News

Elmhurst, IL-The design of the Tracey-Visual Function Analyzer (Tracey-VFA, Tracey Technologies) makes it a rapid, efficient tool for evaluating preoperative and postoperative LASIK patients, said Donald Sanders, MD, PhD, Center for Clinical Research, University of Illinois-Chicago, Elmhurst, IL, who has conducted research on the Tracey-VFA.

San Diego-In the future, clinicians will be better able to prevent, detect, and treat rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, according to William R. Freeman, MD.

Greenwich, CT-As a child and Azerbaijani immigrant, Vadim Filatov, MD, was a victorious chess champion. He rose from poverty, studied at Yale and Harvard, and became an enterprising ophthalmologist who was among the first to offer LASIK in the Greenwich area.

Bethesda, MD- Ten patients with late-stage retinitis pigmentosa (RP) will be the first humans to receive intraocular, polymer implants containing genetically modified human retinal epithelial cells that researchers hope will prevent further vision loss.

Yokneam, Israel-The FDA has given marketing clearance to Lumenis for its Novus TTx, its 810-nm infrared diode photocoagulator.

Atlanta-CIBA Vision Corp. has received CE Mark approval to market its Centurion SES EpiEdge epikeratome for use in Epi-LASIK procedures.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-The FDA has given GMP Companies Inc. its approval to expand a phase III clinical trial of its Eyepass glaucoma implant.

Apathy is defined in Webster's unabridged dictionary as "a lack of interest, or indifference." Apathy, coupled with an unwillingness to get involved or to speak out on issues, is endemic among the medical profession.

The year 2003 has been one of solid progress in glaucoma research and management, agree experts in the field.

Retinal specialists have reason to be excited this year, especially in the arena of developing treatments for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In contrast to roughly 5 years ago, when only laser was available to arrest progression of extrafoveal vessels, now an array of approaches is on the horizon.

Refractive lens exchange is a safe and effective procedure for providing multifocal vision, and will ultimately become the treatment of choice for presbyopia, said Stephen F. Brint, MD.

The future of refractive lens exchange is quite promising, according to refractive guru I. Howard Fine, MD, who spoke during the AAO's refractive subspecialty day meeting. He predicted that refractive lens exchange will some day become the dominant refractive procedure because it is able "to address all components of patients' refractive errors, including presbyopia."

The recent FDA approvals of two laser eye surgery systems could significantly change the face of ophthalmology, according to several surgeons.

Chicago-IOP control remains the basis for primary treatment of glaucoma, but there have been some recent changes in the medical and surgical arenas. Now, a prostaglandin analogue is often used instead of a beta-blocker as first-line therapy, selective laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) has emerged as another option for primary laser surgery, and meanwhile, there is growing patient interest in complementary medicine alternatives.

Lubbock, TX-A special coating developed by Texas researchers may eventually save the nearly 35 million American contact lens wearers the hassle of removing and cleaning their contacts every night, or even every month.

Rochester, NY-For pediatric ophthalmologist Gary D. Markowitz, MD, having an ophthalmic dispensary has been a positive experience in terms of patient service as well as practice growth.

Patients considering refractive surgery are understandably nervous about undergoing procedures on their eyes. A physician who can listen to their concerns and address them all will gain their trust and their business.

For clinicians, the Internet can become a valuable tool for disseminating information on their practices and, ultimately, in attracting new patients.

A sign of an excellent company is one that capitalizes on its strengths, minimizes its weaknesses, takes advantage of its opportunities, and recognizes its threats, according to James V. Mazzo, president and chief executive officer of Advanced Medical Optics (AMO).

Chicago-Bleb leaks occur in 2% to 7% of eyes after filtering surgery and are important to recognize and treat because they can be a precursor to other complications, including ocular hypotony, blebitis, and endophthalmitis.

With the change in the weather, kids have settled back into the school routine and many fall sports have started up again. Unfortunately, along with the increase in organized and pick-up sports, more sports-related eye injuries are possible. More than 40,000 eye injuries each year are attributed to sports trauma.

Chennai, India-Phakonit (Phako with a Nee-dle Incision Technology) is a bimanual approach to phacoemulsification performed with a needle opening via an incision and with the phaco tip. The technique drastically reduces incision size, and with the ad-vent of ultra-small incision IOLs, it offers cataract patients the advantages of astigmatism-neutral sur-gery with return to stable vision within 4 to 5 days after surgery, said Amar Agarwal, MD, an innovator of the technique.

New York-Treatment with ranibizumab (Lucentis, Genentech) resulted in stable or im-proved vision in 97.5% of patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) over 6 months, according to the phase Ib/II trial results. Forty-five percent had more than a three-line gain in vision, said Jeffrey S. Heier, MD, a principal investigator in the clinical trial, who reported results at the annual meeting of the American Society of Retina Specialists.

We often hear how cataract surgery is becoming refractive surgery. In fact, cataract surgery became refractive surgery when Sir Harold Ridley implanted the first IOL. While cataract extraction provides an immediate benefit by clearing the optical media, the patient must rely on the refractive power of the IOL for the rest of his or her life. Getting that refractive power right falls within the purview of refractive surgery, and it involves more than inserting the IOL into the capsular bag.

Charleston, SC-In an ongoing prospective study, conventional and custom wavefront-guided LASIK have been shown to achieve uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) outcomes exceeding the FDA grid, but there are dramatic differences favoring the wavefront-guided approach in analyses of treatment effects on higher-order aberrations, said Kerry D. Solomon, MD.

The Terry-Schanzlin Astigmatome System with vacuum speculum (Oasis Medical Inc.) is a disposable microsurgical cutting instrument designed to make uniform and controlled paralimbal incisions that are often used in combination with cataract and lens implant pro-cedures to reduce astigmatism.

Rochester, NY-The Technolas 217 Z Zyoptix Personalized Vision Correction system (Bausch & Lomb) was approved by the FDA for use in the United States last month (see related news on Page 1). About 99% of patients expressed extreme satisfaction or satisfaction with the visual results afforded them by the system, which may increase patient interest in refractive surgery.

Pekin, IL-Results from 6 months of follow-up in the Allegretto Wave (WaveLight Laser Technologie, Erlangen, Germany, and Lumenis) hyperopic LASIK clinical trial demonstrate excellent efficacy, safety, accuracy, and predictability, said William I. Bond, MD.

The new keratoprosthesis, AlphaCor (Argus Biomedical Pty Ltd., Perth, Western Australia), while not the first of its kind, seems to be more user-friendly for corneal transplant surgeons than human tissue.

The incidence of overcorrection after LASIK for myopia is low, but the results of re-treatment are variable. Re-treating often results in a shift back to myopia, leaving the patient unhappy. To improve the results of LASIK enhancement surgery, a new formula is warranted. In 1999, Drs. Lindstrom and co-workers noted that laser treatment achieved different effects in eyes with primary versus secondary hyperopia. They attributed this effect to dynamics of wound healing.