News

A new artificial cornea may offer hope to patients who have a history of multiple human donor cornea rejections. AlphaCor, manufactured by Australian-based Argus Biomedical Pty Ltd. and marketed by CooperVision Surgical Inc., is a biocompatible, flexible, one-piece artificial cornea that has been designed to replace a scarred or diseased native cornea in patients for whom corneal graft using human donor tissue is unsuitable.

Rishon Le-Zion, Israel-LASEK performed by using hypertonic saline (5% NaCl) to lift the flap may be a better alternative to alcohol-assisted LASEK, according to a recent randomized prospective study. Israeli researchers presented clinical trial results of the new method.

New York-Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), announced 44 new grants totaling $4.8 million for investigations into the causes, treatment, and prevention of all blinding diseases.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-In a comparison study that has implications for wound healing in surface ablation procedures, investigators found that four commonly used topical ophthalmic antibiotics-moxifloxacin (Vigamox, Alcon), levofloxacin (Quixin, Santen), gatifloxacin (Zymar, Allergan), and ofloxacin (Ocuflox, Allergan)-all showed evidence of toxicity on human corneal epithelial cells, with moxifloxacin causing the least amount of toxicity.

Salt Lake City-A $100,000 grant to the University of Utah's John A. Moran Eye Center will support continued research into retinal cell transplantation in the treatment of retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

New York-Columbia University Medical Center is hoping its new Louis V. Gerstner Jr. Clinical Research Center in Vision will help to develop solutions to the world's most pressing vision problems.

Fountain Hills, AZ-Coronado Industries Inc. has received 2A CE certification from the European Union for its proprietary pneumatic device for glaucoma treatment.

Fort Worth, TX-Alcon Inc. has filed the second of three parts of its "rolling" new drug application for anecortave acetate for depot suspension (Retaane) 15 mg, an investigational treatment for patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Tampa, FL-Ted Newill, the president of Talia Technology Inc., is stepping down after 3 years at the helm.

Irvine, CA-IntraLase Corp. sold 30 lasers during its second quarter ended June 30, bringing the total number of its lasers to 153 units globally.

Santa Ana, CA-Advanced Medical Optics Inc. (AMO) is offering an extended low-diopter and plano range of its Array silicone IOL.

San Diego-U.S. Naval aviators can benefit from PRK in terms of restoration of visual acuity to 20/20 and enhanced flight performance, said David J. Tanzer, MD, surgical director, refractive surgery center, department of ophthalmology, Naval Medical Center, San Diego.

Fort Lauderdale, FL-More aggressive glaucoma screening methods and a better understanding of disease progression as well as its incidence and prevalence among various population groups are essential to lessening the devastating impact of this disease worldwide, said Harry A. Quigley, MD, during the 2004 Friedenwald Award lecture at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) annual meeting.

San Diego - Despite the doubts of some investigators, cavitation is a real, measurable phenomenon in phacoemulsification with the Sovereign phaco instrument (AMO, Santa Ana, CA), according to Mark E. Schafer, PhD.

San Diego-The M2 single-use microkeratome with a 130-?m head (Moria, Antony, France) appears to produce predictable flap thickness without causing any significant complications during or after LASIK, according to Richard A. Norden, MD, FACS, who spoke during the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery (ASCRS).

San Diego-"The pursuit of perfect vision is analogous to the pursuit for the Holy Grail. The Holy Grail is the symbol for a large and mysterious power, closely guarded, concealed, and protected. Like the Holy Grail, perfect vision is the ultimate prize, but it is elusive," Roger F. Steinert, MD, said when he delivered the Binkhorst Lecture, "The Pursuit of 'Perfect' Vision: Ophthalmology's Holy Grail?" at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

San Diego-A safety and reliability study of the redesigned BD Beaver microkeratome blade (Becton, Dickinson and Co.) in LASIK indicates that the blade results in uniformly consistent flap thickness and is unlikely to cause any intraoperative complications, said Paul J. Dougherty, MD, who presented his findings at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

San Diego-The shape of the cornea, prolate or oblate, does not seem to affect the visual acuity or the quality of visual outcomes following wavefront-guided refractive surgery. The spherical aberration seems to be the most important element, based on the results of the VISX mul- ticenter FDA trial.

San Diego-The Carriazo-Pendular Microkeratome (Schwind Eye-Tech-Solutions, Kleinostheim, Germany) uses a thin head to cut thin, predictable flaps, which can widen the range of patients who are candidates for LASIK.

San Diego-Patients with the zonal progressive multifocal IOL (Array, AMO) report implanted improved depth of field at all levels of vision, which translates into enhanced quality of life, according to Guy E. Knolle Jr., MD, who spoke at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery annual meeting.

Vancouver, British Columbia-An $855 million deal will unite verteporfin (Visudyne) developer QLT Inc. and Atrix Laboratories Inc. to build QLT's business and accelerate strategic initiatives.

San Diego-Lens-based surgery with an accommodating IOL (Crystalens, eyeonics) offers advantages for treatment of aging patients with hyperopic presbyopia that make it likely to replace laser keratorefractive procedures as the procedure of choice for the management of that patient population, ex- plained D. Michael Colvard, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.

Half of cataract surgeons only wait 2 weeks between the time of the first and second eye surgery.

New York-Japanese patients have access to the only treatment for some forms of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with the launch of verteporfin (Visudyne, QLT PhotoTherapeutics/Novartis Ophthalmics) in Japan.

Euclid Systems Corp. has won FDA approval for the overnight wear of its Emerald orthokeratology (Ortho-k) lens.

New York-Standard textbook descriptions about early detection of glaucoma underestimate the prevalence of glaucoma, said Robert N. Weinreb, MD.

New York-Glaucoma specialists considering the future of the disease and its prevention and treatment should look to cardiovascular disease as a model, attendees at "Glaucoma 2004: Mastering Tools and Techniques for the 21st Century" here were told.

Ormond Beach, FL-The Costa Del Mar 2004 Dealer Catalog was picked for a Gold ADDY award at the American Advertising Federation's annual ADDY awards event.

San Diego-Presence of the blue light-filtering pseudophakic IOL (AcrySof Natural, Alcon) has no adverse effect on the surgeon's ability to perform vitreoretinal procedures following cataract extraction and IOL implantation, said David L. Parver, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery

The new Restor IOL (Alcon, Fort Worth, TX), a single-piece refractive/diffractive implant, achieved good uncorrected distance and near visual acuity levels in a trial of initial results. There were few complaints of unwanted visual images.