News

New Orleans—One of the most complex aspects of glaucoma management is establishing a safe level of IOP, below which damage will not occur. But should this level be determined by a number or a percentage?

San Francisco—A drug commonly prescribed for older men suffering from prostate enlargement seems to cause a "floppy iris" that increases the risk of complications during cataract surgery.

Vienna, Austria—Until recently, there was little, if any, communication among regional and national glaucoma societies that might reveal greater insights or solutions for the management and treatment of the disease.

Recently, a chairperson of a prominent department of ophthalmology, and someone I admire tremendously, reminded me of a major issue facing our specialty. Academic ophthalmology is facing a shortage of department chairpersons. Approximately 25 departments are currently without a permanent chairperson. On average, after 2 years of search committee activity, 50% of these positions remain unfilled.

As the practice of ophthalmology continues to evolve, it is important for physicians to remain up to date with the latest advances and discoveries in ways to preserve and protect their patients' vision.

Baltimore—Innovative pharmaceutical delivery systems are showing promise for their potential to provide safe and effective "site-directed" therapy for retinal diseases, said Eugene de Juan Jr., MD, in the Ronald G. Michels Memorial Lecture at the Current Concepts of Ophthalmology meeting.

New Orleans—Cytoskeletal agents, which increase outflow facility in the trabecular meshwork, are one of the drug classes that could expand the pharmaceutical options available to reduce IOP, said Carl B. Camras, MD, professor, chairman, and director of the glaucoma service, department of ophthalmology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha.

Santa Clara, CA—CustomVue LASIK (VISX) performed with the WaveScan system and the STAR S4 excimer laser has become the first wavefront-guided laser treatment approved by the FDA for correction of hyperopia and hyperopic astigmatism.

Salt Lake City—Healon 5, used with the Sovereign cataract extraction system with WhiteStar technology (Advanced Medical Optics), can improve the odds of success in problematic situations where complete control of the anterior chamber is critical, according to Randall J. Olson, MD, the John A. Moran Presidential Chair and chairman of ophthalmology and visual sciences, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City.

San Francisco—With the Cruise Control flow restriction device (STAAR Surgical), surgeons can perform bimanual microincisional phacoemulsification at the high vacuum settings normally used for coaxial phaco and still maintain excellent chamber stability, said David F. Chang, MD.

Los Alamitos, CA—A low-power divide-and-conquer technique using the Infiniti Vision System (Alcon Laboratories) in linear burst mode provided exceptional surgeon control and low ultrasound power in the eye compared with the Legacy system linear continuous mode (Alcon Laboratories).

New Orleans—Use of the Sovereign WhiteStar (AMO) phacoemulsification machine resulted in significantly less loss of endothelial cells compared with the Millennium (Bausch & Lomb) phacoemulsification machine. There was also less loss of endothelial cells associated with removal of dense cataracts, reported Chitra Sambare, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Los Angeles—Two recent upgrades to the Millennium microsurgical system (Bausch & Lomb)—the Advanced Flow System (AFS) and Custom Control Software (CCS)—make phacoemulsification cataract removal with that machine safer and more efficient than ever before, said Uday Devgan, MD, FACS.

Poughkeepsie, NY—DisCoVisc, a new viscous-dispersive ophthalmic viscosurgical device (OVD) from Alcon Laboratories, performed comparably to Healon in a randomized, FDA phase III clinical trial in key measurements such as endothelial cell density and IOP control, according to Satish Modi, MD.

Irvine, CA—The viscoelastic Vitrax (Advanced Medical Optics) is ideal for creating a wall or protective barrier for safety when removing dense nuclei during phacoemulsification, said Roger F. Steinert, MD, professor of ophthalmology and of bioengineering at the University of California, Irvine.

Norristown, PA—The Fugo Blade is proving itself to be a new technology that can be used in a range of applications to enable safer and more sophisticated surgery, according to its inventor, Richard J. Fugo, MD, PhD.

Twenty-five percent of the population in the United States is under the age of 14. What’s more, one-quarter of these children have some type of visual need.

Stanford, CA—Treatment of myopia and myopic astigmatism with LASIK using the CustomVue platform (CustomVue, VISX) proved to be safe and effective with either the IntraLase femtosecond laser (IntraLase Corp.) or the Hansatome microkeratome (Bausch & Lomb), according to Edward E. Manche, MD, director of cor-nea and refractive surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA.

Residents in cataract and implant surgery are vying for prizes for the quality of their surgeries in the Bloomberg Videotape Competition at this year's ACES/SEE meeting.

Fort Lauderdale, FL—This year's meeting of the American College of Eye Surgeons (ACES) may be going to the dogs, but it is not because the association is joining for the second year with the Society for Excellence in Eyecare (SEE).

On Dec. 17, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals (EYET) announced FDA approval of pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen) for the treatment of neovascular ("wet") age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

The FDA approved pegaptanib sodium injection (Macugen, Eyetech Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer Ophthalmics) for the treatment of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on Dec. 17.

Coronado, CA—Transvitreal limited arteriovenous manipulation (LAM) without vitrectomy appears to be safe and effective for resolving hemorrhage and improving vision in carefully selected eyes with complicated branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), said Rohit R. Lakhanpal, MD, at the annual meeting of the American Society of Retinal Specialists.

Paris-The Schwind microkeratome (Schwind Technologies) is a safe instrument and allows creation of flaps with predictable thickness, according to Ioannis Aslanides, MD, and Vinod Kumar, MD.

Waltham, MA-OXiGENE Inc. is launching a phase II clinical trial of its lead compound, Combretastatin A4 Prodrug (CA4P), in patients with myopic macular degeneration (MMD) under an investigational new drug application (NDA) submitted to the FDA.

Epi-LASIK is a promising new refractive procedure that potentially offers the visual recovery and minimal pain of LASIK without some of the well-known stromal flap complications.

For many American children, especially boys, the toys most cherished on Christmas morning were model trains. For Robert Laird, MD, Portland, OR, the love continued to flourish right into adulthood. His fascination with whistles, smoking engines, and painstaking detail continues.

New Orleans-Lowering IOP in patients with ocular hypertension or early glaucoma does help delay or prevent further damage. However, does every 1 mm Hg of pressure reduction really affect patient outcomes?