Surgery/American Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty day meeting.

Anaheim, CA-The initial results obtained using the Allegretto Wave excimer laser system (Wavelight) and the M2 microkeratome (Moria) to treat hyperopia and hyperopic astigmatism indicate that the technology is safe and effective, vision remains stable 1 year after treatment, and there is minimal regression.

The Nidek EC-5000 excimer laser system with the OPD Scan most importantly provides excellent visual out- comes for patients with myopia or myopic astigmatism. An added bonus is that it pro-vides surgeons an excellent return on their investment compared with other commercial- ly available laser sys- tems that are equipped with wavefront-guided technology, according to refractive surgeons who use the system.

Anaheim, CA-The 213-nm solid-state CustomVis laser (CustomVis, Balcatta, Australia) represents a new generation of tech- nology for refractive surgery, with a number of potential advantages, said Donald A. Sanders, MD, PhD, at the International Society of Refractive Surgery/American Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty day meeting.

Anaheim, CA-Cyclotorsional registration is essential for optimizing the benefits of wavefront-driven refractive surgery, and it is best achieved using automatic iris recognition technology made by VISX, said Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, FACS, at the International Society of Refractive Surgery/Amer-ican Academy of Ophthalmology subspe- cialty day meeting.

Anaheim, CA-Conductive keratoplasty (CK), a thermokeratoplasty technique used to reshape the cornea, appears to be a safe and effective approach for treating low to moderate hyperopia with little or no induced astigmatism, according to Marguerite B. McDonald, MD, medical monitor of the FDA multicenter trial.

Washington, DC-Micro-thin prescription inserts (Intacs, Addition Technology), which received FDA approval in the United States in 1999 for the treatment of mild myopia, are an alternative to tissue-ablating laser vision procedures and have a number of advantages.

Anaheim, CA-The recently approved Zyoptix system (Bausch & Lomb) for wavefront-guided ablation is the only customized laser approved for use with variable optical zones, and that is an important feature because larger op-tical zones give better out-comes, said Scott M. Mac- Rae, MD, during the International Society of Refractive Surgery/ American Academy of Ophthalmology sub- specialty day meeting.

Anaheim, CA-Surgeons and patients often consider refractive surgery to be a one-time intervention. A patient may have had RK or LASIK and possibly an enhancement, but then the doctor-patient relationship ended. This is no longer the case, nor should it be, explained George O. Waring III, MD, who delivered the keynote speech on refractive re-treatments during the International Society of Refractive Surgery/American Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty day meeting.

Anaheim, CA-A panel of experts recently provided practical pearls for ophthalmologists and the everyday challenges they are likely to encounter with their patients, such as controlling IOP, choosing antibiotics, and treating the growing problem of dry eye. The panelists shared their insights during a continuing medical education seminar held in conjunction with the American Academy of Ophthalmology annual meeting here.

Booth 3315 became a haven of excitement and jubilation at the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) meeting in Anaheim, CA, last November, as Pfizer Ophthalmics held its coming-out party for the ophthalmic community-complete with cake and ice cream for attendees.

Anaheim, CA-Wavefront-guided CustomCornea LASIK (Alcon) is yielding favorable early results in the ongoing FDA clinical trial evaluating its efficacy and safety for the treatment of hyperopia, hyperopic astigmatism, and mixed astigmatism, according to Omar J. Hakim, MD, FRCSC.

Montreal-Reduced uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) early after LASIK is an indicator that re-treatment may be needed to address residual refractive error.

Anaheim, CA-LASIK can be associated with a spectrum of complications that are of variable severity and may contribute to patient dissatisfaction, and it is important that refractive surgeons consider ways to prevent those events because they may not necessarily be correct-able with current technology, said Terrence P. O'Brien, MD, during the International Society of Refractive Surgery/American Academy of Ophthalmology subspecialty day meeting.